[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 608 Introduced in House (IH)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 608

To authorize the President to award a gold medal on behalf of Congress 
   to Muhammad Ali in recognition of his contributions to the Nation.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 28, 2015

Mr. Carson of Indiana introduced the following bill; which was referred 
                 to the Committee on Financial Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To authorize the President to award a gold medal on behalf of Congress 
   to Muhammad Ali in recognition of his contributions to the Nation.

    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) Born Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr., on January 17, 1942, 
        in Louisville, Kentucky, Muhammad Ali was the first child of 
        Cassius, Sr., and Odessa Clay.
            (2) Muhammad Ali is one of the most celebrated athletes of 
        the 20th century. He has produced some of America's greatest 
        sports memories, from winning a gold medal at the 1960 Summer 
        Olympics to lighting the Olympic torch at the 1996 Summer 
        Olympics.
            (3) After an impressive amateur career, during which he 
        recorded 131 wins and only 7 losses and won 2 National AAU 
        light heavyweight titles, Muhammad Ali became the first 
        professional boxer in history to capture the heavyweight title 
        3 separate times.
            (4) Muhammad Ali defeated every challenger he faced in the 
        ring. But, on April 28, 1967, he was stripped of his boxing 
        title and barred from competing for being a conscientious 
        objector to the war in Vietnam on religious and moral grounds. 
        However, following a unanimous United States Supreme Court 
        decision in 1971, Muhammad Ali's conscientious objector status 
        was confirmed, his boxing license was reinstated, and he was 
        cleared of any wrongdoing.
            (5) As an African-American and a Muslim living in an era 
        that continued to question his civil rights, Muhammad Ali 
        battled issues of race and religion, and has received 
        recognition as one of the champions of the Civil Rights 
        Movement in the United States.
            (6) Muhammad Ali is the recipient of many awards for his 
        sporting prowess and his support of racial harmony, including 
        the Dr. Martin Luther King Memorial Award, the Spirit of 
        America Award, the Amnesty International Lifetime Achievement 
        Award, the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage, the Essence Living 
        Legend Award, the Rainbow Coalition Lifetime Achievement Award, 
        the XNBA Human Spirit Award, the Presidential Citizens Medal, 
        and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
            (7) Muhammad Ali has been acknowledged by many 
        organizations for his achievements both inside and outside the 
        boxing ring, including being crowned ``Sportsman of the 
        Century'' by Sports Illustrated, being named ``Athlete of the 
        Century'' by GQ magazine, being named ``Sports Personality of 
        the Century'' by the British Broadcasting Corporation, being 
        named ``Kentucky Athlete of the Century'' by the Kentucky 
        Athletic Hall of Fame, being named ``Kentuckian of the 
        Century'' by the State of Kentucky, being named ``Louisvillian 
        of the Century'' by the Advertising Club of Louisville, being 
        named ``Boxer of the Century'' by the World Sports Awards of 
        the Century, being recognized by the International Boxing Hall 
        of Fame, and receiving honorary doctorate degrees from 
        Muhlenberg College and Western Kentucky University, as well as 
        an honorary doctorate of humanities at Princeton University's 
        260th graduation ceremony.
            (8) Muhammad Ali received the prestigious ``Otto Hahn Peace 
        Medal in Gold'' from the United Nations Association of Germany 
        for his work with the United Nations and the Civil Rights 
        Movement in the United States.
            (9) Muhammad Ali was selected by the California 
        Bicentennial Foundation for the U.S. Constitution to personify 
        the vitality of the Bill of Rights in various high-profile 
        activities.
            (10) Despite having been diagnosed with Parkinson's 
        Syndrome in the early 1980s, Muhammad Ali has dedicated his 
        life to the cause of universal human rights and freedom. His 
        commitment to equal justice and peace has touched the lives of 
        hundreds of thousands of people worldwide.
            (11) President Jimmy Carter asked Muhammad Ali to meet with 
        African leaders in Tanzania, Kenya, Nigeria, Liberia, and 
        Senegal as part of President Carter's diplomatic efforts on 
        behalf of human rights in the 1980s.
            (12) In 1990, Muhammad Ali traveled to the Middle East to 
        seek the release of American and British hostages that were 
        being held as human shields in the first Gulf War. As a result 
        of his intervention, 15 United States hostages were freed on 
        December 2nd of that year.
            (13) In 1998, Muhammad Ali was chosen as the ``U.N. 
        Messenger of Peace''.
            (14) Several Presidents of the United States have 
        recognized Muhammad Ali, including President George W. Bush 
        who, on November 17, 2002, called him ``a man of peace'' and 
        stated that ``across the world, billions of people know 
        Muhammad Ali as a brave, compassionate, and charming man, and 
        the American people are proud to call Muhammad Ali one of our 
        own,'' President Bill Clinton who stated that Muhammad Ali 
        ``captured the world's imagination and its heart. Outside the 
        ring, Muhammad Ali has dedicated his life to working for 
        children, feeding the hungry, supporting his faith, and 
        standing up for racial equality. He has always fought for a 
        just and more humane world, breaking down barriers here in 
        America and around the world. There are no telling how many 
        tens of millions of people had their hearts swell with pride 
        and their eyes swell with tears in 1996 when Muhammad Ali lit 
        the Olympic torch, because we know, now and forever, he is the 
        greatest,'' President Jimmy Carter who cited Muhammad Ali as 
        ``Mr. International Friendship,'' and President Barack Obama 
        who, as a Senator, had a framed picture of Muhammad Ali hanging 
        in his office, and before announcing his intentions to run for 
        President, Obama visited with Muhammad Ali at the Ali Center in 
        Louisville, Kentucky.
            (15) Muhammad Ali continues to encourage humanity through 
        his perseverance and the support of thousands of people. He has 
        helped such organizations as the Chicago-based adoption agency, 
        The Cradle; the Make-A-Wish Foundation; the Special Olympics' 
        organization, Best Buddies; and Herbert E. Birch Services, an 
        organization that runs a school for handicapped children and 
        young adults, in addition to a summer camp for children 
        infected with AIDS.
            (16) Muhammad Ali and his wife Lonnie are founding 
        directors of the Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center in Phoenix, 
        Arizona, and have helped raise over $50 million for Parkinson's 
        research. The Center's mission is to provide excellence in 
        treatment, research, and education for patients and families 
        affected by Parkinson's disease and other movement disorders, 
        regardless of ability to pay.
            (17) Muhammad Ali is an inspiration to countless 
        individuals with Parkinson's disease, including members of the 
        Rock Steady Boxing Foundation in Indianapolis, Indiana, which 
        was founded to give people with Parkinson's disease hope by 
        improving their quality of life using boxing for fitness.
            (18) Muhammad Ali is one of the founding members of 
        Athletes for Hope, an organization created by a few very 
        successful athletes of exemplary character who have a deep 
        commitment to charitable and community causes.
            (19) Muhammad Ali also established the Muhammad Ali Center 
        in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, which promotes 
        respect, hope, and understanding, and inspires people 
        everywhere to be as great as they can be. A visitor of the 
        Muhammad Ali Center experiences the ``hows'' of Ali's life: how 
        he found the courage, the dedication, and the discipline to 
        become who he is today; how he found the conviction to stand up 
        for what he believed; and how he turned his passion for 
        excellence in the ring to a passion for peace on the world 
        stage.
            (20) Like Muhammad Ali himself, the Muhammad Ali Center 
        focuses on what brings individuals together, not what sets them 
        apart, and is a ``global gathering place'' to which people can 
        come, both online and in person, to learn, share, and celebrate 
        our commonalities as human beings and to formulate ways of 
        advancing humanity.
            (21) Muhammad Ali has helped to provide more than 
        22,000,000 aid packets to assist people in need, and until 
        recently traveled, on average, more than 200 days per year for 
        humanitarian causes.
            (22) Muhammad Ali, known simply as ``the greatest,'' has 
        transcended the glamour and glory of being a sports champion to 
        become not only one of the greatest sports figures, but one of 
        the greatest role models of our time.

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 Muhammad Ali in recognition 
of his contributions to the Nation.
    (b) Design and Striking.--For the purpose of the presentation 
referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury 
(hereinafter in this Act referred to as the ``Secretary'') 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 may prescribe, the 
Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in bronze of the gold medal 
struck pursuant to section 2 at a price sufficient to cover the cost of 
the bronze medals (including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, 
and 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.
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