[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1244 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1244

      To posthumously award a historic Congressional Gold Medal, 
  collectively, to Africans and their descendants enslaved within our 
           country from August 20, 1619, to December 6, 1865.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 28, 2023

Mr. Green of Texas (for himself, Mr. Schiff, Mr. Espaillat, Ms. Ocasio-
  Cortez, Ms. Adams, Mr. Carson, Ms. Kuster, Ms. Pressley, Ms. Lee of 
  California, Mr. Thompson of Mississippi, Ms. McCollum, Mr. Keating, 
Mrs. Watson Coleman, Mr. Sherman, Mr. Boyle of Pennsylvania, Mr. Garcia 
of Illinois, Mr. Allred, Ms. Bush, Mr. Davis of Illinois, Mr. Soto, Mr. 
  Cicilline, Mr. David Scott of Georgia, Mr. Trone, Mrs. Dingell, Ms. 
Wasserman Schultz, Ms. Ross, Mr. Kilmer, Ms. Titus, Mr. Davis of North 
Carolina, Mr. Payne, Mr. Ruppersberger, Mr. Evans, Mr. Blumenauer, Ms. 
Norton, Mr. Cleaver, Mr. Pallone, Ms. Wilson of Florida, Mr. Connolly, 
Mr. Ivey, Ms. Meng, Mrs. Napolitano, Mr. Casar, Mr. Meeks, Ms. Moore of 
 Wisconsin, Ms. Stevens, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Ms. Omar, Mr. Bowman, 
 Ms. Schakowsky, Mr. Moskowitz, Ms. Crockett, Mr. Nadler, Mr. Clyburn, 
     Mr. McGovern, Mr. Gomez, Mr. Castro of Texas, Mr. Neguse, Mr. 
Garamendi, Mr. Sarbanes, Mr. Jackson of Illinois, Mr. Gottheimer, Mrs. 
  Beatty, Mr. Vargas, Ms. Brownley, Ms. Porter, Mr. Mfume, Ms. Blunt 
  Rochester, Mrs. Fletcher, Mr. Doggett, Ms. Lois Frankel of Florida, 
  Mrs. Trahan, Mrs. McBath, Ms. Dean of Pennsylvania, Mr. Veasey, Ms. 
Strickland, Mr. Pocan, Mr. Takano, Ms. Scanlon, Ms. Waters, Mr. Frost, 
 Ms. Barragan, Ms. Williams of Georgia, Ms. Velazquez, Mr. Tonko, Mr. 
Aguilar, Ms. Jayapal, Mr. Krishnamoorthi, Ms. Tlaib, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. 
 Torres of New York, Ms. Kelly of Illinois, Mr. Gallego, Mr. Bishop of 
  Georgia, Ms. Jacobs, Mr. Casten, Mr. Moulton, Ms. Jackson Lee, Ms. 
 Brown, Mr. Lynch, Mr. Cohen, Mr. Horsford, Ms. Bonamici, Ms. Kamlager-
  Dove, Ms. Garcia of Texas, Mr. Lieu, Ms. Sewell, Mr. Cardenas, Mr. 
 Carter of Louisiana, Mrs. Foushee, Mr. Vicente Gonzalez of Texas, and 
   Ms. Clarke of New York) introduced the following bill; which was 
referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the 
Committees on House Administration, and the Budget, for a period to be 
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration 
  of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
                               concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
      To posthumously award a historic Congressional Gold Medal, 
  collectively, to Africans and their descendants enslaved within our 
           country from August 20, 1619, to December 6, 1865.

    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 ``The original legislation awarding a 
historic Congressional Gold Medal, collectively, to Africans and their 
descendants enslaved within our country from August 20, 1619, to 
December 6, 1865''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Human beings were systematically abducted from the 
        continent of Africa and placed against their will onto ships 
        that would cross the Atlantic Ocean.
            (2) These persons were chained within the holds of ships in 
        horrendous conditions for the duration of the transatlantic 
        journey, which lasted up to six months.
            (3) Upon arrival in North America, they were forced into 
        labor among the English and European colonies that would later 
        become the United States.
            (4) Their enslavement was concentrated on farms and 
        plantations that produced crops such as cotton, tobacco, and 
        sugar cane.
            (5) The practice of slavery continued up to and past the 
        eventual American Revolution against England and the founding 
        of the United States of America.
            (6) In the ensuing decades, slavery persisted primarily in 
        States where the economy was based significantly on farming.
            (7) The treatment of enslaved people continued to be 
        horrendous in nature, including exploitation, family 
        separation, rape, torture, and degradation, among other 
        cruelties.
            (8) Slave labor was essential to the functioning of many 
        farms and plantations and therefore was essential to the growth 
        of the United States economy as a whole.
            (9) Slave labor was used to build notable buildings and 
        monuments in the United States, including the United States 
        Capitol Building, the White House, the Washington Monument, 
        Mount Vernon, which was the home of George Washington, and 
        Monticello, which was the home of Thomas Jefferson.
            (10) The profits from and involvement of slave labor were 
        also essential to the construction of the Smithsonian 
        Institution, Wall Street, Harvard University, Georgetown 
        University, and Fort Sumter.
            (11) It has been estimated that the total economic value of 
        slave labor is between $5.9 trillion and $14.2 trillion in 2009 
        dollars.
            (12) The United States became increasingly divided between 
        slaveholding and non-slaveholding States and territories, 
        including as to whether slavery should be expanded to new 
        States and territories or abolished altogether.
            (13) The secession of States from the United States began 
        on December 20, 1860, and led to the formation of the 
        Confederate States of America on February 4, 1861.
            (14) The American Civil War began on April 12, 1861, with 
        the attack on Fort Sumter by Confederate forces.
            (15) On January 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued 
        the Emancipation Proclamation declaring that ``all persons held 
        as slaves'' in Confederate States ``henceforward shall be 
        free''.
            (16) After four years of grueling battle and conflict, the 
        Civil War concluded with the surrender of the commander of the 
        Confederate forces on April 9, 1865, although fighting 
        continued until November 6, 1865, and the Civil War was 
        proclaimed to be over by President Andrew Johnson on August 20, 
        1866.
            (17) The 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution 
        abolishing slavery passed the Congress on January 31, 1865, and 
        was ratified by the required number of States on December 6, 
        1865.
            (18) The text of the 13th Amendment states that, ``Neither 
        slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for 
        crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall 
        exist within the United States, or any place subject to their 
        jurisdiction.''.
            (19) The use of slave labor over hundreds of years resulted 
        in immense suffering and deprivation among the people who fell 
        victim to these abhorrent practices.
            (20) At the same time, the extensive, long-term use of 
        unpaid labor advantaged the United States economy immeasurably.

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 award, on behalf of the Congress, of a gold medal 
of appropriate design dedicated to the enslaved persons collectively in 
recognition of their service as the greatest contributors to the 
foundation of America's economic greatness.
    (b) Design and Striking.--For the purposes of the award referred to 
in subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury shall strike the gold 
medal with suitable emblems, devices, and inscriptions, to be 
determined by the Secretary.
    (c) Smithsonian Institution.--Following the award of the gold medal 
described in subsection (a), the gold medal shall be given to the 
Smithsonian Institution, where it will be displayed at the National 
Museum of African American History & Culture and made available for 
research.

SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 
bronze of the gold medal struck under section 3, at a price sufficient 
to cover the costs of the bronze medals, including labor, materials, 
dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses.
    (b) Proceeds of Sales.--The amounts received from the sale of 
duplicate medals under subsection (a) shall be deposited in the United 
States Mint Public Enterprise Fund.
    (c) 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.

SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS.

    The gold medal struck pursuant to this Act is a national medal for 
purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United States Code.

SEC. 6. DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS.

    The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of complying 
with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, shall be determined by 
reference to the latest statement titled ``Budgetary Effects of PAYGO 
Legislation'' for this Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional 
Record by the Chairman of the House Budget Committee, provided that 
such statement has been submitted prior to the vote on passage.
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