I 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4040 

To provide for the award of a gold medal on behalf of Congress to Jack 

Nicklaus in recognition of his service to the Nation in promoting excellence and good sportsmanship in golf. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 15, 2012 

Mr. BACA (for himself, Mr. ROONEY, Mr. TIBERI, and Mr. AUSTRIA) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To provide for the award of a gold medal on behalf of 

Congress to Jack Nicklaus in recognition of his service 

to the Nation in promoting excellence and good sportsmanship in golf. 

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

3 SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 

4 Congress finds that— 

5 (1) Jack Nicklaus is a world famous golf pro6 fessional, a highly successful business executive, a 

7 prominent advertising spokesman, a devoted hus8 band, father, and grandfather, and a man with a 


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1 common touch that has made him one of those most 

2 popular and accessible public figures in history. 

3 (2) Jack Nicklaus amassed 118 victories in pro4 fessional competition of national or international 

5 stature by the end of 2005, 73 of which came on the 

6 Professional Golf Association Tour, and 18 profes7 sional major-championship titles. He is the only 

8 player in golf history to have won each major cham9 pionship at least three times and is the only player 

10 to complete a career ‘‘Grand Slam’’ on the regular 

11 and senior tours. 

12 (3) Jack Nicklaus’ magnetic personality and 

13 unfailing sense of kindness and thoughtfulness have 

14 endeared him to millions throughout the world. 

15 (4) Jack Nicklaus has been the recipient of 

16 countless athletic honors, including the Muhammad 

17 Ali Sports Legend Award and the first-ever ESPY 

18 Lifetime Achievement Award. He became the first 

19 golfer and only the third athlete to receive the Vince 

20 Lombardi Award of Excellence and is also a five21 time winner of the PGA Player of the Year Award. 

22 He was also selected as Golfer of the Century by 

23 GOLF Magazine, Best Individual Male Athlete of 

24 the 20th Century and Sportsman of the Year by 


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1 Sports Illustrated, and he was also inducted into the 

2 World Golf Hall of Fame. 

3 (5) Jack Nicklaus has received numerous hon4 ors outside the world of sports, including several ar5 chitectural awards for his work in golf course de6 signs, such as The Old Tom Morris Award which is 

7 the highest honor given by the Golf Course Super8 intendents Association of America, and both the 

9 Donald Ross Award given by the American Society 

10 of Golf Course Architects and the Don A. Rossi 

11 Award given by the Golf Course Builders Association 

12 of America. 

13 (6) Jack Nicklaus has been involved in the de14 sign of 275 golf courses worldwide and his business, 

15 Nicklaus Design, has 346 courses open for play 

16 globally. 

17 (7) Jack Nicklaus served as the Global Ambas18 sador for a campaign to include golf in the Olympic 

19 Games, which was achieved and will begin in the 

20 2016 Olympic Program. 

21 (8) Jack Nicklaus was honored by President 

22 George W. Bush in 2005 by receiving the Presi23 dential Medal of Freedom, the highest honor given 

24 to any U.S. civilian. 


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1 (9) Jack Nicklaus has a long standing commit2 ment to numerous charitable events such as sup3 porting the Nicklaus Children’s Health Care Foun4 dation, which provides pediatric health care services 

5 in a five county area including Palm Beach County, 

6 Florida, has assisted in raising over $12 million in 

7 just five years for the cause, and continues to sup8 port several scholarship foundations, other children’s 

9 hospitals, and junior golf initiatives. 

10 (10) Jack Nicklaus continues to manage The 

11 Memorial Tournament in his home state of Ohio, in 

12 which contributions generated through the support 

13 of over 2,600 volunteers are given to Nationwide 

14 Children’s Hospital fund. This has garnered more 

15 than $5.7 million for programs and services at this 

16 hospital since 1976, so that Central Ohio will con17 tinue to have one of the best children’s hospitals in 

18 the United States. 

19 (11) Jack Nicklaus and his wife serve as hon20 orary chairman and active chairwoman of the 

21 Nicklaus Children’s Health Care Foundation in 

22 North Palm Beach, Florida, which provides free of 

23 charge health assistance and services to more than 

24 4,000 children and their families through Child Life 

25 programs (support therapeutic interventions for chilVerDate Mar 15 2010 01:02 Feb 16, 2012 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4040.IH H4040

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1 dren with chronic and acute conditions during hos2 pitalization), Miami Children’s Hospital Nicklaus 

3 Care Centers (to offer a new option to Palm Beach 

4 County area families with children who require pedi5 atric specialty care), and Safe Kids program (aimed 

6 at keeping children injury free and offer safety edu7 cation in an effort to decrease accidental injuries in 

8 children). 

9 (12) Jack Nicklaus established an annual pro10 am golf tournament called ‘‘The Jake’’ to honor his 

11 17-month-old grandson who passed in 2005, and it 

12 serves as a primary fundraiser for the Nicklaus Chil13 dren’s Health Care Foundation, which has raised 

14 over $3 million over the last several years. 

15 (13) Jack Nicklaus and General John 

16 Shalikashvili (ret.) serve as honorary chairs of the 

17 American Lake Veterans Golf Course in Tacoma, 

18 Washington, which is designed for the rehabilitation 

19 of wounded and disabled veterans. Nicklaus has do20 nated his design services for the improvement of the 

21 course, and raised contributions for the addition of 

22 nine new holes, the construction of the Rehabilita23 tion and Learning Center, and for the upgrade of 

24 the maintenance facilities through a two-day event 

25 in Palm Desert, CA, called the ‘‘Nicklaus Nine’’. 


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1 (14) Jack Nicklaus serves as a spokesperson 

2 and Trustee for The First Tee program which 

3 brings the game of golf to children who would not 

4 otherwise be exposed to it. 

5 (15) Jack Nicklaus remains active in tour6 nament golf, although he retired from competition in 

7 the major championships in 2005, when he played 

8 his final British Open, his final Masters Tour9 nament, and led the United States to a thrilling vic10 tory in the Presidents Cup. 

11 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

12 (a) AUTHORIZATION.—The Speaker of the House of 

13 Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Sen14 ate shall make appropriate arrangements for the presen15 tation, on behalf of the Congress, of a gold medal of ap16 propriate design to Jack Nicklaus in recognition of his 

17 service to the Nation in promoting excellence and good 

18 sportsmanship. 

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

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

21 of the Treasury shall strike a gold medal with suitable em22 blems, devices, and inscriptions to be determined by the 

23 Secretary. 


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1 SEC. 3. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

2 Under such regulations as the Secretary of the Treas3 ury may prescribe, the Secretary may strike duplicate 

4 medals in bronze of the gold medal struck pursuant to 

5 section 2 and sell such duplicate medals at a price suffi6 cient to cover the costs of the duplicate medals (including 

7 labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, overhead ex8 penses) and the cost of the golf medal. 

9 SEC. 4. NATIONAL MEDALS. 

10 The medals struck under this Act are national medals 

11 for purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United States Code. 

12 SEC. 5. FUNDING. 

13 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

14 authorized to be charged against the United States Mint 

15 Public Enterprise Fund an amount not to exceed $30,000 

16 to pay for the cost of the medals authorized by this Act. 

17 (b) PROCEEDS OF SALE.—Amounts received from the 

18 sale of duplicate bronze medals under section 3 shall be 

19 deposited in the United States Mint Public Enterprise 

20 Fund. 

Æ 


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