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108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2680

To authorize the President to award a gold medal on behalf of the Congress 

to Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr. (posthumously) and his 

widow Coretta Scott King in recognition of their contributions to the 

Nation on behalf of the civil rights movement. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 9, 2003

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia (for himself, Mr. HOUGHTON, Mr. SCOTT of Georgia, 

Ms. KILPATRICK, Mr. JEFFERSON, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. PAYNE, Ms. 

SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. SANDLIN, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Mr. SHAYS, Mr. 

SNYDER, Mr. REYES, Mr. KENNEDY of Rhode Island, Mr. LARSEN of 

Washington, Mrs. JONES of Ohio, Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida, Mr. 

CONYERS, Mr. DANNY DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. ACEVEDO-VILA ́, Mr. BISHOP

of Georgia, Mrs. CHRISTENSEN, Mr. CLYBURN, Mr. DINGELL, Mr. 

SERRANO, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mr. BECERRA, Mr. LAMPSON, Mr. 

MCGOVERN, Mr. FROST, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. WATT, Ms. 

WOOLSEY, Mr. GONZALES, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. WYNN, Mr. HASTINGS of 

Florida, Mr. MOORE, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. OWENS, Ms. MILLENDERMCDONALD, Mr. CUMMINGS, Ms. NORTON, Ms. CARSON of Indiana, Mr. 

BALLANCE, Mr. DELAHUNT, Mr. CLAY, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mr. DAVIS of 

Alabama, Mr. FATTAH, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Ms. MAJETTE, Ms. 

DELAURO, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. CASE, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Mr. 

FERGUSON, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. HONDA, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. FRANK of 

Massachusetts, Mr. SKELTON, Mr. RAHALL, Mr. GILCHREST, Mr. 

LEACH, Mr. PORTMAN, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Ms. 

EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. TERRY, Ms. LEE, Mr. FORD, 

Ms. WATSON, Mr. MEEKS of New York, Mr. RUSH, Ms. WATERS, Mr. 

MEEK of Florida, Mr. UPTON, and Mr. JACKSON of Illinois) introduced 

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

A BILL

To authorize the President to award a gold medal on behalf 
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HR 2680 IH1S 

of the Congress to Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, 

Jr. (posthumously) and his widow Coretta Scott King 

in recognition of their contributions to the Nation on 

behalf of the civil rights 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. FINDINGS. 

4 The Congress finds the following: 

5 (1) Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr. 

6 and his widow Coretta Scott King, as the first fam7 ily of the civil rights movement, have distinguished 

8 records of public service to the American people and 

9 the international community. 

10 (2) Dr. King preached a doctrine of nonviolent 

11 civil disobedience to combat segregation, discrimina12 tion, and racial injustice. 

13 (3) Dr. King led the Montgomery bus boycott 

14 for 381 days to protest the arrest of Mrs. Rosa 

15 Parks and the segregation of the bus system of 

16 Montgomery, Alabama. 

17 (4) In 1963, Dr. King led the march on Wash18 ington, D.C., that was followed by his famous ad19 dress, the ‘‘I Have a Dream’’ speech. 

20 (5) Through his work and reliance on non21 violent protest, Dr. King was instrumental in the 
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1 passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Vot2 ing Rights Act of 1965. 

3 (6) Despite efforts to derail his mission, Dr. 

4 King acted on his dream of America and succeeded 

5 in making the United States a better place. 

6 (7) Dr. King was assassinated for his beliefs on 

7 April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee. 

8 (8) Mrs. King stepped into the civil rights 

9 movement in 1955 during the Montgomery bus boy10 cott and played an important role as a leading par11 ticipant in the American civil rights movement. 

12 (9) While raising 4 children, Mrs. King devoted 

13 herself to working alongside her husband for non14 violent social change and full civil rights for African 

15 Americans. 

16 (10) With a strong educational background in 

17 music, Mrs. King established and performed several 

18 Freedom Concerts, which were well received and 

19 combined prose and poetry narration with musical 

20 selections to increase awareness and understanding 

21 of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (of 

22 which Dr. King served as the first president). 

23 (11) Mrs. King demonstrated composure in 

24 deep sorrow, as she led the Nation in mourning her 

25 husband after his brutal assassination. 
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1 (12) After the assassination, Mrs. King devoted 

2 all of her time and energy to developing and building 

3 the Atlanta-based Martin Luther King Jr. Center 

4 for Nonviolent Social Change as an enduring memo5 rial to her husband’s life and his dream of non6 violent social change and full civil rights for all 

7 Americans. 

8 (13) Under Mrs. King’s guidance and direction, 

9 the Center has flourished. The Center was the first 

10 institution built in honor of an African-American 

11 leader. It provides local, national, and international 

12 programs that have trained tens of thousands of 

13 people in Dr. King’s philosophy and methods, and 

14 claims the largest archive of the civil rights move15 ment. 

16 (14) Mrs. King led the massive campaign to es17 tablish Dr. King’s birthday as a national holiday, 

18 and the holiday is now celebrated in more than 100 

19 countries. 

20 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

21 (a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The President is 

22 authorized to present, on behalf of the Congress, a gold 

23 medal of appropriate design to Reverend Doctor Martin 

24 Luther King, Jr. (posthumously) and his widow Coretta 

25 Scott King in recognition of their service to the Nation. 
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1 (b) DESIGN AND STRIKING.—For the purpose of the 

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

3 of the Treasury shall strike a gold medal with suitable em4 blems, devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the 

5 Secretary. 

6 SEC. 3. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

7 The Secretary of the Treasury shall strike and sell 

8 duplicates in bronze of the gold medal struck pursuant 

9 to section 2 under such regulations as the Secretary may 

10 prescribe, at a price sufficient to cover the costs of the 

11 duplicate medals and the gold medal (including labor, ma12 terials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses). 

13 SEC. 4. NATIONAL MEDALS. 

14 The medals struck under this Act are national medals 

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

16 SEC. 5. FUNDING AND PROCEEDS OF SALE. 

17 (a) AUTHORIZATION.—There is hereby authorized to 

18 be charged against the United States Mint Public Enter19 prise Fund an amount not to exceed $30,000 to pay for 

20 the cost of the medals authorized by this Act. 

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

22 sale of duplicate bronze medals under section 3 shall be 

23 deposited in the United States Mint Public Enterprise 

24 Fund.

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