[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 754 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]

        H.R.754

                     One Hundred Fifteenth Congress

                                 of the

                        United States of America


                          AT THE SECOND SESSION

         Begun and held at the City of Washington on Wednesday,
           the third day of January, two thousand and eighteen


                                 An Act


 
 To award the Congressional Gold Medal to Anwar Sadat in recognition of 
  his heroic achievements and courageous contributions to peace in the 
                              Middle East.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
    This Act may be cited as the ``Anwar Sadat Centennial Celebration 
Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
    Congress finds the following:
        (1) Anwar Sadat was born on December 25, 1918, in Mit Abu al-
    Kum, al-Minufiyah, Egypt, as 1 of 13 children in a poor Egyptian 
    family.
        (2) In 1938, Sadat graduated from the Royal Military Academy in 
    Cairo and was appointed to the Signal Corps.
        (3) Sadat entered the Army as a second lieutenant and was 
    posted to Sudan where he met Gamal Abdel Nasser and fellow junior 
    officers who became the ``Free Officers'' who led the Egyptian 
    revolution of 1952.
        (4) Sadat held various high positions during Nasser's 
    presidency, assuming the role of President of the National Assembly 
    in 1960 and Vice President in 1964.
        (5) President Nasser died of a heart attack on September 28, 
    1970, at which point Sadat became acting President. Sadat was 
    subsequently elected as the third President of Egypt.
        (6) On October 6, 1973, President Sadat, along with his Syrian 
    counterparts, launched an offensive against Israel. A permanent 
    cease-fire was reached on October 25, 1973.
        (7) In 1974, after talks facilitated by Secretary of State 
    Henry Kissinger, Egypt and Israel signed an agreement allowing 
    Egypt to formally retrieve land in the Sinai. President Sadat later 
    wrote in his memoirs that his meetings with Kissinger ``marked the 
    beginning of a relationship of mutual understanding with the United 
    States culminating and crystallizing in what we came to describe as 
    a `peace process'. Together we started that process and the United 
    States still supports our joint efforts to this day''.
        (8) Months of diplomacy between Egypt and Israel followed the 
    signing of this initial agreement and a second disengagement 
    agreement, the Sinai Interim Agreement, was signed in September of 
    1975.
        (9) President Sadat addressed a joint session of Congress on 
    November 5, 1975, during which he underscored the shared values 
    between the United States and Egypt. In this speech, President 
    Sadat addressed the path to peace, saying, ``We are faced, together 
    with other nations, with one of the greatest challenges of our 
    time, namely the task of convincing this generation, and those to 
    follow, that we can finally build a viable international system 
    capable of meeting the demands of tomorrow and solving the problems 
    of the coming age''.
        (10) On November 19, 1977, President Sadat became the first 
    Arab leader to visit Israel, meeting with the Israeli Prime 
    Minister, Menachem Begin. President Sadat spoke before the Israeli 
    Knesset in Jerusalem about his views on how to achieve 
    comprehensive peace in the Arab-Israeli conflict.
        (11) Before commencing negotiations, President Sadat 
    courageously announced to the Knesset, ``I have come to you so that 
    together we might build a durable peace based on justice, to avoid 
    the shedding of 1 single drop of blood from an Arab or an Israeli. 
    It is for this reason that I have proclaimed my readiness to go to 
    the farthest corner of the world''. President Sadat further 
    poignantly stated that ``any life lost in war is a human life, 
    irrespective of its being that of an Israeli or an Arab. * * * When 
    the bells of peace ring, there will be no hands to beat the drums 
    of war''.
        (12) On September 17, 1978, President Jimmy Carter hosted 
    President Sadat and Prime Minister Begin at Camp David where the 3 
    leaders engaged in 13 days of negotiations that resulted in the 
    ``Framework for Peace in the Middle East'' (commonly known as the 
    ``Camp David Accords'').
        (13) Following negotiations, President Sadat and Prime Minister 
    Begin signed the Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty (in this section 
    referred to as the ``Peace Treaty'') at the White House on March 
    26, 1979. Addressing President Sadat at the signing of the Peace 
    Treaty, which remains an important anchor for peace in the region 
    today, Prime Minister Begin commended President Sadat by saying, 
    ``In the face of adversity and hostility, you have demonstrated the 
    human value that can change history--civil courage''.
        (14) The Peace Treaty featured mutual recognition of each 
    country by the other and ultimately the cessation of the state of 
    war that had existed between Israel and Egypt since the 1948 Arab-
    Israeli War. Israel completely withdrew its armed forces and 
    civilians from the rest of the Sinai.
        (15) In 1978, both President Sadat and Prime Minister Begin 
    were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for signing the Peace Treaty, 
    which made Egypt the first Arab country to officially recognize 
    Israel.
        (16) While presenting the Nobel Peace Prize to President Sadat, 
    Aase Lionaes, Chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, said, 
    ``During the 30 preceding years, the peoples of the Middle East 
    have, on 4 separate occasions, been the victims of warfare and 
    there seemed no prospect of peace. President Sadat's great 
    contribution to peace was that he had sufficient courage and 
    foresight to break away from this vicious circle. His decision to 
    accept Prime Minister Menachem Begin's invitation of November 17, 
    1977, to attend a meeting of the Israeli parliament on November 19 
    was an act of great courage, both from a personal and from a 
    political point of view. This was a dramatic break with the past 
    and a courageous step forward into a new age''.
        (17) During his Nobel lecture, President Sadat remarked, ``I 
    made my trip because I am convinced that we owe it to this 
    generation and the generations to come not to leave a stone 
    unturned in our pursuit of peace''.
        (18) In remarks to the People's Assembly in Cairo on March 10, 
    1979, President Carter praised President Sadat, telling the 
    Assembly, ``Your President has demonstrated the power of human 
    courage and human vision to create hope where there had been only 
    despair.''. President Carter also said that the Peace Treaty would 
    ``strengthen cooperation between Egypt and the United States'' and 
    underscored the support of the United States for the agreement, 
    saying, ``I fully share and will support President Sadat's belief 
    that stability must be maintained in this part of the world * * * 
    He and I recognize that the security of this vital region is being 
    challenged. I applaud his determination to meet that challenge, and 
    my Government will stand with him''.
        (19) The signing of the Peace Treaty enraged many individuals 
    who opposed normalized relations with Israel. President Sadat was 
    assassinated on October 6, 1981, by Khalid Islambouli, a member of 
    Egyptian Islamic Jihad. President Sadat was well aware of the 
    controversy to which his actions would lead, but pushed for peace 
    anyway.
        (20) Upon the death of President Sadat, President Ronald Reagan 
    proclaimed, ``President Sadat was a courageous man whose vision and 
    wisdom brought nations and people together. In a world filled with 
    hatred, he was a man of hope. In a world trapped in the animosities 
    of the past, he was a man of foresight, a man who sought to improve 
    a world tormented by malice and pettiness''.
        (21) President Sadat is recognized in the United States and 
    throughout the world as a respected leader and champion of peace 
    whose vision provided a roadmap for the peaceful resolution of 
    conflict that endures nearly 40 years after its inception.
        (22) President Sadat bravely reached out to Israel and 
    dedicated himself to peace, furthering the national security of 
    Egypt and the stability of the Middle East.
        (23) On the 30th anniversary of the Peace Treaty, President 
    Barack Obama praised the enduring legacy of the Camp David Accords 
    and the ``courage and foresight of these leaders, who stood 
    together in unity to change the course of our shared history''. 
    President Obama closed by saying, ``Today, as we seek to expand the 
    circle of peace among Arabs and Israelis, we take inspiration from 
    what Israel and Egypt achieved 3 decades ago, knowing that the 
    destination is worthy of the struggle''.
        (24) The Camp David Accords and the Peace Treaty continue to 
    serve the interests of the United States by preserving peace and 
    serving as a foundation for partnership and dialogue in a region 
    fraught with conflict and division.
SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL.
    (a) Award Authorized.--The Speaker of the House of Representatives 
and the President pro tempore of the Senate shall make appropriate 
arrangements for the posthumous award, on behalf of Congress, of a gold 
medal of appropriate design to Anwar Sadat in recognition of his 
achievements and heroic actions to attain comprehensive peace in the 
Middle East.
    (b) Design and Striking.--For the purpose of the award 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) Presentation.--
        (1) In general.--The gold medal referred to in subsection (a) 
    shall be presented to--
            (A)(i) the widow of Anwar Sadat, Jehan Sadat; or
            (ii) if Jehan Sadat is unavailable, the next of kin of 
        Jehan Sadat; and
            (B) a representative of the Government of Egypt.
        (2) Award of medal.--Following the presentation described in 
    paragraph (1), the gold medal shall be given to--
            (A) Jehan Sadat; or
            (B) if Jehan Sadat is unavailable, the next of kin of Jehan 
        Sadat.
SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS.
    The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in bronze of the gold 
medal struck under section 3 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. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS.
    (a) National Medals.--The medals struck under 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.