[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9329 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 9329

  To posthumously award a Congressional Gold Medal to Prince Hall, in 
recognition of his service to the Black Community as the founder of the 
                       first Black Masonic lodge.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             August 9, 2024

Mr. Green of Texas introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
 the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committee 
on House Administration, 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 Congressional Gold Medal to Prince Hall, in 
recognition of his service to the Black Community as the founder of the 
                       first Black Masonic lodge.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) This Act is original legislation to posthumously award 
        a Congressional Gold Medal to Prince Hall.
            (2) Prince Hall was a free Black man who lived in colonial 
        Boston, Massachusetts circa 1735 to 1807.
            (3) Prince Hall was an ardent abolitionist and prolific 
        activist in Boston, Massachusetts during the American 
        Revolutionary period.
            (4) In 1775, after being denied by an all-White Masonic 
        lodge, Hall and 14 other free Black men formed their own lodge.
            (5) Prince Hall was elected as the leader, or ``Worshipful 
        Master'', within the newly formed African Lodge #1, later 
        renamed African Lodge No. 459.
            (6) Because of this action Prince Hall is known as the 
        ``Father of Black Freemasonry''.
            (7) Prince Hall Freemasonry is recognized by many as the 
        oldest continuously active organization founded by African 
        Americans in the United States.
            (8) The Prince Hall Freemasons employed advocacy and 
        community work to assist Blacks seeking citizenship, education, 
        and economic advancement.
            (9) In 1777, Prince Hall petitioned the Massachusetts 
        government to abolish slavery and is considered by some to be 
        the first to publicly proclaim that Black people should be 
        granted the rights laid out in the Declaration of Independence.
            (10) In 1787, a committee of 12 from the African Lodge, 
        headed by Worshipful Master Hall, drafted, ``The Boston Plan--a 
        detailed plan for African Americans to return to Africa--to 
        free themselves from their hostile living conditions in the 
        United States''.
            (11) The resettlement plan requested the Massachusetts 
        General Court to provide passage for families with the 
        necessary provisions, utensils, and articles, as well as money 
        to procure lands to settle upon.
            (12) In 1788, Prince Hall petitioned the Massachusetts 
        legislature to protect Black sailors from being kidnapped and 
        sold into slavery.
            (13) Prince Hall's influence remains within the 5,000 
        lodges and 47 grand lodges who trace their lineage to the 
        original lodge he founded.

SEC. 2. 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 Prince Hall, in recognition of his 
service to the Black Community as the founder of the first Black 
Masonic lodge.
    (b) Design and Striking.--For the purposes of the award referred to 
in subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury (referred to in this 
Act as the ``Secretary'') shall strike the gold medal with suitable 
emblems, devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the Secretary.
    (c) Smithsonian Institution.--
            (1) In general.--Following the award of the gold medal 
        described in subsection (a), the gold medal shall be given to 
        the Smithsonian Institution, where it shall be displayed at the 
        National Museum of African American History and Culture and 
        made available for research.
            (2) Sense of congress.--It is the sense of Congress that 
        the Smithsonian Institution should make the gold medal received 
        under paragraph (1) available for display elsewhere, 
        particularly at other appropriate locations associated with 
        Prince Hall.

SEC. 3. DUPLICATE MEDALS.

    The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in bronze of the gold 
medals struck under section 2, at a price sufficient to cover the costs 
thereof, including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, and 
overhead expenses.

SEC. 4. 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.

SEC. 5. 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 3 shall be deposited into the 
United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund.
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