I 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4520 

To posthumously award a Congressional gold medal to Justin Smith Morrill, 

United States Senator of the State of Vermont, in recognition of his 

lasting contributions to higher education opportunity for all Americans. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 10, 2016 

Mr. NEWHOUSE (for himself, Mr. PETERSON, Mr. CONAWAY, Mr. MILLER of 

Florida, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. KELLY of Mississippi, Mr. WELCH, Mr. 

RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois, Ms. KUSTER, Mr. GIBSON, Mr. DAVID SCOTT

of Georgia, Mr. ROUZER, Ms. DELBENE, Mr. LUCAS, Mr. NOLAN, Ms. 

JENKINS of Kansas, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. BENISHEK, Ms. MICHELLE

LUJAN GRISHAM of New Mexico, Mr. YOHO, Mrs. BUSTOS, Mr. GOODLATTE, Mr. CLAY, Mr. LAMALFA, Mrs. BEATTY, Mr. LUETKEMEYER, 

Mr. VELA, Mrs. WALORSKI, Mr. WALZ, Mr. ALLEN, Mr. COSTA, Mr. 

THOMPSON of Pennsylvania, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. BOST, Mr. ASHFORD, 

Mrs. HARTZLER, Mr. POCAN, Mr. ABRAHAM, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. GIBBS, 

Mr. KIND, Mr. DENHAM, Ms. FUDGE, Mr. SMITH of Missouri, Ms. GRAHAM, Mr. AUSTIN SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. HURD of Texas, Mr. NEUGEBAUER, Mr. ROE of Tennessee, Mr. BISHOP of Michigan, Mrs. MCMORRIS RODGERS, Mr. PEARCE, and Mr. COLLINS of Georgia) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services, 

and in addition to the Committee on House Administration, for a period 

to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 

concerned 

A BILL 

To posthumously award a Congressional gold medal to Justin 

Smith Morrill, United States Senator of the State of 

Vermont, in recognition of his lasting contributions to 

higher education opportunity for all Americans. 


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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Justin Smith Morrill 

5 Congressional Gold Medal Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds that: 

8 (1) Justin Smith Morrill, the son of a black9 smith and farmer, was born in Strafford, Vermont, 

10 on April 14, 1810. He prospered as a merchant and 

11 businessman in his early years and served in public 

12 office the remainder of his life. 

13 (2) Morrill, the longest serving Member of Con14 gress in the Nineteenth Century and Chairman of 

15 the Committee on Ways and Means in the United 

16 States House of Representatives and the Committee 

17 on Finance in the United States Senate, served 5 

18 terms in the United States House of Representa19 tives, from 1854 to 1869 and 6 terms in the United 

20 States Senate, from 1872 to 1898. 

21 (3) Morrill, inspired by his own lack of public 

22 education opportunity beyond his fifteenth birthday, 

23 proposed legislation that would set aside public lands 

24 to be sold by the States to create and fund State25 run colleges. 


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1 (4) Congress enacted the First Morrill Act (7 

2 U.S.C. 301 et seq.) on July 2, 1862, marking the 

3 genesis of the national focus on higher education in 

4 the United States through the establishment of the 

5 land-grant institutions. 

6 (5) Congress enacted the Second Morrill Act (7 

7 U.S.C. 321 et seq.) on August 30, 1890. 

8 (6) Land-grant and other public research uni9 versities today award nearly 1,000,000 degrees an10 nually and perform more than $37,000,000,000 of 

11 research for improving the lives of Americans. 

12 (7) In 1864, Morrill introduced House Joint 

13 Resolution 66 which created National Statuary Hall 

14 from the Old Hall of the U.S. House of Representa15 tives and authorized the President of the United 

16 States to invite States to submit two statues of wor17 thy citizens to be exhibited, which continues as a 

18 daily inspiration to the thousands of visitors to the 

19 United States Capitol. 

20 (8) As chairman of the Committee on Buildings 

21 and Grounds, Morrill served as principal advocate 

22 for the construction and financing of the Thomas 

23 Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress; for 

24 inviting Frederick Law Olmstead to design the 

25 present landscape of the Capitol; for planning the loVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:15 Feb 12, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4520.IH H4520

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1 cation of the United States Supreme Court Building; 

2 for raising funds to complete the Washington Monu3 ment; and for championing the Smithsonian Institu4 tion. 

5 (9) In delivering his last speech as Senator just 

6 two weeks before his death, Morrill noted that the 

7 location of the United States Supreme Court in close 

8 proximity to the United States Capitol and the Li9 brary of Congress ‘‘would form a harmonious group 

10 of large public structures on Capitol Hill of un11 equaled grandeur, and will be appreciated by the 

12 American people forever’’. 

13 (10) In his 1882 book ‘‘Self-Consciousness of 

14 Noted Persons’’, Morrill concluded, ‘‘The spur to ac15 quire some future reputation, to be earned by con16 scious fidelity, keeps the work of men always at its 

17 best, the mechanic at the top of his skill, the mer18 chant ever mindful of the upright and downright in 

19 trade; the pulpit and the bar it pushes on to effort 

20 and to eloquence; it makes the soldier brave in bat21 tle, the politician ashamed not be a patriot, and the 

22 statesman unwilling to give up to party what was 

23 meant for mankind.’’. 

24 (11) After Morrill died on December 28, 1898, 

25 eulogies extolled Morrill’s leadership, integrity and 


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1 good-will, including the comments of Senator George 

2 Graham Vest of Missouri who stated, ‘‘If all those 

3 to whom he did acts of kindness could whisper 

4 across his grave, it would make an anthem sweeter 

5 and more sonorous than any that ever pealed 

6 through cathedral aisle’’ and those of Senator 

7 George Hoar of Massachusetts who recalled that 

8 Justin Morrill, ‘‘knew in his youth the veterans of 

9 the Revolution and the generation who declared 

10 independence and framed the Constitution . . . . He 

11 knew the whole history of his country from the time 

12 of her independence, partly from the lips of those 

13 who shaped it, partly because of the large share he 

14 had in it himself.’’. 

15 SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

16 (a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of 

17 the House of Representatives and the President pro tem18 pore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements 

19 for the posthumous presentation, on behalf of the Con20 gress, of a gold medal of appropriate design in commemo21 ration of Justin Smith Morrill in recognition of his lasting 

22 contributions to higher education opportunity for all 

23 Americans. 

24 (b) DESIGN AND STRIKING.—For the purpose of the 

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


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1 of the Treasury (hereafter in this Act referred to as the 

2 ‘‘Secretary’’) shall strike a gold medal with— 

3 (1) an inscription stating ‘‘A Statesman who 

4 did not give up to party what was intended for hu5 mankind’’; and 

6 (2) suitable emblems, devices, and inscriptions 

7 to be determined by the Secretary. 

8 (c) SMITHSONIAN.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Following the award of the 

10 gold medal in honor of Justin Smith Morrill under 

11 subsection (a), the gold medal shall be given to the 

12 Smithsonian, where it shall be available for display 

13 as appropriate and made available for research. 

14 (2) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of 

15 Congress that the Smithsonian should make the gold 

16 medal received under paragraph (1) available for 

17 display or for loan as appropriate so that it may be 

18 displayed elsewhere, particularly at other appro19 priate locations associated with the life of Justin 

20 Smith Morrill. 

21 SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

22 The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 

23 bronze of the gold medal struck pursuant to section 3 

24 under such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, at 

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


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

2 and the cost of the gold medal. 

3 SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS. 

4 (a) NATIONAL MEDALS.—The medals struck pursu5 ant to this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 

6 51 of title 31, United States Code. 

7 (b) NUMISMATIC ITEMS.—For purposes of section 

8 5134 of title 31, United States Code, all medals struck 

9 under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic items. 

Æ 


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