II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 452 

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

his extraordinary contributions and commitment to hockey, inclusion, 

and recreational opportunity. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 25, 2021 

Ms. STABENOW (for herself and Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Willie O’Ree Congres5 sional Gold Medal Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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

2 compete in the National Hockey League (NHL), ap3 pearing for the Boston Bruins on January 18, 1958, 

4 in the throes of the civil rights movement in the 

5 United States helping to end racial segregation in 

6 the premier professional ice hockey league; he is 

7 widely referred to as the ‘‘Jackie Robinson of Hock8 ey’’. 

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

10 Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada; he is the 

11 youngest of 13 children and a descendant of Paris 

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

13 document ‘‘The Book of Negroes’’. 

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

15 Fredericton, a predominantly White town where 

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

17 was a standout athlete on the ice and the baseball 

18 diamond. 

19 (4) At age 21, O’Ree was being scouted by pro20 fessional baseball teams and seriously considered 

21 baseball as a career. Upon experiencing the seg22 regated South for the first time while appearing for 

23 a minor league tryout, his dream changed and his 

24 attention turned solely to ice hockey. 


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1 (5) While playing amateur hockey, Willie was 

2 struck in his right eye with a puck and lost his eye3 sight. He was told by doctors to abandon his hockey 

4 career; instead, never disclosing the extent of his in5 jury, he pursued his dream of playing professional 

6 hockey. 

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

8 the Quebec Aces of the Quebec Hockey League 

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

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

11 was unaware he had broken the color barrier at the 

12 top level of the sport until he read it in the news13 paper the following day. 

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

15 times throughout his career, O’Ree persevered and 

16 played professional hockey for 22 years, tallying over 

17 1,000 points. 

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

19 professional hockey, the National Hockey League 

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

21 Having already changed the game forever through 

22 his courage and convictions, O’Ree gives new defini23 tion to what it means to be a trailblazer. 

24 (9) In this role as Diversity Ambassador with 

25 the NHL, O’Ree set out to grow the sport by proVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:36 Mar 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S452.IS S452

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1 viding access, opportunity, and motivation for chil2 dren of all races, ethnicities, origins, and abilities. 

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

4 possible and serving as a relentless supporter of chil5 dren pursuing their dreams, more than 30 nonprofit 

6 youth organizations, dubbed Hockey is for Everyone 

7 programs, were developed across North America, 

8 each committed to offering minority and under9 served children an opportunity to play hockey, 

10 leveraging the sport to build character, foster posi11 tive values, and develop important life skills. 

12 (10) Through Hockey is for Everyone pro13 grams, more than 120,000 boys and girls have been 

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

15 days on the ground with the youth participants, vis16 iting more than 500 schools, community centers, and 

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

18 stay in school; set goals for yourself; remain com19 mitted and disciplined; and always respect your 

20 teammates, coaches, and parents. 

21 (11) Hockey is for Everyone programs have 

22 provided important opportunities for youth to par23 take in physical fitness. Today in the United States, 

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

25 the recommended amount of physical activity, and 


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

2 has stood as a champion of youth athletic participa3 tion and its health benefits for decades. 

4 (12) Hockey is for Everyone programs provide 

5 numerous off-ice services to youth: SAT and aca6 demic tutoring, mentoring, nutrition education, col7 lege counseling, community service opportunities, 

8 and more. The program has excelled at using hockey 

9 as a vehicle to improve the social and emotional 

10 wellness of youth and improve students’ academic 

11 performances both in primary school and beyond. 

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

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

14 Boston released an official Proclamation recognizing 

15 January 18, the anniversary of the day he broke 

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

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

18 entered the NHL, he was inducted into the Hockey 

19 Hall of Fame in the ‘‘builder’’ category in recogni20 tion of his efforts to grow the game, using his posi21 tion and the platform of hockey to improve the lives 

22 of children throughout North America. 

23 SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

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

25 House of Representatives and the President pro tempore 


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1 of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements for the 

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

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

4 to a member of his family, in recognition of his extraor5 dinary contributions and commitment to hockey, inclusion, 

6 and recreational opportunity. 

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

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

9 Treasury (hereafter in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Sec10 retary’’) shall strike the gold medal with suitable emblems, 

11 devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the Sec12 retary. The design shall bear an image of, and an inscrip13 tion of the name of, Willie O’Ree. 

14 SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

15 Under such regulations as the Secretary may pre16 scribe, the Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 

17 bronze of the gold medal struck under section 3, at a price 

18 sufficient to cover the costs of the medals, including labor, 

19 materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses. 

20 SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS. 

21 Medals struck pursuant to this Act are national med22 als for purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United States 

23 Code. 

Æ 


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