I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2818

To award a congressional gold medal to the family of the late Rau ́l Julia ́. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 22, 2003

Mr. GUTIERREZ (for himself, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. REYES, 

Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. ACEVEDO-VILA ́, Mr. FROST, Mr. 

BERMAN, Mr. PAYNE, Ms. WATERS, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. GONZALEZ, Mrs. 

NAPOLITANO, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. BECERRA, Mr. RODRIGUEZ, Mr. ORTIZ, Mr. PASTOR, Ms. 

SOLIS, Ms. LEE, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. OWENS, Mr. 

HINOJOSA, Mr. MENENDEZ, Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California, Mr. 

BACA, Mr. MEEKS of New York, and Ms. LINDA T. SA ́NCHEZ of California) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Financial Services 

A BILL

To award a congressional gold medal to the family of the 

late Rau ́l Julia ́.

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 as follows: 

5 (1) Rau ́l Julia ́ made his Broadway debut just 

6 a few weeks after arriving in New York City in 1964 

7 in Calderon’s ‘‘Life is a Dream’’. 
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1 (2) Rau ́l Julia ́, after only 3 years of living in 

2 New York City, was instrumental in opening doors 

3 for nontraditional parts for Hispanic actors by tak4 ing the role of Demetrius in Shakespeare’s ‘‘Titus 

5 Andronicus’’ at the New York Shakespeare Festival 

6 and Cradeau in Sartre’s ‘‘No Exit’’. 

7 (3) Rau ́l Julia ́ was the busiest Hispanic Shake8 spearean actor in New York and the first to estab9 lish a decades-long association with Joseph Papp 

10 and the New York Shakespeare Festival. 

11 (4) Rau ́l Julia ́ began an impressive and produc12 tive 28-year association with Joseph Papp and the 

13 New York Shakespeare Festival as Macduff in the 

14 Festival’s Mobile Unit, Spanish language production 

15 of MacBeth. 

16 (5) Rau ́l Julia ́ became the first Puerto Rican 

17 actor to conquer Broadway stages by having his 

18 work be nominated for 4 different Tony Awards in 

19 10 years: ‘‘Two Gentlemen of Verona’’, ‘‘Where’s 

20 Charley?’’, ‘‘Threepenny Opera’’, and ‘‘Nine’’. 

21 (6) Rau ́l Julia ́ provided a role model for mil22 lions of children in his role as ‘‘Rafael, the Fix-It 

23 Man’’ in Sesame Street. 

24 (7) Rau ́l Julia ́ was a dedicated leader in the 

25 fight against the rising rates of teen violence and co-
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1 sponsored scriptwriting competitions for high school 

2 students as a way to encourage teenagers to express 

3 their emotions through art rather than through vio4 lence. 

5 (8) Rau ́l Julia ́’s dedication to help Hispanic6 American film and television writers develop their 

7 work led him to co-found the Latino Playwrights 

8 Reading Workshops. 

9 (9) Rau ́l Julia ́ was instrumental in the forma10 tion of the now legendary Puerto Rico Traveling 

11 Theater, an off-Broadway nonprofit Puerto Rican 

12 theater that to this day continues to promote and 

13 showcase bilingual plays, new Hispanic playwrights 

14 and Spanish-speaking actors while bringing theater 

15 to those who cannot ordinarily afford it. 

16 (10) Rau ́l Julia ́ was a leader in the entertain17 ment industry, particularly as a tireless mentor and 

18 role model to emerging Latino actors. 

19 (11) Rau ́l Julia ́ was a dedicated activist and 

20 humanitarian who in his lifetime became a major 

21 supporter and spokesperson for the Hunger Project, 

22 a nonprofit organization committed to the eradi23 cation of world hunger. 

24 (12) Rau ́l Julia ́ was tireless in his commitment 

25 to the Puerto Rican film industry and to the making 
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1 of Spanish language films and continued to partici2 pate in small, independent, Spanish-language films 

3 even after having become a Hollywood star. 

4 (13) Rau ́l Julia ́ was an extremely successful 

5 stage, film and television actor who never abandoned 

6 his Puerto Rican heritage, never changed his name 

7 and never gave up his accent, thereby becoming an 

8 enduring role model for hundreds of Latino actors. 

9 (14) Rau ́l Julia ́ received the Hispanic Heritage 

10 Award recognizing his many career achievements for 

11 the Latino community, including his involvement in 

12 ‘‘La Familia’’, a New York City outreach program 

13 for Latino families in need, the Puerto Rican trav14 eling theater, the Museo del Barrio, and the New 

15 York Shakespeare Festival. 

16 (15) Rau ́l Julia ́ received the National Board of 

17 Review Best Actor prize for his interpretation of the 

18 political prisoner Valentin in the award-winning 

19 landmark film ‘‘The Kiss of the Spider Woman’’, an 

20 award he shared with his co-star William Hurt. 

21 (16) Rau ́l Julia ́ posthumously received the pres22 tigious Emmy Award, Cable Ace Award, Golden 

23 Globe Award, and the SAG Award, given by his fel24 low actors for his most famous roles including Chico 

25 Mendes in ‘‘The Burning Season’’. 
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1 (17) Rau ́l Julia ́ was proud of his Puerto Rican 

2 heritage and his life and work reflected his strong 

3 commitment to his culture and the people of Puerto 

4 Rico. 

5 (18) Rau ́l Julia ́ was given a state funeral in 

6 Puerto Rico and since that time there have been 

7 many awards and honors created in his name: a 

8 scholarship at Julliard, a scholarship given to a 

9 promising young actor for the purpose of studying 

10 and performing Shakespeare at the Joseph Papp 

11 Public Theater, the Rau ́l Julia ́ Award for Excellence 

12 given annually by the National Endowment for the 

13 Hispanic Arts in Washington, DC, El Teatro Rau ́l 

14 Julia ́ in San Juan Puerto Rico, and the Rau ́l Julia ́

15 Global Citizen Award, an annual award being given 

16 this year for the first time by the Puerto Rican 

17 Family Institute based in New York City. 

18 (19) Rau ́l Julia ́ was recognized by the office of 

19 the Mayor of the city of New York with the creation 

20 of Rau ́l Julia ́ Day which was celebrated and com21 memorated in conjunction with Puerto Rican Herit22 age and Culture Month on November 21, 1994. 

23 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

24 (a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of 

25 the House of Representatives and the President Pro Tem-
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1 pore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements 

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

3 medal of appropriate design, to the family of the late Rau ́l 

4 Julia ́, in recognition of his dedication to ending world hun5 ger and his great contributions to the Latino community 

6 and to the performing arts. 

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

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

9 of the Treasury (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Sec10 retary’’) shall strike a gold medal with suitable emblems, 

11 devices, and inscriptions to be determined by the Sec12 retary. 

13 (c) GIFTS AND DONATIONS.—The Secretary may ac14 cept, use, and disburse gifts or donations of property or 

15 money to carry out this section. 

16 SEC. 3. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

17 The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 

18 bronze of the gold medal struck pursuant to section 2 

19 under such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, at 

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

21 materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses, 

22 and the cost of the gold medal. 
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1 SEC. 4. STATUS OF MEDALS. 

2 (a) NATIONAL MEDALS.—The medals struck pursu3 ant to this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 

4 51 of title 31, United States Code. 

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

6 5134 of title 31, United States Code, all medals struck 

7 under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic items. 

8 SEC. 5. AUTHORITY TO USE FUND AMOUNTS; PROCEEDS OF 

9 SALE. 

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

11 authorized to be charged against the United States Mint 

12 Public Enterprise Fund such amounts as may be nec13 essary to pay for the costs of the medals struck pursuant 

14 to this Act. 

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

16 sale of duplicate bronze medals authorized under section 

17 3 shall be deposited into the United States Mint Public 

18 Enterprise Fund. 

19 SEC. 6. TRANSFER OF ANY NET INCOME TO THE NEW YORK 

20 PUBLIC THEATER AND THE NEW YORK 

21 SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL. 

22 If the sum of any gifts and donations received by the 

23 Secretary under section 2(c) and any proceeds from the 

24 sale of duplicate medals pursuant to section 3 exceeds the 

25 total amount of the costs incurred by the Secretary in car26 rying out this Act, the Secretary shall transfer, from the 
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1 United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund, an amount 

2 equal to—

3 (1) 1/2 of such excess amount to the New York 

4 Public Theater; and 

5 (2) 1/2 of such excess amount to the New York 

6 Shakespeare Festival.

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