[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 6 (Monday, January 10, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S119-S120]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 4897. Mr. SCHUMER (for Mr. Burr) proposed an amendment to the bill
S. 450, to award posthumously the Congressional Gold Medal to Emmett
Till and Mamie Till-Mobley; as follows:
Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the
following:
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Emmett Till and Mamie Till-
Mobley Congressional Gold Medal Act of 2021''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) The brutal lynching of Emmett Till and the subsequent
bravery and boldness of his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, became
a catalyst for the civil rights movement.
(2) On August 28, 1955, 14-year-old Emmett Till was
kidnapped, beaten, and shot in Money, Mississippi, where he
had traveled from Chicago to stay with his great uncle, Moses
Wright.
(3) The corpse of Emmett Till was discovered 3 days later
in the Tallahatchie River and his murderers were acquitted
despite Moses Wright providing an eyewitness testimony that
the men on trial kidnapped Emmett Till.
(4) Mamie Till-Mobley, the mother of Emmett Till,
demonstrated her love for her son and her courage and
strength in suffering in the days that followed as she
brought the body of Emmett Till back to Chicago for burial
and demanded an open casket funeral, which drew more than
50,000 attendees.
(5) Mamie Till-Mobley further allowed a photograph to be
taken of Emmett Till in his casket, which was shown
throughout the world.
(6) The original casket of Emmett Till stands on display at
the National Museum of African American History and Culture
as an enduring reminder of the racial violence that is a part
of the history of the United States that the people of the
United States must confront.
(7) The heroic actions of Mamie Till-Mobley in the midst of
evil, injustice, and grief became a catalyst for the civil
rights movement and continued in the years to come as she
worked for justice and honored the legacy of Emmett Till.
(8) Mamie Till-Mobley went on to create the Emmett Till
Players, which was a significant national cultural
contribution as teenagers traveled throughout the country
presenting Martin Luther King Jr. speeches in the name of
Emmett Till.
(9) Mamie Till-Mobley also served as chair and co-founder
of the Emmett Till Justice Campaign, which had the dual
mission of reopening the murder of Emmett Till for a
reinvestigation and a passage into law of Federal legislation
to ensure that other racially motivated murders during the
civil rights era were investigated and, when possible,
prosecuted.
(10) The efforts of the Emmett Till Justice Campaign led to
the successful joint investigation by the State of
Mississippi, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the
Department of Justice in 2004, the passage of the Emmett Till
Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act of 2007 (Public Law 110-344;
122 Stat. 3934), signed into law by President George W. Bush,
and the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crimes
Reauthorization Act of 2016 (Public Law 114-325; 130 Stat.
1965), signed into law by President Barack Obama.
(11) The people of the United States honor the legacy of
Emmett Till and the incredible suffering and equally
incredible courage, resilience, and efforts of Mamie Till-
Mobley that led to the civil rights movement that began in
the 1950s.
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 Congress, of a gold medal of
appropriate design in commemoration of Emmett Till and Mamie
Till-Mobley.
(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 inscriptions of the name of, ``Emmett Till''
and ``Mamie Till-Mobley''.
(c) Award of Medal.--
[[Page S120]]
(1) In general.--After the award of the gold medal referred
to in subsection (a), the gold medal shall be given to the
National Museum of African American History and Culture,
where it shall be displayed as appropriate.
(2) Sense of congress.--It is the sense of Congress that
the National Museum of African American History and Culture
should make the gold medal received under paragraph (1)
available for display elsewhere, particularly at other
locations and events associated with Emmett Till and Mamie
Till-Mobley.
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 costs of the medals, including labor, materials,
dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses.
SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS.
(a) National Medals.--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 section 5134 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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