[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4528 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 4528

  To award posthumously a Congressional Gold Medal to Marshall Walter 
``Major'' Taylor in recognition of his significance to the nation as an 
      athlete, trailblazer, role model, and equal rights advocate.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 12, 2024

Mr. Braun (for himself and Mr. Warnock) introduced the following bill; 
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, 
                           and Urban Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To award posthumously a Congressional Gold Medal to Marshall Walter 
``Major'' Taylor in recognition of his significance to the nation as an 
      athlete, trailblazer, role model, and equal rights advocate.

    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 ``Marshall Walter `Major' Taylor 
Congressional Gold Medal Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Marshall Walter ``Major'' Taylor was born in 
        Indianapolis, Indiana, on November 26, 1878, to Black parents 
        who likely had been enslaved in Kentucky, and died impoverished 
        on June 21, 1932, in a hospital charity ward in Chicago, 
        Illinois.
            (2) As a child, Taylor spent considerable time at the home 
        of a wealthy White family in Indianapolis who employed his 
        father as a coachman, treated the Black youngster as an equal 
        to their son, Daniel Southard, and gave Taylor his first 
        bicycle.
            (3) Taylor acquired the nickname ``Major'' in his youth 
        when he performed bicycle tricks outside his workplace, the Hay 
        & Willits bike shop in Indianapolis, while wearing a military-
        style jacket, and he won his first bike race in 1890 at age 11.
            (4) Taylor moved to Worcester, Massachusetts, with his 
        employer, mentor, and racing manager, Louis D. ``Birdie'' 
        Munger, in 1895, and became known in his sport not only for his 
        lightning sprints but also for his good sportsmanship, 
        disciplined physical training, and devotion to his religion.
            (5) Taylor received a professional racing license from the 
        League of American Wheelmen at age 18 despite the League's 1894 
        ``whites only'' rule for amateur membership and made his 
        professional debut in December 1896 in a 6-day race at Madison 
        Square Garden in New York, New York, defeating national 
        champion Eddie Bald in a half-mile exhibition race on the eve 
        of the 6-day endurance contest and placing eighth in the 6-day 
        track cycling competition.
            (6) In 1897, Taylor earned a spot alongside 4 White men on 
        one of the first racially integrated professional sports teams 
        in the United States, a 5-man squad that won a Boston v. 
        Philadelphia pursuit race held in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
            (7) Taylor set numerous world speed records and held 7 
        world records at the end of 1898 for various distances, 
        including the coveted 1 mile, and he further lowered the 1-mile 
        world record to 1 minute, 19 seconds in 1899.
            (8) Taylor overcame racial prejudice throughout his career, 
        showing remarkable dignity in the face of closed doors and open 
        hostility, including race-based denial of meals and lodging, 
        racist cartoons and caricatures, bureaucratic maneuvers that 
        threatened his racing eligibility, race-based exclusion from 
        certain tracks and competitions on the national circuit, plots 
        and tactics by White opponents to box him in on the track, 
        cause him to crash, or prevent him from competing in the first 
        place, a post-race choking by a competitor on a racetrack in 
        Taunton, Massachusetts, that left Taylor unconscious, 
        objections by White neighbors to his purchase of a house in 
        Worcester, and a death threat signed ``White Riders'' that was 
        delivered in Savannah, Georgia.
            (9) Taylor was one of the first Black athletes to secure 
        corporate sponsorship, representing bicycle brands such as Iver 
        Johnson, Sager, Stearns, and Orient, and he became one of the 
        wealthiest Black men in the United States and a substantial 
        benefactor to his church in Worcester.
            (10) Taylor pioneered the use of an innovative adjustable 
        handlebar stem, using the extension to improve his aerodynamic 
        position, and to this day this type of outrigger is called a 
        Major Taylor stem.
            (11) Taylor won the world 1-mile sprint championship in 
        Montreal on August 10, 1899, becoming the second Black athlete 
        to win a world title in any sport, and won the United States 
        championship later that year.
            (12) As a devout Christian, Taylor refused for years to 
        race on Sundays, and accordingly he turned down lucrative 
        offers to race in Europe, until, by virtue of his international 
        superstardom, he could negotiate a ``no Sundays'' provision in 
        a European racing contract for 1901.
            (13) Finding refuge in France, where he was still often the 
        only Black racer on the track, Taylor defeated every European 
        champion during the course of 6 tours of Europe from 1901 to 
        1909 and also had numerous racing successes in Australia and 
        New Zealand.
            (14) After retiring from racing in 1910 and finding little 
        success in the business world, Taylor wrote his 1928 
        autobiography, ``The Fastest Bicycle Rider in the World'', with 
        an appeal for ``simple justice, equal rights, and a square 
        deal'' for African Americans in sports and ``every . . . human 
        endeavor'', as well as advice for youth on good sportsmanship 
        and clean living.
            (15) Drawing on exemplary determination and perseverance, 
        Taylor demonstrated not only dominant athletic prowess but also 
        tremendous strength of character as he broke racial barriers, 
        reached the pinnacle of international sport, and served as a 
        role model for generations to come.

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 
Marshall Walter ``Major'' Taylor, in recognition of his significance to 
the nation as an athlete, trailblazer, role model, and equal rights 
advocate.
    (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 an inscription of the name of 
Marshall Walter ``Major'' Taylor.
    (c) Disposition of Medal.--Following the presentation of the gold 
medal under subsection (a), the gold medal shall be given to the great-
granddaughter of Marshall Walter ``Major'' Taylor, Karen Donovan.

SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS.

    The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in bronze of the gold 
medal struck under 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 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. 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 Sales.--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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