117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 452 

AN ACT 

To award a Congressional Gold Medal to Willie O’Ree, in 

recognition of his extraordinary contributions and commitment to hockey, inclusion, and recreational opportunity. 

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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†S 452 ES

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Willie O’Ree Congres3 sional Gold Medal Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) Willie O’Ree was the first Black player to 

7 compete in the National Hockey League (NHL), ap8 pearing for the Boston Bruins on January 18, 1958, 

9 in the throes of the civil rights movement in the 

10 United States helping to end racial segregation in 

11 the premier professional ice hockey league; he is 

12 widely referred to as the ‘‘Jackie Robinson of Hock13 ey’’. 

14 (2) Willie O’Ree was born October 15, 1935, in 

15 Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada; he is the 

16 youngest of 13 children and a descendant of Paris 

17 O’Ree, whose name appears in the famous historical 

18 document ‘‘The Book of Negroes’’. 

19 (3) Willie O’Ree was raised by his parents in 

20 Fredericton, a predominantly White town where 

21 hockey was deeply rooted within the culture. O’Ree 

22 was a standout athlete on the ice and the baseball 

23 diamond. 

24 (4) At age 21, O’Ree was being scouted by pro25 fessional baseball teams and seriously considered 

26 baseball as a career. Upon experiencing the seg-
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1 regated South for the first time while appearing for 

2 a minor league tryout, his dream changed and his 

3 attention turned solely to ice hockey. 

4 (5) While playing amateur hockey, Willie was 

5 struck in his right eye with a puck and lost his eye6 sight. He was told by doctors to abandon his hockey 

7 career; instead, never disclosing the extent of his in8 jury, he pursued his dream of playing professional 

9 hockey. 

10 (6) At the age of 22, O’Ree was called up from 

11 the Quebec Aces of the Quebec Hockey League 

12 (QHL) to play for the NHL’s Boston Bruins at a 

13 time when only 6 teams existed in the league. O’Ree 

14 was unaware he had broken the color barrier at the 

15 top level of the sport until he read it in the news16 paper the following day. 

17 (7) Blind in 1 eye and a victim of racism at 

18 times throughout his career, O’Ree persevered and 

19 played professional hockey for 22 years, tallying over 

20 1,000 points. 

21 (8) In 1996, 17 years after O’Ree retired from 

22 professional hockey, the National Hockey League 

23 hired O’Ree as the first-ever Diversity Ambassador. 

24 Having already changed the game forever through 
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1 his courage and convictions, O’Ree gives new defini2 tion to what it means to be a trailblazer. 

3 (9) In this role as Diversity Ambassador with 

4 the NHL, O’Ree set out to grow the sport by pro5 viding access, opportunity, and motivation for chil6 dren of all races, ethnicities, origins, and abilities. 

7 With O’Ree providing a vivid example of what is 

8 possible and serving as a relentless supporter of chil9 dren pursuing their dreams, more than 30 nonprofit 

10 youth organizations, dubbed Hockey is for Everyone 

11 programs, were developed across North America, 

12 each committed to offering minority and under13 served children an opportunity to play hockey, 

14 leveraging the sport to build character, foster posi15 tive values, and develop important life skills. 

16 (10) Through Hockey is for Everyone pro17 grams, more than 120,000 boys and girls have been 

18 positively impacted. O’Ree has devoted nearly 2,500 

19 days on the ground with the youth participants, vis20 iting more than 500 schools, community centers, and 

21 rinks to speak to hockey’s core values and beliefs: 

22 stay in school; set goals for yourself; remain com23 mitted and disciplined; and always respect your 

24 teammates, coaches, and parents. 
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1 (11) Hockey is for Everyone programs have 

2 provided important opportunities for youth to par3 take in physical fitness. Today in the United States, 

4 fewer than half of the children ages 6–11 engage in 

5 the recommended amount of physical activity, and 

6 that number is lower for low-income families. O’Ree 

7 has stood as a champion of youth athletic participa8 tion and its health benefits for decades. 

9 (12) Hockey is for Everyone programs provide 

10 numerous off-ice services to youth: SAT and aca11 demic tutoring, mentoring, nutrition education, col12 lege counseling, community service opportunities, 

13 and more. The program has excelled at using hockey 

14 as a vehicle to improve the social and emotional 

15 wellness of youth and improve students’ academic 

16 performances both in primary school and beyond. 

17 (13) O’Ree was also named a Member of the 

18 Order of Canada in 2008 and, in 2018, the City of 

19 Boston released an official Proclamation recognizing 

20 January 18, the anniversary of the day he broke 

21 into the game, as ‘‘Willie O’Ree Day’’. 

22 (14) In November 2018, 60 years after O’Ree 

23 entered the NHL, he was inducted into the Hockey 

24 Hall of Fame in the ‘‘builder’’ category in recogni25 tion of his efforts to grow the game, using his posi-
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1 tion and the platform of hockey to improve the lives 

2 of children throughout North America. 

3 SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

4 (a) AWARD AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of the 

5 House of Representatives and the President pro tempore 

6 of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements for the 

7 award, on behalf of the Congress, of a single gold medal 

8 of appropriate design to Willie O’Ree, or if unavailable, 

9 to a member of his family, in recognition of his extraor10 dinary contributions and commitment to hockey, inclusion, 

11 and recreational opportunity. 

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

13 award referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary of the 

14 Treasury (hereafter in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Sec15 retary’’) shall strike the gold medal with suitable emblems, 

16 devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the Sec17 retary. The design shall bear an image of, and an inscrip18 tion of the name of, Willie O’Ree. 

19 SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may strike and sell 

21 duplicates in bronze of the gold medal struck under sec22 tion 3, at a price sufficient to cover the costs of the med23 als, including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, and 

24 overhead expenses. 
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1 (b) PROCEEDS OF SALES.—The amounts received 

2 from the sale of duplicate medals under subsection (a) 

3 shall be deposited in the United States Mint Public Enter4 prise Fund. 

5 (c) AUTHORITY TO USE FUND AMOUNTS.—There is 

6 authorized to be charged against the United States Mint 

7 Public Enterprise Fund such amounts as may be nec8 essary to pay for the costs of the medals struck under 

9 this Act. 

10 SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS. 

11 (a) NATIONAL MEDAL.—The medals struck pursuant 

12 to this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 

13 51 of title 31, United States Code. 

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

15 5134 of title 31, United States Code, all medals struck 

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

Passed the Senate July 27, 2021. 

Attest: 

Secretary. 
117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 452 

AN ACT 

To award a Congressional Gold Medal to Willie 

and recreational opportunity. tributions and commitment to hockey, inclusion, O’Ree, in recognition of his extraordinary con-