[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2562 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2562

   To posthumously award a Congressional Gold Medal to Alice Paul in 
    recognition of her role in the women's suffrage movement and in 
                   advancing equal rights for women.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 15, 2018

  Mr. Menendez (for himself and Ms. Collins) introduced the following 
 bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, 
                       Housing, and Urban Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To posthumously award a Congressional Gold Medal to Alice Paul in 
    recognition of her role in the women's suffrage movement and in 
                   advancing equal rights for women.

    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 ``Alice Paul Congressional Gold Medal 
Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that--
            (1) Alice Paul was born on January 11, 1885, in Mount 
        Laurel, New Jersey and died on July 9, 1977;
            (2) Alice Paul dedicated her life to securing suffrage and 
        equal rights for all women and, as founder of the National 
        Woman's Party, she was instrumental in the passage of the 19th 
        Amendment to the Constitution of the United States;
            (3) Alice Paul and the National Woman's Party were the 
        first group ever to picket the White House;
            (4) while President Woodrow Wilson trumpeted democracy 
        abroad during World War I, Alice Paul was dedicated to 
        reminding the President that not all people in the United 
        States enjoyed democracy;
            (5) Alice Paul used nonviolent civil disobedience to bring 
        attention to the women's suffrage movement in the United States 
        such as the hunger strike she undertook when she was sentenced 
        to jail in October 1917, for her demonstrations;
            (6) Alice Paul's courage inspired thousands of women to 
        join the women's suffrage movement;
            (7) instead of patiently waiting for States to grant women 
        suffrage, Alice Paul mobilized an entire generation of women to 
        pressure the United States Congress and the President to give 
        all women in the United States the right to vote;
            (8) Alice Paul did not stop her fight after the 19th 
        Amendment to the Constitution of the United States was 
        ratified;
            (9) Alice Paul drafted the Equal Rights Amendment to the 
        Constitution of the United States in 1923 and fought tirelessly 
        for its passage until her death 54 years later;
            (10) Alice Paul lobbied Congress to include gender in civil 
        rights bills and was successful in including sex discrimination 
        in title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e 
        et seq.);
            (11) Alice Paul sought equal rights for women all over the 
        world, not just those in the United States and, as a means of 
        pursuing this goal, founded the World Party for Equal Rights 
        for Women in the 1930s;
            (12) Alice Paul was instrumental in the placement of a 
        passage on gender equality in the preamble of the United 
        Nations Charter;
            (13) few people have played a greater role in shaping the 
        history of the United States than Alice Paul; and
            (14) Alice Paul is an example to all people in the United 
        States of what one person can do to make a difference for 
        millions of people.

SEC. 3. 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 posthumous presentation, on behalf of 
Congress, of a gold medal of appropriate design in commemoration of 
Alice Paul, in recognition of her role in the women's suffrage 
movement, and in advancing equal rights for women.
    (b) Design and Striking.--For purposes of the presentation referred 
to in subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury (hereafter 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. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS.

    The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in bronze of the gold 
medal struck pursuant to 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 medal struck pursuant to this Act is a 
national medal for purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United States 
Code.
    (b) Numismatic Items.--For purposes of section 5134 of title 31, 
United States Code, all medals struck under this Act shall be 
considered to be numismatic items.

SEC. 6. AUTHORITY TO USE FUND AMOUNTS; PROCEEDS OF SALE.

    (a) Authority To Use Fund Amounts.--There is authorized to be 
charged against the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund, such 
amounts as may be necessary to pay for the costs of the medals struck 
pursuant to this Act.
    (b) Proceeds of Sale.--Amounts received from the sale of duplicate 
bronze medals authorized under section 4 shall be deposited into the 
United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund.
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