I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 9950 

To award 3 Congressional Gold Medals to the members of the 1980 U.S. 

Olympic Men’s Ice Hockey Team, in recognition of their extraordinary 

achievement at the 1980 Winter Olympics where, being comprised of 

amateur collegiate players, they defeated the dominant Soviet hockey 

team in the historic ‘‘Miracle on Ice’’, revitalizing American morale 

at the height of the Cold War, inspiring generations and transforming 

the sport of hockey in the United States. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 8, 2024 

Mr. STAUBER (for himself, Ms. STEFANIK, Mr. QUIGLEY, and Mr. KEATING) 

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

A BILL 

To award 3 Congressional Gold Medals to the members of 

the 1980 U.S. Olympic Men’s Ice Hockey Team, in recognition of their extraordinary achievement at the 1980 

Winter Olympics where, being comprised of amateur collegiate players, they defeated the dominant Soviet hockey 

team in the historic ‘‘Miracle on Ice’’, revitalizing American morale at the height of the Cold War, inspiring 

generations and transforming the sport of hockey in the 

United States. 

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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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Miracle on Ice Con3 gressional Gold Medal Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) The USA Olympic men’s ice hockey team 

7 competed at the 1980 Winter Olympics, officially the 

8 XIII Olympic Winter Games and known as the 1980 

9 Lake Placid games, from February 13 to 24, 1980, 

10 in Lake Placid, New York. 

11 (2) Team USA, comprised of collegiate players, 

12 defeated the defending Olympic champion the Soviet 

13 Union 4–3 on February 22, 1980, in the final round 

14 of the 1980 Winter Olympics men’s hockey tour15 nament. 

16 (3) The 1980 USA Olympic men’s hockey team 

17 roster included— 

18 (A) Bill Baker (Grand Rapids, MN); 

19 (B) Neal Broten (Roseau, MN); 

20 (C) Dave Christian (Warroad, MN); 

21 (D) Steve Christoff (Richfield, MN); 

22 (E) Jim Craig (North Easton, MA); 

23 (F) Mike Eruzione (Winthrop, MA); 

24 (G) John Harrington (Virginia, MN); 

25 (H) Steve Janaszak (Saint Paul, MN); 

26 (I) Mark Johnson (Madison, WI); 


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1 (J) Rob McClanahan (Saint Paul, MN); 

2 (K) Ken Morrow (Flint, MI); 

3 (L) Jack O’Callahan (Charlestown, MA); 

4 (M) Mark Pavelich (Eveleth, MN); 

5 (N) Mike Ramsey (Minneapolis, MN); 

6 (O) Buzz Schneider (Grand Rapids, MN); 

7 (P) Dave Silk (Scituate, MA); 

8 (Q) Eric Strobel (Rochester, MN); 

9 (R) Bob Suter (Madison, WI); 

10 (S) Mark Wells (St. Clair Shores, MI); and 

11 (T) Phil Verchota (Duluth, MN). 

12 (4) The ‘‘Miracle on Ice’’ USA-Soviet Union 

13 final round game aired on tape delay on Feb 22, 

14 1980, from the Lake Placid Games and drew 

15 34,200,000 average viewers. The match is remem16 bered as a ‘‘miracle’’ as collegiate hockey players de17 fied expectations in defeating a Soviet team that 

18 won 4 consecutive gold medals dating back to 1964. 

19 (5) Team USA defeated Finland 4–1 in its 

20 final game to win the gold medal, its first gold 

21 medal since 1960 in men’s hockey. 

22 (6) Herb Brooks, the last player cut from the 

23 1960 U.S. Olympic team that won gold at Squaw 

24 Valley, guided the 1980 team to its historic gold 

25 medal. Known as a motivator, Brooks molded a 


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1 team built around hard work, belief in oneself and 

2 belief in teammates. He reminded his team when 

3 they played the Soviets, ‘‘you were born to be hockey 

4 players, everyone one of you . . . and you were 

5 meant to be here’’. 

6 (7) The tournament occurred at a time when 

7 the United States was struggling with rampant stag8 flation, high gas prices, hostages held in Iran, and 

9 increased tensions with the Soviet Union whose inva10 sion of Afghanistan led to the boycott of the 1980 

11 Summer Olympics. 

12 (8) The Miracle on Ice was a turning point for 

13 American hockey. The game was named the greatest 

14 sports moment of the 20th century by Sports Illus15 trated. 

16 (9) The historic win brought hockey to the 

17 front-page of newspapers everywhere, and forever 

18 opened the door to the NHL for American-born 

19 players. The impact of the event was far-reaching 

20 and is still being felt today. 

21 (10) Since 1980 American interest in the sport 

22 of Hockey has increased exponentially. Registrations 

23 with USA Hockey have increased by nearly 400 per24 cent since 1980 from 136,000 to over 564,000, and 


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1 the number of NHL players from the United States 

2 has increased from 72 in 1980 to 245 in 2024. 

3 SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDALS. 

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 presentation, on behalf of the Congress, of 3 gold medals 

8 of appropriate design to the members of the 1980 U.S. 

9 Olympic Men’s Ice Hockey Team, in recognition of their 

10 extraordinary achievement at the 1980 Olympic Winter 

11 Games where, being comprised of amateur collegiate play12 ers, they defeated the dominant Soviet hockey team in the 

13 historic ‘‘Miracle on Ice’’, revitalizing American morale at 

14 the height of the Cold War, inspiring generations and 

15 transforming the sport of hockey in the United States. 

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

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

18 Treasury (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall 

19 strike gold medals with suitable emblems, devices, and in20 scriptions to be determined by the Secretary. 

21 (c) DISPOSITION OF MEDALS.—Following the award 

22 of the gold medals under subsection (a)— 

23 (1) one gold medal shall be given to the Lake 

24 Placid Olympic Center in Lake Placid, NY, where it 


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1 shall be displayed as appropriate and made available 

2 for research; 

3 (2) one gold medal shall be given to the United 

4 States Hockey Hall of Fame in Eveleth, MN, where 

5 it shall be displayed as appropriate and made avail6 able for research; and 

7 (3) one gold medal shall be given to the U.S. 

8 Olympic and Paralympic Museum in Colorado 

9 Springs, CO, where it shall be displayed as appro10 priate and made available for research. 

11 SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

12 The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 

13 bronze of the gold medals struck under section 3, at a 

14 price sufficient to cover the costs thereof, including labor, 

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

16 SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS. 

17 (a) NATIONAL MEDALS.—The medals struck under 

18 this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 51 

19 of title 31, United States Code. 

20 (b) NUMISMATIC ITEMS.—For purposes of sections 

21 5134 and 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all medals 

22 struck under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic 

23 items. 


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

2 SALE. 

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

4 authorized to be charged against the United States Mint 

5 Public Enterprise Fund such amounts as may be nec6 essary to pay for the costs of the medals struck pursuant 

7 to this Act. 

8 (b) PROCEEDS OF SALE.—The amounts received 

9 from the sale of duplicate bronze medals authorized under 

10 section 4 shall be deposited into the United States Mint 

11 Public Enterprise Fund. 

Æ 


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