[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2203 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]
H.R.2203
One Hundred Thirteenth Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE SECOND SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Friday,
the third day of January, two thousand and fourteen
An Act
To provide for the award of a gold medal on behalf of Congress to Jack
Nicklaus, in recognition of his service to the Nation in promoting
excellence, good sportsmanship, and philanthropy.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Jack Nicklaus is a world-famous golf professional, a highly
successful business executive, a prominent advertising spokesman, a
passionate and dedicated philanthropist, a devoted husband, father,
and grandfather, and a man with a common touch that has made him
one of the most popular and accessible public figures in history.
(2) Jack Nicklaus amassed 120 victories in professional
competition of national or international stature, 73 of which came
on the Professional Golf Association (in this Act referred to as
the ``PGA'') Tour, and professional major-championship titles. His
record 18 professional majors, the first of which he won 50 years
ago with his win at the 1962 U.S. Open as a 22-year-old rookie,
remains the standard by which all golfers are measured. He is the
only player in golf history to have won each major championship at
least three times, and is the only player to complete a career
``Grand Slam'' on both the regular and senior tours. He also owns
the record for most major championships as a senior, with eight.
(3) Jack Nicklaus' magnetic personality and unfailing sense of
kindness and thoughtfulness have endeared him to millions
throughout the world.
(4) Jack Nicklaus has been the recipient of countless athletic
honors, including being named Individual Male Athlete of the
Century by Sports Illustrated, one of the 10 Greatest Athletes of
the Century by ESPN, and Golfer of the Century or Golfer of the
Millennium by every major national and international media outlet.
He received the Muhammad Ali Sports Legend Award and the first-ever
ESPY Lifetime Achievement Award. He became the first golfer and
only the third athlete to receive the Vince Lombardi Award of
Excellence, and is also a five-time winner of the PGA Player of the
Year Award. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame at the
age of 34.
(5) Jack Nicklaus has received numerous honors outside of the
world of sports, including several golf industry awards for his
work and contributions as a golf course designer, such as the Old
Tom Morris Award, which is the highest honor given by the Golf
Course Superintendents Association of America, and both the Donald
Ross Award given by the American Society of Golf Course Architects
and the Don A. Rossi Award given by the Golf Course Builders
Association of America. Golf Inc. Magazine named him the Most
Powerful Person in Golf for a record six consecutive years, due to
his impact on various aspects of the industry through his course
design work, marketing and licensing business, his ambassadorial
role in promoting and growing the game of golf worldwide, and his
involvement on a national and global level with various charitable
causes.
(6) Jack Nicklaus has been involved in the design of more than
290 golf courses worldwide, and his business, Nicklaus Design, has
close to 380 courses open for play in 36 countries and 39 States.
(7) Jack Nicklaus served as the Global Ambassador for a
campaign to include golf in the Olympic Games, which was achieved
and will begin in the 2016 Olympic program.
(8) Jack Nicklaus was honored by President George W. Bush in
2005 by receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest
honor given to any United States civilian.
(9) Jack Nicklaus has a long-standing commitment to numerous
charitable causes, such as his founding, along with wife Barbara,
of the Nicklaus Children's Health Care Foundation, which provides
pediatric health care services throughout South Florida and in
other parts of the country. The Foundation has raised close to
$24,000,000 since it was formed in 2004, and has provided health
assistance and services to more than 4,000 children and their
families through--
(A) Child Life programs (supporting therapeutic
interventions for children with chronic and acute conditions
during hospitalization);
(B) Miami Children's Hospital Nicklaus Care Centers (to
offer a new option to Palm Beach County-area families with
children who require pediatric specialty care); and
(C) Safe Kids Program (aimed at keeping children injury-
free and offering safety education in an effort to decrease
accidental injuries in children).
(10) In October 2012, the Miami Children's Hospital Nicklaus
Outpatient Center was opened to provide pediatric urgent care,
diagnostic services, and rehabilitation services in Palm Beach
County.
(11) Jack Nicklaus also established an annual pro-am golf
tournament called ``The Jake'' to honor his 17-month-old grandson
who passed away in 2005, and it serves as a primary fundraiser for
the Nicklaus Children's Health Care Foundation. The event alone has
raised well over $43,000,000 over the last several years.
(12) Nicklaus has been a tireless supporter of numerous junior
golf initiatives, working with the PGA of America Junior Golf
Foundation over the course of four decades, including the
establishment of the Barbara and Jack Nicklaus Junior Golf
Endowment Fund and the PGA-Nicklaus First Tee Teaching Grants. He
also is a spokesperson for several PGA of America and USGA growth-
of-the-game initiatives. He continues to support several
scholarship foundations, other children's hospitals, and other
causes, including spinal-cord research, pancreatic cancer issues,
and Florida Everglades restoration.
(13) In 2013, Jack Nicklaus, with the support of the National
Park and Recreation Association (NRPA), launched the Jack Nicklaus
Learning Leagues, taking team-concept golf to our parks system for
children, ages 5 to 12. A non-profit foundation called Global
Outreach for Learning Foundation (GOLF) was created to underwrite
the program. By the end of 2013, they hope to have the program in
more than 100 locations and reach close to 25,000 children.
(14) Jack Nicklaus continues to manage the Memorial Tournament
in his home State of Ohio, in which contributions generated through
the aid of over 2,600 volunteers are given to support Nationwide
Children's Hospital and close to 75 other Central Ohio charities.
This has garnered more than $5,700,000 for programs and services at
Nationwide Children's Hospital since 1976, so that Central Ohio
will continue to have one of the best children's hospitals in the
United States.
(15) Jack Nicklaus serves as an honorary chairs of the American
Lake Veterans Golf Course in Tacoma, Washington, which neighbors a
Veterans Administration hospital and is designed for the
rehabilitation of wounded and disabled veterans. Nicklaus has
donated his design services for the improvement of the course, and
raised contributions for the addition of nine new holes (the
``Nicklaus Nine''), the construction of the Rehabilitation and
Learning Center, and the upgrade of the maintenance facilities. The
course is considered the only one in the United States designed
solely for the use of disabled veterans. It served over 30,000
veterans and their families in 2011 to use the healing powers of
golf to help them rehabilitate and recreate. The hope is that
American Lake will serve as a pilot program for the more than 150
Veterans Administration hospitals nationwide.
(16) Jack Nicklaus serves as a spokesperson and Trustee for the
First Tee program, which brings golf to children who would not
otherwise be exposed to it, and teaches them valuable, character-
building life lessons through the game of golf, and is a national
co-chair of the organization's More Than a Game campaign.
(17) Jack Nicklaus remains active in tournament golf, although
he retired from major championship competition in 2005, when he
played his final British Open and his final Masters Tournament, and
led the United States to a thrilling victory in the President's
Cup. He consults often with the PGA Tour, and no fewer than 95
Nicklaus courses have hosted a combined total of almost 700
professional tournaments. In 2013 alone, Nicklaus courses will host
17 PGA Tour-sanctioned events. His Muirfield Village Golf Club in
Ohio will be hosting the Presidents Cup in October 2013, making it
the only club in history to have hosted all three of the game's
most prominent international team competitions--the Ryder Cup,
Solheim Cup and Presidents Cup. It is also expected that his course
at the Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea in New Songdo City, South
Korea, will be named the host venue for the 2015 Presidents Cup--
the first time that country has hosted an international team
competition of this stature.
SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL.
(a) Authorization.--The Speaker of the House of Representatives and
the President pro tempore of the Senate shall make appropriate
arrangements for the presentation, on behalf of Congress, of a gold
medal of appropriate design to Jack Nicklaus in recognition of his
service to the Nation in promoting excellence and good sportsmanship.
(b) Design and Striking.--For the purpose of the presentation
referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury shall
strike a gold medal with suitable emblems, devices, and inscriptions to
be determined by the Secretary.
SEC. 3. DUPLICATE MEDALS.
Under such regulations as the Secretary of the Treasury may
prescribe, the Secretary may strike duplicate medals in bronze of the
gold medal struck pursuant to section 2 and sell such duplicate medals
at a price sufficient to cover the costs of the duplicate medals
(including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, overhead expenses)
and the cost of the gold medal.
SEC. 4. NATIONAL MEDALS.
The medals struck under this Act are national medals for purposes
of chapter 51 of title 31, United States Code.
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.