[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 948 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>






118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 948

To posthumously award a Congressional Gold Medal to Dr. Li Wenliang, in 
recognition of his efforts to save lives by drawing awareness to COVID-
               19 and his call for transparency in China.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            February 9, 2023

  Mr. Roy (for himself and Mr. Babin) 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 Dr. Li Wenliang, in 
recognition of his efforts to save lives by drawing awareness to COVID-
               19 and his call for transparency in China.

    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. Li Wenliang Congressional Gold 
Medal Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) Dr. Li Wenliang was a 34-year-old ophthalmologist in 
        Wuhan, China, who died from COVID-19 after he bravely sought to 
        draw attention to the spread of the virus despite the 
        Government of the People's Republic of China and the Chinese 
        Communist Party's effort to suppress him.
            (2) In December 2019, Dr. Li Wenliang courageously notified 
        his medical colleagues in China about the outbreak of a novel 
        coronavirus known as COVID-19.
            (3) On January 3, 2020, after raising concerns about the 
        spread of COVID-19, Dr. Li Wenliang was detained and questioned 
        by Chinese officials for ``spreading false rumors'' and forced 
        to sign a statement retracting his warnings about COVID-19.
            (4) Dr. Li Wenliang continued to work at Wuhan Central 
        Hospital despite his knowledge of the outbreak.
            (5) Tragically Dr. Li Wenliang died in February 2020 in the 
        hospital where he worked after contracting COVID-19.
            (6) Before his death, Dr. Li Wenliang stated, ``If the 
        officials had disclosed information about the epidemic earlier, 
        I think it would have been a lot better. There should be more 
        openness and transparency.''.
            (7) The people of China expressed their grief and anger on 
        social media after the death of Dr. Li Wenliang with the phrase 
        ``I want freedom of speech'', which was quickly censored by the 
        Government of the People's Republic of China and the Chinese 
        Communist Party.
            (8) The People's Republic of China and the Chinese 
        Communist Party inflicted incalculable damage on their people 
        and the world by trying to extinguish the news of the COVID-19 
        rather than mobilize global efforts to battle it.
            (9) Awarding Dr. Li Wenliang the Congressional Gold Medal 
        would recognize his bold actions to draw attention to the 
        spread of COVID-19 and call global attention to the People's 
        Republic of China and the Chinese Communist Party's lack of 
        transparency and censorship of speech.

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 posthumous presentation, on behalf of 
the Congress, of a gold medal of appropriate design in commemoration of 
Dr. Li Wenliang's efforts to save lives by drawing awareness to COVID-
19 and his call for transparency in China.
    (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 the name of Dr. Li Wenliang.
    (c) Smithsonian Institution.--
            (1) In general.--Following the award of the gold medal 
        under subsection (a), the gold medal shall be given to the 
        Smithsonian Institution, where it shall be available for 
        display as appropriate and made available for research.
            (2) Sense of congress.--It is the sense of Congress that 
        the Smithsonian Institution shall make the gold medal received 
        under paragraph (1) available for display elsewhere, 
        particularly at appropriate locations dedicated to preserving 
        the history of the Chinese pro-democracy movement.

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.
                                 <all>