IIB 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 431 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 12, 2015 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 

Urban Affairs 

AN ACT 

To award a Congressional Gold Medal to the Foot Soldiers 

who participated in Bloody Sunday, Turnaround Tuesday, or the final Selma to Montgomery Voting Rights 

March in March of 1965, which served as a catalyst 

for the Voting Rights Act of 1965. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 

2 The Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) March 7, 2015, will mark 50 years since the 

4 brave Foot Soldiers of the Voting Rights Movement 

5 first attempted to march from Selma to Montgomery 

6 on ‘‘Bloody Sunday’’ in protest against the denial of 

7 their right to vote, and were brutally assaulted by 

8 Alabama state troopers. 

9 (2) Beginning in 1964, members of the Student 

10 Nonviolent Coordinating Committee attempted to 

11 register African-Americans to vote throughout the 

12 state of Alabama. 

13 (3) These efforts were designed to ensure that 

14 every American citizen would be able to exercise 

15 their constitutional right to vote and have their 

16 voices heard. 

17 (4) By December of 1964, many of these efforts 

18 remained unsuccessful. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., 

19 working with leaders from the Student Nonviolent 

20 Coordinating Committee and the Southern Christian 

21 Leadership Conference, began to organize protests 

22 throughout Alabama. 

23 (5) On March 7, 1965, over 500 voting rights 

24 marchers known as ‘‘Foot Soldiers’’ gathered on the 

25 Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama in peaceVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:40 Feb 12, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H431.RFS H431

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1 ful protest of the denial of their most sacred and 

2 constitutionally protected right—the right to vote. 

3 (6) Led by John Lewis of the Student Non4 violent Coordinating Committee and Rev. Hosea 

5 Williams of the Southern Christian Leadership Con6 ference, these Foot Soldiers began the march to7 wards the Alabama State Capitol in Montgomery, 

8 Alabama. 

9 (7) As the Foot Soldiers crossed the Edmund 

10 Pettus Bridge, they were confronted by a wall of 

11 Alabama state troopers who brutally attacked and 

12 beat them. 

13 (8) Americans across the country witnessed this 

14 tragic turn of events as news stations broadcasted 

15 the brutality on a day that would be later known as 

16 ‘‘Bloody Sunday’’. 

17 (9) Two days later on Tuesday, March 9, 1965, 

18 nearly 2,500 Foot Soldiers led by Dr. Martin Luther 

19 King risked their lives once more and attempted a 

20 second peaceful march starting at the Edmund 

21 Pettus Bridge. This second attempted march was 

22 later known as ‘‘Turnaround Tuesday’’. 

23 (10) Fearing for the safety of these Foot Sol24 diers who received no protection from federal or 

25 state authorities during this second march, Dr. King 


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1 led the marchers to the base of the Edmund Pettus 

2 Bridge and stopped. Dr. King kneeled and offered a 

3 prayer of solidarity and walked back to the church. 

4 (11) President Lyndon B. Johnson, inspired by 

5 the bravery and determination of these Foot Soldiers 

6 and the atrocities they endured, announced his plan 

7 for a voting rights bill aimed at securing the pre8 cious right to vote for all citizens during an address 

9 to Congress on March 15, 1965. 

10 (12) On March 17, 1965, one week after 

11 ‘‘Turnaround Tuesday’’, U.S. District Judge Frank 

12 M. Johnson ruled the Foot Soldiers had a First 

13 Amendment right to petition the government 

14 through peaceful protest, and ordered federal agents 

15 to provide full protection to the Foot Soldiers during 

16 the Selma to Montgomery Voting Rights March. 

17 (13) Judge Johnson’s decision overturned Ala18 bama Governor George Wallace’s prohibition on the 

19 protest due to public safety concerns. 

20 (14) On March 21, 1965, under the court 

21 order, the U.S. Army, the federalized Alabama Na22 tional Guard, and countless federal agents and mar23 shals escorted nearly 8,000 Foot Soldiers from the 

24 start of their heroic journey in Selma, Alabama to 


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1 their safe arrival on the steps of the Alabama State 

2 Capitol Building on March 25, 1965. 

3 (15) The extraordinary bravery and sacrifice 

4 these Foot Soldiers displayed in pursuit of a peace5 ful march from Selma to Montgomery brought na6 tional attention to the struggle for equal voting 

7 rights, and served as the catalyst for Congress to 

8 pass the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which President 

9 Johnson signed into law on August 6, 1965. 

10 (16) To commemorate the 50th anniversary of 

11 the Voting Rights Movement and the passage of the 

12 Voting Rights Act of 1965, it is befitting that Con13 gress bestow the highest civilian honor, the Congres14 sional Gold Medal, in 2015, to the Foot Soldiers 

15 who participated in Bloody Sunday, Turnaround 

16 Tuesday or the final Selma to Montgomery Voting 

17 Rights March during March of 1965, which served 

18 as a catalyst for the Voting Rights Act of 1965. 

19 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

20 (a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of 

21 the House of Representatives and the President Pro Tem22 pore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements 

23 for the presentation, on behalf of Congress, of a gold 

24 medal of appropriate design to the Foot Soldiers who par25 ticipated in Bloody Sunday, Turnaround Tuesday, or the 


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1 final Selma to Montgomery Voting Rights March during 

2 March of 1965, which served as a catalyst for the Voting 

3 Rights Act of 1965. 

4 (b) DESIGN AND STRIKING.—For purposes of the 

5 presentation referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary 

6 of the Treasury (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Sec7 retary’’) shall strike a gold medal with suitable emblems, 

8 devices, and inscriptions to be determined by the Sec9 retary. 

10 (c) AWARD OF MEDAL.—Following the award of the 

11 gold medal described in subsection (a), the medal shall be 

12 given to the Selma Interpretative Center in Selma, Ala13 bama, where it shall be available for display or temporary 

14 loan to be displayed elsewhere, as appropriate. 

15 SEC. 3. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

16 The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 

17 bronze of the gold medal struck pursuant to section 2 

18 under such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, at 

19 a price sufficient to cover the cost thereof, including labor, 

20 materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses, 

21 and the cost of the gold medal. 

22 SEC. 4. STATUS OF MEDALS. 

23 (a) NATIONAL MEDALS.—The medals struck pursu24 ant to this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 

25 51 of title 31, United States Code. 


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1 (b) NUMISMATIC ITEMS.—For purposes of sections 

2 5134 and 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all medals 

3 struck under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic 

4 items. 

Passed the House of Representatives February 11, 

2015. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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