[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1174 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1174

To award a Congressional Gold Medal to Dr. Norman Christopher Francis, 
 in recognition of his contributions to the United States through his 
     lifelong dedication to education, justice, and public service.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 24, 2023

Mr. Carter of Louisiana (for himself, Mrs. Beatty, Ms. Strickland, Mr. 
  Horsford, Mr. Neguse, Ms. Jackson Lee, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Mr. 
 Davis of Illinois, Mr. Ivey, Mr. Clyburn, Mr. Bishop of Georgia, Ms. 
    Crockett, Ms. Norton, Mrs. Foushee, Ms. Adams, Mr. Thompson of 
Mississippi, Mr. Jackson of Illinois, Ms. Pressley, Mr. Davis of North 
 Carolina, Mrs. McBath, Ms. Sewell, Mr. Meeks, Mr. Cleaver, Mr. Payne, 
 Ms. Brown, Ms. Kamlager-Dove, Ms. Waters, Ms. Clarke of New York, Mr. 
 Veasey, Mrs. Watson Coleman, Mr. Bowman, Ms. Barragan, Mr. Garcia of 
    Illinois, Mr. Soto, and Ms. Williams of Georgia) introduced the 
   following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial 
                                Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To award a Congressional Gold Medal to Dr. Norman Christopher Francis, 
 in recognition of his contributions to the United States through his 
     lifelong dedication to education, justice, and public service.

    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 ``Dr. Norman C. Francis Congressional 
Gold Medal Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Dr. Norman Christopher Francis was born in Lafayette, 
        LA, on March 20, 1931, to Joseph A. Francis and Mabel F. 
        Francis. His parents were a barber and a homemaker, and he had 
        a Catholic education at St. Paul Catholic elementary and 
        secondary schools in Lafayette.
            (2) After graduation, Francis attended Xavier University of 
        Louisiana in New Orleans, where he graduated with a Bachelor of 
        Science degree.
            (3) An honor student all four years at Xavier University of 
        Louisiana, young Norman Francis conducted his work scholarship 
        repairing damaged books in the university library. In his 
        senior year, he was elected student body president.
            (4) From 1952-1955, Francis attended Loyola University Law 
        School in New Orleans, where he earned his Juris Doctorate. He 
        made history as the first Black graduate of Loyola University 
        Law School in 1955.
            (5) Upon graduation he married the late Mrs. Blanche 
        Macdonald, but then was drafted into the United States Army's 
        Third Armored Division, where he earned the rank of corporal 
        specialist four. After a two-year tour of duty, Francis left 
        the Army in 1957 and began his civilian career.
            (6) Upon his return from the military, he joined the U.S. 
        Attorney's Office and worked to help integrate Federal 
        agencies.
            (7) Dr. Francis used his law degree to represent civil 
        rights activists as a young lawyer. One of his clients was 
        Xavier student body president, Rudolph Lombard, who had been 
        arrested for attempting to integrate the lunch counter at 
        McCrory's on Canal Street in New Orleans.
            (8) As Dean of Men at Xavier University of Louisiana in 
        1961, he showed his moral courage and vision by housing the 
        Freedom Riders in the historic St. Michael's dormitory when the 
        rest of New Orleans establishments had closed their doors to 
        them or openly threatened their safety.
            (9) In 1963, he became Director of Student Personnel 
        Services and one year later (1964) he was promoted to Assistant 
        to the President. In 1967, he became Executive Vice President.
            (10) In 1967, Dr. Francis joined the brotherhood of Alpha 
        Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated, Sigma Lambda chapter.
            (11) On the day of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther 
        King, April 4, 1968, at the age of 37, Dr. Francis accepted the 
        position as President of Xavier University of Louisiana, the 
        Nation's only historically Black and Catholic university, and 
        his alma mater. He broke barriers on that day by becoming the 
        first African-American lay person to serve in that position.
            (12) His tenure as President lasted from 1968-2015, and he 
        is one of the longest-sitting university presidents in the 
        Nation's history. Over that 49-year term, Dr. Francis steered 
        the university to grow both in size and dimension.
            (13) Dr. Francis was President of Xavier University of 
        Louisiana during the height of the Civil Rights Movement, and 
        while at the helm of the school, he more than tripled its 
        enrollment, expanded course offerings, and transformed the 
        campus grounds into an ``Emerald City'' of colorful green 
        roofs. During his tenure, Xavier awarded more doctorate 
        pharmacy degrees to Black Americans and sent more Black 
        graduates to medical school than any other U.S. university.
            (14) Dr. Francis cofounded the Liberty Bank of New Orleans, 
        one of the largest Black-owned banks in the country. Dr. 
        Francis has served as its Chairman since the Bank's inception 
        in 1972 working to improve access to financial institutions for 
        Black Americans.
            (15) Francis has served in an advisory role to eight U.S. 
        presidential administrations--not only on education issues, but 
        civil rights as well--in addition to serving on 54 boards and 
        commissions. In 1983, Francis helped compile and release the 
        report ``A Nation at Risk'' during his service on the National 
        Commission on Excellence in Education. The report was a 
        landmark piece that summarized racism and classism with the 
        school system and called for comprehensive education reform.
            (16) He co-chaired the Louisiana Recovery Authority after 
        Hurricane Katrina, playing a vital role in helping the people 
        of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast rebuild their lives in the 
        aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
            (17) In 2006, then-President George W. Bush presented him 
        with the Nation's highest civil award, the Presidential Medal 
        of Freedom in recognition of his, ``deep intellect, compassion 
        and character.''.
            (18) In 2009, he was named one of ``America's Best 
        Leaders'' by U.S. News Media Group and the Center for Public 
        Leadership (CPL) at Harvard Kennedy's School of Government.
            (19) He has received 40 honorary degrees from other 
        universities, and at least 20 major awards in recognition of 
        his leadership in higher education as well as his unselfish 
        service to New Orleans and to the Nation.
            (20) Francis' civic endeavors include service as Chair of 
        the Louisiana Recovery Authority, past Chair of the Louisiana 
        Disaster Recovery Foundation, past Chair of the Southern 
        Education Foundation, Chairman of the Board of Liberty Bank and 
        Trust and a member of the Times-Picayune Advisory Board. 
        Previously he has been Chairman of the New Orleans Aviation 
        Board, the Metropolitan Area Committee Education Fund and the 
        Board of Directors of PBS-affiliate WLAE-TV.
            (21) Dr. Francis has been involved at the national level as 
        past Chairman of the Boards of the Educational Testing Service, 
        the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, the 
        College Board, the Southern Education Foundation and the 
        American Association of Higher Education. He was also member 
        president of the UNCF, a member of the Board of Trustees of 
        Catholic University, and Chairman of SACS, the southern 
        regional accrediting agency for more than 11,000 institutions 
        in eleven States.
            (22) A man of enduring determination, vision, faith, and 
        strength, Dr. Norman C. Francis has forever changed the lives 
        and landscape of the communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, and 
        all of America. We are forever grateful for his service and are 
        proud to present him with the distinguished recognition of a 
        Congressional Gold Medal.

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 Dr. Norman C. Francis, in 
recognition of his contributions to the United States.
    (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. 
The design shall bear an image of, and inscription of the name of, Dr. 
Norman C. Francis.

SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS.

    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 thereof, including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, and 
overhead expenses.

SEC. 5. 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.

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 
under 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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