[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5955 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5955

 To posthumously award a Congressional gold medal to Muhammad Ali, in 
            recognition of his contributions to the Nation.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 25, 2020

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To posthumously award a Congressional gold medal 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. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Muhammad Ali Congressional Gold 
Medal Act''.

SEC. 2. 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 was one of the most celebrated athletes of 
        the 20th century. He 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 who lived in an era 
        that continued to question his civil rights, Muhammad Ali 
        battled issues of race and religion, and received recognition 
        as one of the champions of the Civil Rights Movement in the 
        United States.
            (6) Muhammad Ali was 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 was 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 for 
        personifying 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 dedicated his life to 
        the cause of universal human rights and freedom. His commitment 
        to equal justice and peace 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 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 always fought for a just and more humane 
        world, breaking down barriers here in America and around the 
        world. There is 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 encouraged humanity through his 
        perseverance and the support of thousands of people. He 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 with 
        AIDS.
            (16) Muhammad Ali and his wife Lonnie were the founding 
        directors of the Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center in Phoenix, 
        Arizona, and helped raise over $50,000,000 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 their ability to pay.
            (17) Muhammad Ali was 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 was 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 a world champion; 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 helped to provide more than 22,000,000 
        aid packets to assist people in need, and until the last years 
        of his life, he traveled, on average, more than 200 days per 
        year for humanitarian causes.
            (22) Muhammad Ali, known simply as ``the greatest,'' 
        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.
            (23) On June 3, 2016, Muhammad Ali died at the age of 74.

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 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.
    (c) Transfer of Medal After Presentation.--Following the 
presentation of the gold medal in honor of Muhammad Ali under 
subsection (a), the gold medal shall be given to his wife, Lonnie Ali.

SEC. 4. 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 3 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. 5. 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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