I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1174 

To award a Congressional Gold Medal to Dr. Norman Christopher Francis, 

in recognition of his contributions to the United States through his 

lifelong dedication to education, justice, and public service. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 24, 2023 

Mr. CARTER of Louisiana (for himself, Mrs. BEATTY, Ms. STRICKLAND, Mr. 

HORSFORD, Mr. NEGUSE, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, 

Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. IVEY, Mr. CLYBURN, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, 

Ms. CROCKETT, Ms. NORTON, Mrs. FOUSHEE, Ms. ADAMS, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, Ms. PRESSLEY, Mr. DAVIS

of North Carolina, Mrs. MCBATH, Ms. SEWELL, Mr. MEEKS, Mr. 

CLEAVER, Mr. PAYNE, Ms. BROWN, Ms. KAMLAGER-DOVE, Ms. WATERS, 

Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. VEASEY, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Mr. 

BOWMAN, Ms. BARRAGA ́N, Mr. GARCI ́A of Illinois, Mr. SOTO, and Ms. 

WILLIAMS of Georgia) introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To award a Congressional Gold Medal to Dr. Norman Christopher Francis, in recognition of his contributions to 

the United States through his lifelong dedication to education, justice, and public service. 

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 ‘‘Dr. Norman C. 

3 Francis Congressional Gold Medal Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) Dr. Norman Christopher Francis was born 

7 in Lafayette, LA, on March 20, 1931, to Joseph A. 

8 Francis and Mabel F. Francis. His parents were a 

9 barber and a homemaker, and he had a Catholic 

10 education at St. Paul Catholic elementary and sec11 ondary schools in Lafayette. 

12 (2) After graduation, Francis attended Xavier 

13 University of Louisiana in New Orleans, where he 

14 graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree. 

15 (3) An honor student all four years at Xavier 

16 University of Louisiana, young Norman Francis con17 ducted his work scholarship repairing damaged 

18 books in the university library. In his senior year, he 

19 was elected student body president. 

20 (4) From 1952–1955, Francis attended Loyola 

21 University Law School in New Orleans, where he 

22 earned his Juris Doctorate. He made history as the 

23 first Black graduate of Loyola University Law 

24 School in 1955. 

25 (5) Upon graduation he married the late Mrs. 

26 Blanche Macdonald, but then was drafted into the 


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1 United States Army’s Third Armored Division, 

2 where he earned the rank of corporal specialist four. 

3 After a two-year tour of duty, Francis left the Army 

4 in 1957 and began his civilian career. 

5 (6) Upon his return from the military, he joined 

6 the U.S. Attorney’s Office and worked to help inte7 grate Federal agencies. 

8 (7) Dr. Francis used his law degree to rep9 resent civil rights activists as a young lawyer. One 

10 of his clients was Xavier student body president, Ru11 dolph Lombard, who had been arrested for attempt12 ing to integrate the lunch counter at McCrory’s on 

13 Canal Street in New Orleans. 

14 (8) As Dean of Men at Xavier University of 

15 Louisiana in 1961, he showed his moral courage and 

16 vision by housing the Freedom Riders in the historic 

17 St. Michael’s dormitory when the rest of New Orle18 ans establishments had closed their doors to them or 

19 openly threatened their safety. 

20 (9) In 1963, he became Director of Student 

21 Personnel Services and one year later (1964) he was 

22 promoted to Assistant to the President. In 1967, he 

23 became Executive Vice President. 


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1 (10) In 1967, Dr. Francis joined the brother2 hood of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated, 

3 Sigma Lambda chapter. 

4 (11) On the day of the assassination of Dr. 

5 Martin Luther King, April 4, 1968, at the age of 37, 

6 Dr. Francis accepted the position as President of 

7 Xavier University of Louisiana, the Nation’s only 

8 historically Black and Catholic university, and his 

9 alma mater. He broke barriers on that day by be10 coming the first African-American lay person to 

11 serve in that position. 

12 (12) His tenure as President lasted from 1968– 

13 2015, and he is one of the longest-sitting university 

14 presidents in the Nation’s history. Over that 49-year 

15 term, Dr. Francis steered the university to grow 

16 both in size and dimension. 

17 (13) Dr. Francis was President of Xavier Uni18 versity of Louisiana during the height of the Civil 

19 Rights Movement, and while at the helm of the 

20 school, he more than tripled its enrollment, ex21 panded course offerings, and transformed the cam22 pus grounds into an ‘‘Emerald City’’ of colorful 

23 green roofs. During his tenure, Xavier awarded more 

24 doctorate pharmacy degrees to Black Americans and 


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1 sent more Black graduates to medical school than 

2 any other U.S. university. 

3 (14) Dr. Francis cofounded the Liberty Bank 

4 of New Orleans, one of the largest Black-owned 

5 banks in the country. Dr. Francis has served as its 

6 Chairman since the Bank’s inception in 1972 work7 ing to improve access to financial institutions for 

8 Black Americans. 

9 (15) Francis has served in an advisory role to 

10 eight U.S. presidential administrations—not only on 

11 education issues, but civil rights as well—in addition 

12 to serving on 54 boards and commissions. In 1983, 

13 Francis helped compile and release the report ‘‘A 

14 Nation at Risk’’ during his service on the National 

15 Commission on Excellence in Education. The report 

16 was a landmark piece that summarized racism and 

17 classism with the school system and called for com18 prehensive education reform. 

19 (16) He co-chaired the Louisiana Recovery Au20 thority after Hurricane Katrina, playing a vital role 

21 in helping the people of New Orleans and the Gulf 

22 Coast rebuild their lives in the aftermath of Hurri23 cane Katrina. 

24 (17) In 2006, then-President George W. Bush 

25 presented him with the Nation’s highest civil award, 


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1 the Presidential Medal of Freedom in recognition of 

2 his, ‘‘deep intellect, compassion and character.’’. 

3 (18) In 2009, he was named one of ‘‘America’s 

4 Best Leaders’’ by U.S. News Media Group and the 

5 Center for Public Leadership (CPL) at Harvard 

6 Kennedy’s School of Government. 

7 (19) He has received 40 honorary degrees from 

8 other universities, and at least 20 major awards in 

9 recognition of his leadership in higher education as 

10 well as his unselfish service to New Orleans and to 

11 the Nation. 

12 (20) Francis’ civic endeavors include service as 

13 Chair of the Louisiana Recovery Authority, past 

14 Chair of the Louisiana Disaster Recovery Founda15 tion, past Chair of the Southern Education Founda16 tion, Chairman of the Board of Liberty Bank and 

17 Trust and a member of the Times-Picayune Advi18 sory Board. Previously he has been Chairman of the 

19 New Orleans Aviation Board, the Metropolitan Area 

20 Committee Education Fund and the Board of Direc21 tors of PBS-affiliate WLAE–TV. 

22 (21) Dr. Francis has been involved at the na23 tional level as past Chairman of the Boards of the 

24 Educational Testing Service, the Carnegie Founda25 tion for the Advancement of Teaching, the College 


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1 Board, the Southern Education Foundation and the 

2 American Association of Higher Education. He was 

3 also member president of the UNCF, a member of 

4 the Board of Trustees of Catholic University, and 

5 Chairman of SACS, the southern regional accred6 iting agency for more than 11,000 institutions in 

7 eleven States. 

8 (22) A man of enduring determination, vision, 

9 faith, and strength, Dr. Norman C. Francis has for10 ever changed the lives and landscape of the commu11 nities of New Orleans, Louisiana, and all of Amer12 ica. We are forever grateful for his service and are 

13 proud to present him with the distinguished recogni14 tion of a Congressional Gold Medal. 

15 SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

16 (a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of 

17 the House of Representatives and the President pro tem18 pore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements 

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

20 medal of appropriate design to Dr. Norman C. Francis, 

21 in recognition of his contributions to the United States. 

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

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

24 of the Treasury (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Sec25 retary’’) shall strike a gold medal with suitable emblems, 


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1 devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the Sec2 retary. The design shall bear an image of, and inscription 

3 of the name of, Dr. Norman C. Francis. 

4 SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

5 The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 

6 bronze of the gold medal struck pursuant to section 3, at 

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

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

9 SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS. 

10 (a) NATIONAL MEDALS.—The medals struck pursu11 ant to this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 

12 51 of title 31, United States Code. 

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

14 5134 and 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all medals 

15 struck under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic 

16 items. 

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

18 SALE. 

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

20 authorized to be charged against the United States Mint 

21 Public Enterprise Fund such amounts as may be nec22 essary to pay for the costs of the medals struck under 

23 this Act. 

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

25 sale of duplicate bronze medals authorized under section 


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1 4 shall be deposited into the United States Mint Public 

2 Enterprise Fund. 

Æ 


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