[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 527 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 527

     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.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           February 12, 2015

  Mr. Sessions (for himself, Mr. Booker, Mr. Shelby, Mr. Schumer, Mr. 
   Blunt, Ms. Baldwin, Ms. Collins, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Daines, Mrs. 
   Boxer, Mr. Burr, Mr. Donnelly, Mr. Durbin, Mrs. Gillibrand, Mrs. 
Feinstein, Mr. Franken, Ms. Hirono, Mr. Kaine, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Menendez, 
 Ms. Mikulski, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Nelson, Mr. Peters, Mr. Sanders, Mrs. 
  Shaheen, Ms. Warren, Mr. Whitehouse, Mr. Isakson, Mr. Portman, Mr. 
 Corker, Mr. Rubio, Mr. Sasse, Mr. Johnson, Mr. Cotton, Ms. Murkowski, 
    Mr. Alexander, Mr. Cruz, Mr. Risch, Mr. Wicker, Ms. Ayotte, Mr. 
  Barrasso, Mr. Scott, Mr. Coats, Mr. Perdue, Mr. Cochran, Mr. Hatch, 
 Mrs. Capito, Mr. Hoeven, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. Merkley, Mr. Murphy, Mr. 
 Wyden, Mr. Reid, Mr. Cornyn, Mr. Thune, Mr. Heinrich, Mr. Schatz, Mr. 
 McConnell, Mr. Reed, Mr. Inhofe, Mr. Coons, Ms. Stabenow, Mr. Brown, 
 Mr. Bennet, Mr. Cardin, and Mrs. McCaskill) introduced the following 
 bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, 
                       Housing, and Urban Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
     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.
                                 <all>