PUBLIC LAW 109–395—DEC. 14, 2006

CONGRESSIONAL TRIBUTE TO

DR. NORMAN E. BORLAUG ACT OF 2006

120 STAT. 2708 PUBLIC LAW 109–395—DEC. 14, 2006

Public Law 109–395

109th Congress

An Act

To award a congressional gold medal to Dr. Norman E. Borlaug.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of

the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Congressional Tribute to Dr.

Norman E. Borlaug Act of 2006’’.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

Congress finds as follows:

(1) Dr. Norman E. Borlaug, was born in Iowa where he

grew up on a family farm, and received his primary and secondary education.

(2) Dr. Borlaug attended the University of Minnesota where

he received his B.A. and Ph.D. degrees and was also a star

NCAA wrestler.

(3) For the past 20 years, Dr. Borlaug has lived in Texas

where he is a member of the faculty of Texas A&M University.

(4) Dr. Borlaug also serves as President of the Sasakawa

Africa Association.

(5) Dr. Borlaug’s accomplishments in terms of bringing

radical change to world agriculture and uplifting humanity

are without parallel.

(6) In the immediate aftermath of World War II, Dr.

Borlaug spent 20 years working in the poorest areas of rural

Mexico. It was there that Dr. Borlaug made his breakthrough

achievement in developing a strand of wheat that could

exponentially increase yields while actively resisting disease.

(7) With the active support of the governments involved,

Dr. Borlaug’s ‘‘green revolution’’ uplifted hundreds of thousands

of the rural poor in Mexico and saved hundreds of millions

from famine and outright starvation in India and Pakistan.

(8) Dr. Borlaug’s approach to wheat production next spread

throughout the Middle East. Soon thereafter his approach was

adapted to rice growing, increasing the number of lives Dr.

Borlaug has saved to more than a billion people.

(9) In 1970, Dr. Borlaug received the Nobel Prize, the

only person working in agriculture to ever be so honored. Since

then he has received numerous honors and awards including

the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Public Service Medal,

the National Academy of Sciences’ highest honor, and the

Rotary International Award for World Understanding and

Peace.

Congressional

Tribute to

Dr. Norman E.

Borlaug Act

of 2006.

31 USC 5111

note.

Dec. 14, 2006

[S. 2250]

PUBLIC LAW 109–395—DEC. 14, 2006 120 STAT. 2709

(10) At age 91, Dr. Borlaug continues to work to alleviate

poverty and malnutrition. He currently serves as president

of Sasakawa Global 2000 Africa Project, which seeks to extend

the benefits of agricultural development to the 800,000,000

people still mired in poverty and malnutrition in sub-Saharan

Africa.

(11) Dr. Borlaug continues to serve as Chairman of the

Council of Advisors of the World Food Prize, an organization

he created in 1986 to be the ‘‘Nobel Prize for Food and Agriculture’’ and which presents a $250,000 prize each October

at a Ceremony in Des Moines, Iowa, to the Laureate who

has made an exceptional achievement similar to Dr. Borlaug’s

breakthrough 40 years ago. In the almost 20 years of its existence, the World Food Prize has honored Laureates from Bangladesh, India, China, Mexico, Denmark, Sierra Leone, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

(12) Dr. Borlaug has saved more lives than any other

person who has ever lived, and likely has saved more lives

in the Islamic world than any other human being in history.

(13) Due to a lifetime of work that has led to the saving

and preservation of an untold amount of lives, Dr. Norman

E. Borlaug is deserving of America’s highest civilian award:

the congressional gold medal.

SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL.

(a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The President Pro Tempore

of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives

are authorized to make appropriate arrangements for the presentation, on behalf of Congress, of a gold medal of appropriate design,

to Dr. Norman E. Borlaug, in recognition of his enduring contributions to the United States and the world.

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

referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury (in

this Act referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall strike a gold medal

with suitable emblems, devices, and inscriptions, to be determined

by the Secretary.

SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS.

Under such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, the

Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in bronze of the gold

medal struck under section 3 at a price sufficient to cover the

cost thereof, including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery,

and overhead expenses, and the cost of the gold medal.

SEC. 5. STATUS AS NATIONAL MEDALS.

(a) NATIONAL MEDAL.—The medal struck under this Act is

a national medal for purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United

States Code.

(b) NUMISMATIC ITEMS.—For purposes of section 5134 of title

31, United States Code, all duplicate medals struck under this

Act shall be considered to be numismatic items.

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

(a) AUTHORITY TO USE FUND AMOUNTS.—There are authorized

to be charged against the United States Mint Public Enterprise

Fund, such sums as may be necessary to pay for the cost of the

medals struck under this Act.

120 STAT. 2710 PUBLIC LAW 109–395—DEC. 14, 2006

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY—S. 2250:

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 152 (2006):

Sept. 27, considered and passed Senate.

Dec. 6, considered and passed House.

Æ

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

duplicate bronze medals under section 4 shall be deposited in the

United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund.

Approved December 14, 2006.