I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1628

To award a congressional gold medal to Chief Phillip Martin of the Mississippi 

Band of Choctaw Indians. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 3, 2003

Mr. PICKERING introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL

To award a congressional gold medal to Chief Phillip Martin 

of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians.

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 ‘‘Chief Martin Congres5 sional Gold Medal Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds as follows: 

8 (1) For more than 45 years, Chief Phillip Mar9 tin has provided extraordinary leadership to the Mis10 sissippi Band of Choctaw Indians, a federally recog-
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1 nized Indian tribe located in the State of Mississippi, 

2 as the tribe has undertaken a long and courageous 

3 journey to preserve social and cultural identity while 

4 developing relative prosperity. 

5 (2) The vision, guidance, and determination of 

6 Chief Martin has led to the emergence of a virtual 

7 economic miracle, the creation and development of a 

8 new government, and the revitalization of an ancient 

9 society: a claim few governmental leaders of our 

10 time are able to make. 

11 (3) Chief Martin has led efforts designed to cre12 ate a vibrant tribal economy that would first provide 

13 jobs, then dignity, and over time a higher quality of 

14 life for the Choctaw people as well as neighboring 

15 communities. 

16 (4) Once described as ‘‘the worst poverty pocket 

17 in the poorest State of the Union’’, the Choctaws 

18 under Chief Martin’s leadership have evolved from 

19 subsistence sharecroppers to become proprietors of a 

20 multi-enterprise, industrial and commercial power21 house. 

22 (5) With the creation of nearly 9,000 perma23 nent, full-time jobs, the Choctaw tribe is now one of 

24 the five largest employers in the State of Mississippi. 
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1 (6) Chief Martin has been guided by a belief 

2 that self-reliance breeds opportunity. 

3 (7) Early developments on the Choctaw reserva4 tion, while modest in retrospect, were nonetheless 

5 ambitious and challenging in their beginnings. 

6 (8) Faced with active opposition from Federal 

7 authorities and expectations of failure from many 

8 others, Chief Martin tenaciously led the Choctaw 

9 tribe to establish a tribally-owned construction com10 pany, then a small industrial park which produced 

11 the first large scale reservation-based manufacturing 

12 jobs in the Nation. 

13 (9) In addition to more usual government-oper14 ated enterprises, such as a transit authority, a util15 ity commission, and a public works department, the 

16 Chief also created many fruitful partnerships with 

17 the private sector. 

18 (10) These dynamic developments have now 

19 given the tribe a solid economic foundation. 

20 (11) Recognizing that the most valuable asset 

21 of any community is its people, Chief Martin led the 

22 Choctaws to take over direct operation of its own 

23 education system from the Bureau of Indian Affairs. 
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1 (12) The tribe today operates the largest uni2 fied tribal school system in the Nation with 6 ele3 mentary schools, a middle school, and a high school. 

4 (13) Chief Martin has continued toward the 

5 goal of producing a new generation of well-educated 

6 and well-trained tribal members through establish7 ment of the Choctaw Indian Scholarships Program 

8 giving all Mississippi Choctaw students the oppor9 tunity to attend colleges and universities of their 

10 choice. 

11 (14) With the passage of the Indian Self-Deter12 mination and Education Assistance Act in 1975, the 

13 Congress established the concepts of self-determina14 tion, self-reliance, and tribal initiative as the basis 

15 for a new covenant between the Federal Government 

16 and the American Indian peoples. 

17 (15) However, it has only been through the ex18 traordinary commitment and ceaseless efforts of 

19 tribal leaders, such as Chief Martin, that these con20 cepts were given life and put into practice. 

21 (16) ‘‘Choctaw Self Determination’’ became 

22 Chief Martin’s clarion call (and it remains the 

23 tribe’s unofficial slogan) to motivate an impoverished 

24 reservation that institutionalized poverty and hope25 lessness to transform itself into the vibrant entity 
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1 that today serves as a beacon of success for other 

2 tribal and non-tribal communities. 

3 (17) Deeply devoted to tribal sovereignty, trust 

4 land, and economic development issues, Chief Martin 

5 has improved the lives of thousands in Mississippi 

6 and is perhaps the most recognized American Indian 

7 leader: he has been called ‘‘one of Indian Country’s 

8 greatest leaders’’. 

9 (18) The outstanding example of Chief Phillip 

10 Martin deserves to be recognized and honored by the 

11 United States Congress. 

12 SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

13 (a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of 

14 the House of Representatives and the President Pro Tem15 pore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements 

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

17 medal of appropriate design, to Chief Phillip Martin in 

18 recognition of his leadership of the Mississippi Band of 

19 Choctaw Indians for over 45 years, and for his invaluable 

20 contributions nationally to the American Indian commu21 nity and particularly to the native and non-native commu22 nities of Mississippi. 

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

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

25 of the Treasury (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Sec-
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1 retary’’) shall strike a gold medal with suitable emblems, 

2 devices, and inscriptions to be determined by the Sec3 retary. 

4 SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

5 The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 

6 bronze of the gold medal struck pursuant to section 2 

7 under such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, at 

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

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

10 and the cost of the gold medal. 

11 SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS. 

12 (a) NATIONAL MEDALS.—The medals struck pursu13 ant to this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 

14 51 of title 31, United States Code. 

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

16 5134 of title 31, United States Code, all medals struck 

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

18 SEC. 6. AUTHORITY TO USE FUND AMOUNTS; PROCEEDS OF 

19 SALE. 

20 (a) AUTHORITY TO USE FUND AMOUNTS.—There is 

21 authorized to be charged against the United States Mint 

22 Public Enterprise Fund such amounts as may be nec23 essary to pay for the costs of the medals struck pursuant 

24 to this Act. 
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1 (b) PROCEEDS OF SALE.—Amounts received from the 

2 sale of duplicate bronze medals authorized under section 

3 4 shall be deposited into the United States Mint Public 

4 Enterprise Fund.

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