[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.
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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
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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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