    [United States Statutes at Large, Volume 132, 115th Congress, 2nd Session]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    Public Law 115-415
    115th Congress

    An Act

    To award a Congressional Gold Medal to Stephen Michael
    Gleason. <>

    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 ``Stephen Michael Gleason Congressional
    Gold Medal Act''.
    SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
    (1) Stephen ``Steve'' Gleason was born March 19, 1977, in
    Spokane, Washington to Mike and Gail Gleason.
    (2) Steve attended Gonzaga Preparatory School for high
    school where he excelled as both a football and baseball player.
    (3) In 1995, Steve enrolled at Washington State University
    where he was a 2-sport athlete for the baseball and football
    teams and helped the Cougars football team advance to the 1997
    Rose Bowl.
    (4) In 2000, Steve signed a professional football contract
    with the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League as
    an undrafted free agent but later joined the New Orleans Saints
    in November of that same season.
    (5) Steve would go on to play 7 more seasons as a member of
    the New Orleans Saints.
    (6) Steve will always be remembered for his blocked punt on
    September 25, 2006, against the Atlanta Falcons, the night the
    Louisiana Superdome reopened for the first time after Hurricane
    Katrina in a game the Saints would win 23 to 3.
    (7) In January, 2011 Steve was diagnosed with amyotrophic
    lateral sclerosis or ALS, considered a terminal neuro-muscular
    disease.
    (8) Following his diagnosis, Steve, with the loving support
    of his wife, Michel, began a mission to show that patients can
    not only live but thrive after a diagnosis of ALS and
    established The Gleason Initiative Foundation also known simply
    as ``Team Gleason''.
    (9) At the time of his diagnosis, however, Steve said there
    will be ``No White Flags'', which has become the mantra of Team
    Gleason.
    (10) The Gleason Initiative Foundation helps provide
    individuals with neuromuscular diseases or injuries with leading
    edge technology, equipment and services, raises global awareness
    about ALS to find solutions and an end to the

    [[Page 5434]]

    disease, and has helped hundreds of people with ALS experience
    life adventures they never thought possible after their
    diagnosis.
    (11) Steve's story and mission have been told by the NFL
    Network, ESPN, HBO, ABC, CBS, CNN, and many local media outlets,
    as well as in a 2016 documentary titled ``Gleason'', which was
    heralded at the Sundance Film Festival and premiered across the
    country with Variety calling the production ``an emotional
    powerhouse''. The documentary won several awards, including the
    2016 Washington, D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for
    Best Documentary.
    (12) Steve was named one of two Sports Illustrated's
    Inspirations of the Year in 2014, has been a keynote speaker for
    Microsoft and at two United Nations sponsored Social Innovation
    Summits, and received the 2015 George S. Halas Courage Award,
    given to a NFL player, coach or staff member who overcomes the
    most adversity to succeed.
    (13) Steve helped advocate for the Steve Gleason Act of 2015
    (Public Law 114-40; 129 Stat. 441), and the Steve Gleason
    Enduring Voices Act of 2017, H.R. 2465, 115th Congress (2017),
    which permanently ensures people living with diseases such ALS
    have access to speech generating devices regardless of their
    setting, whether at home or a healthcare institution.
    (14) In 2014, Steve and Team Gleason hosted a global summit
    to bring together researchers, patients, caregivers, and all ALS
    stakeholders to create a plan to ultimately end ALS. That summit
    resulted in the single largest coordinated and collaborative ALS
    research project in the world, Answer ALS, which brings together
    nearly two dozen research institutions, 1,000 patients and
    20,000,000,000,000 data points that are important to the project
    and that will define the unknown pathways that will lead to
    treatments or finally a cure.
    (15) In 2015, Steve and Microsoft worked together to create
    a method for people who are completely paralyzed to navigate
    their power wheelchairs with their eyes. Today, Steve, Microsoft
    and all wheelchair manufacturers are working collaboratively to
    make it widely available to all who need this technology. In
    addition, Microsoft has also made eye tracking technology part
    of all Windows 10 products across the globe.
    (16) In 2011, 10 months after his diagnosis, Steve and
    Michel made their most significant accomplishment, becoming
    parents to their son Rivers.
    (17) Steve and Michel Gleason continue to fight to find a
    solution for ALS so they can share many years together and as
    parents to Rivers.
    SEC. 3. 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 single gold
    medal of appropriate design to Stephen Michael Gleason.
    (b) Design and Striking.--For the purposes of the award referred to
    in subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury (hereafter in this Act
    referred to as the ``Secretary'') shall strike the gold medal with
    suitable emblems, devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the
    Secretary.

    [[Page 5435]]

    SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS.

    Under such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, 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.

    Medals struck pursuant to this Act are national medals for purposes
    of chapter 51 of title 31, United States Code.

    Approved January 3, 2019.

    LEGISLATIVE HISTORY--S. 2652:
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 164 (2018):
    June 14, considered and passed Senate.
    Dec. 20, considered and passed House.