Justin Smith Morrill Congressional Gold Medal Act

Summary: Justin Smith Morrill Congressional Gold Medal Act This bill requires the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate to make arrangements for the posthumous presentation of a Congressional Gold Medal in commemoration of Justin Smith Morrill's lasting contributions to higher education opportunity for all Americans.

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        which created National Statuary Hall from the Old Hall of the 
        U.S. House of Representatives and authorized the President of 
        the United States to invite States to submit two statues of 
        worthy citizens to be exhibited, which continues as a daily 
        inspiration to the thousands of visitors to the United States 
        Capitol.
            (8) As chairman of the Committee on Buildings and Grounds, 
        Morrill served as principal advocate for the construction and 
        financing of the Thomas Jefferson Building of the Library of 
        Congress; for inviting Frederick Law Olmstead to design the 
        present landscape of the Capitol; for planning the location of 
        the United States Supreme Court Building; for raising funds to 
        complete the Washington Monument; and for championing the 
        Smithsonian Institution.
            (9) In delivering his last speech as Senator just two weeks 
        before his death, Morrill noted that the location of the United 
        States Supreme Court in close proximity to the United States 
        Capitol and the Library of Congress ``would form a harmonious 
        group of large public structures on Capitol Hill of unequaled 
        grandeur, and will be appreciated by the American people 
        forever''.
            (10) In his 1882 book ``Self-Consciousness of Noted 
        Persons'', Morrill concluded, ``The spur to acquire some future 
        reputation, to be earned by conscious fidelity, keeps the work 
        of men always at its best, the mechanic at the top of his 
        skill, the merchant ever mindful of the upright and downright 
        in trade; the pulpit and the bar it pushes on to effort and to 
        eloquence; it makes the soldier brave in battle, the politician 
        ashamed not be a patriot, and the statesman unwilling to give 
        up to party what was meant for mankind.''.
            (11) After Morrill died on December 28, 1898, eulogies 
        extolled Morrill's leadership, integrity and good-will, 
        including the comments of Senator George Graham Vest of 
        Missouri who stated, ``If all those to whom he did acts of 
        kindness could whisper across his grave, it would make an 
        anthem sweeter and more sonorous than any that ever pealed 
        through cathedral aisle'' and those of Senator George Hoar of 
        Massachusetts who recalled that Justin Morrill, ``knew in his 
        youth the veterans of the Revolution and the generation who 
        declared independence and framed the Constitution . . . . He 
        knew the whole history of his country from the time of her 
        independence, partly from the lips of those who shaped it, 
        partly because of the large share he had in it himself.''.

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 
Justin Smith Morrill in recognition of his lasting contributions to 
higher education opportunity for all Americans.
    (b) Design and Striking.--For the purpose of the presentation 
referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury (hereafter 
in this Act referred to as the ``Secretary'') shall strike a gold medal 
with--
            (1) an inscription stating ``A Statesman who did not give 
        up to party what was intended for humankind''; and
            (2) suitable emblems, devices, and inscriptions to be 
        determined by the Secretary.
    (c) Smithsonian.--
            (1) In general.--Following the award of the gold medal in 
        honor of Justin Smith Morrill under subsection (a), the gold 
        medal shall be given to the Smithsonian, 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 should make the gold medal received under 
        paragraph (1) available for display or for loan as appropriate 
        so that it may be displayed elsewhere, particularly at other 
        appropriate locations associated with the life of Justin Smith 
        Morrill.

SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS.

    The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in bronze of the gold 
medal struck pursuant to section 3 under such regulations as the 
Secretary may prescribe, at a price sufficient to cover the cost 
thereof, including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, and 
overhead expenses, and the cost of the gold medal.

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 section 5134 of title 31, 
United States Code, all medals struck under this Act shall be 
considered to be numismatic items.