[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 431 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]
H.R.431
One Hundred Fourteenth Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE FIRST SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,
the sixth day of January, two thousand and fifteen
An Act
To award a Congressional Gold Medal to the Foot Soldiers who
participated in Bloody Sunday, Turnaround Tuesday, or the final Selma to
Montgomery Voting Rights March in March of 1965, which served as a
catalyst for the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) March 7, 2015, will mark 50 years since the brave Foot
Soldiers of the Voting Rights Movement first attempted to march
from Selma to Montgomery on ``Bloody Sunday'' in protest against
the denial of their right to vote, and were brutally assaulted by
Alabama state troopers.
(2) Beginning in 1964, members of the Student Nonviolent
Coordinating Committee attempted to register African-Americans to
vote throughout the state of Alabama.
(3) These efforts were designed to ensure that every American
citizen would be able to exercise their constitutional right to
vote and have their voices heard.
(4) By December of 1964, many of these efforts remained
unsuccessful. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., working with leaders
from the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and the Southern
Christian Leadership Conference, began to organize protests
throughout Alabama.
(5) On March 7, 1965, over 500 voting rights marchers known as
``Foot Soldiers'' gathered on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma,
Alabama in peaceful protest of the denial of their most sacred and
constitutionally protected right--the right to vote.
(6) Led by John Lewis of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating
Committee and Rev. Hosea Williams of the Southern Christian
Leadership Conference, these Foot Soldiers began the march towards
the Alabama State Capitol in Montgomery, Alabama.
(7) As the Foot Soldiers crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge, they
were confronted by a wall of Alabama state troopers who brutally
attacked and beat them.
(8) Americans across the country witnessed this tragic turn of
events as news stations broadcasted the brutality on a day that
would be later known as ``Bloody Sunday''.
(9) Two days later on Tuesday, March 9, 1965, nearly 2,500 Foot
Soldiers led by Dr. Martin Luther King risked their lives once more
and attempted a second peaceful march starting at the Edmund Pettus
Bridge. This second attempted march was later known as ``Turnaround
Tuesday''.
(10) Fearing for the safety of these Foot Soldiers who received
no protection from federal or state authorities during this second
march, Dr. King led the marchers to the base of the Edmund Pettus
Bridge and stopped. Dr. King kneeled and offered a prayer of
solidarity and walked back to the church.
(11) President Lyndon B. Johnson, inspired by the bravery and
determination of these Foot Soldiers and the atrocities they
endured, announced his plan for a voting rights bill aimed at
securing the precious right to vote for all citizens during an
address to Congress on March 15, 1965.
(12) On March 17, 1965, one week after ``Turnaround Tuesday'',
U.S. District Judge Frank M. Johnson ruled the Foot Soldiers had a
First Amendment right to petition the government through peaceful
protest, and ordered federal agents to provide full protection to
the Foot Soldiers during the Selma to Montgomery Voting Rights
March.
(13) Judge Johnson's decision overturned Alabama Governor
George Wallace's prohibition on the protest due to public safety
concerns.
(14) On March 21, 1965, under the court order, the U.S. Army,
the federalized Alabama National Guard, and countless federal
agents and marshals escorted nearly 8,000 Foot Soldiers from the
start of their heroic journey in Selma, Alabama to their safe
arrival on the steps of the Alabama State Capitol Building on March
25, 1965.
(15) The extraordinary bravery and sacrifice these Foot
Soldiers displayed in pursuit of a peaceful march from Selma to
Montgomery brought national attention to the struggle for equal
voting rights, and served as the catalyst for Congress to pass the
Voting Rights Act of 1965, which President Johnson signed into law
on August 6, 1965.
(16) To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Voting Rights
Movement and the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, it is
befitting that Congress bestow the highest civilian honor, the
Congressional Gold Medal, in 2015, to the Foot Soldiers who
participated in Bloody Sunday, Turnaround Tuesday or the final
Selma to Montgomery Voting Rights March during March of 1965, which
served as a catalyst for the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL.
(a) Presentation Authorized.--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 the Foot Soldiers who
participated in Bloody Sunday, Turnaround Tuesday, or the final Selma
to Montgomery Voting Rights March during March of 1965, which served as
a catalyst for the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
(b) Design and Striking.--For purposes of the presentation referred
to in subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury (referred to in
this Act as the ``Secretary'') shall strike a gold medal with suitable
emblems, devices, and inscriptions to be determined by the Secretary.
(c) Award of Medal.--Following the award of the gold medal
described in subsection (a), the medal shall be given to the Selma
Interpretative Center in Selma, Alabama, where it shall be available
for display or temporary loan to be displayed elsewhere, as
appropriate.
SEC. 3. DUPLICATE MEDALS.
The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in bronze of the gold
medal struck pursuant to section 2 under such regulations as the
Secretary may prescribe, at a price sufficient to cover the cost
thereof, including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, and
overhead expenses, and the cost of the gold medal.
SEC. 4. STATUS OF MEDALS.
(a) National Medals.--The medals struck pursuant to this Act are
national medals for purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United States
Code.
(b) Numismatic Items.--For purposes of sections 5134 and 5136 of
title 31, United States Code, all medals struck under this Act shall be
considered to be numismatic items.
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.