I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 9419 

To award a Congressional Gold Medal to Peter McGuire in recognition of 

his contributions to the American Labor Movement. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

AUGUST 27, 2024 

Mr. NORCROSS (for himself, Ms. ADAMS, Ms. WILD, Ms. SA ́NCHEZ, Mr. DAVIS

of North Carolina, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. POCAN, Mr. LYNCH, Mrs. 

TRAHAN, Mr. KENNEDY, Ms. SALINAS, Ms. BUDZINSKI, and Mr. GOLDMAN of New York) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committee 

on House Administration, for a period to be subsequently determined by 

the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To award a Congressional Gold Medal to Peter McGuire 

in recognition of his contributions to the American Labor 

Movement. 

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 ‘‘Peter McGuire Con5 gressional Gold Medal Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds following: 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 9419 IH

1 (1) Peter McGuire’s advocacy for the American 

2 Labor Movement led to great gains for American 

3 workers and their ability to organize and collectively 

4 bargain, especially in wages, worker solidarity, and 

5 the movement for the 8-hour workday. 

6 (2) Peter McGuire is known as the ‘‘Father of 

7 Labor Day and of May Day’’ for his contributions 

8 to American workers. 

9 (3) Mr. McGuire is recognized for building the 

10 United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of 

11 America into a powerful force advocating for Amer12 ican workers, and one of the most powerful labor or13 ganizations in the world. 

14 (4) Within 2 years, Mr. McGuire’s St. Louis 

15 carpenters achieved such impressive success and 

16 wage gains that it attracted the attention of car17 penters across the United States. 

18 (5) In 1881, Mr. McGuire called for a national 

19 meeting of carpenters’ unions in Chicago which re20 sulted in the formation of the United Brotherhood 

21 of Carpenters and Joiners of America, and was 

22 elected the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and 

23 Joiners of America’s Chief Administrative Officer. 

24 (6) In 1881, Mr. McGuire wrote the convention 

25 call for the national conference of labor unions that 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 9419 IH

1 established the Federation of Organized Trades and 

2 Labor Unions, which, in 1886, reorganized into the 

3 American Federation of Labor. 

4 (7) Mr. McGuire was elected the first Secretary 

5 of the American Federation of Labor. 

6 (8) Mr. McGuire advocated admirably for an 8- 

7 hour workday, and his action resulted in meaningful 

8 gains for the 8-hour workday movement. Mr. 

9 McGuire led impactful strikes in 1886 and 1890, 

10 which put the 8-hour workday on the minds of the 

11 American public. The latter strike resulted in espe12 cially impressive gains for workers, and one of the 

13 most successful strikes of the 19th century: over 

14 23,000 carpenters in 36 cities gained the 8-hour 

15 workday, and 32,000 others gained the nine-hour 

16 workday. 

17 SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

18 (a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of 

19 the House of Representatives and the President pro tem20 pore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements 

21 for the presentation, on behalf of Congress, of a single 

22 gold medal of appropriate design in honor of Peter 

23 McGuire in recognition of his contributions to the Amer24 ican Labor Movement. 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 9419 IH

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

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

3 of the Treasury (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Sec4 retary’’) shall strike a gold medal with suitable emblems, 

5 devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the Sec6 retary, in consultation with the Secretary of Labor. 

7 (c) NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AMERICAN HISTORY.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Following the award of the 

9 gold medal in honor of Peter McGuire, the gold 

10 medal shall be given to the Smithsonian Institution 

11 National Museum of American History, where it will 

12 be available for display as appropriate and available 

13 for research. 

14 (2) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of 

15 Congress that the National Museum of American 

16 History should make the gold medal awarded pursu17 ant to this Act available for display elsewhere, par18 ticularly at appropriate locations associated with the 

19 American Labor Movement or the Gilded Age. 

20 SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

21 The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 

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

23 sufficient to cover the costs thereof, including labor, mate24 rials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses. 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 9419 IH

1 SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS. 

2 (a) NATIONAL MEDAL.—Medals struck pursuant to 

3 this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 51 

4 of title 31, United States Code. 

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

6 5134 and 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all medals 

7 struck under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic 

8 items. 

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

10 SALE. 

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

12 authorized to be charged against the United States Mint 

13 Public Enterprise Fund such amounts as may be nec14 essary to pay for the costs of the medals struck under 

15 this Act. 

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

17 sale of duplicate bronze medals authorized under section 

18 4 shall be deposited into the United States Mint Public 

19 Enterprise Fund. 

Æ 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS