II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 5283 

To award a Congressional Gold Medal to Robert M. Gates, in recognition 

of his service to the United States as an intelligence professional, Secretary of Defense, and educator and leader for young people of the 

United States. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 25, 2024 

Mr. MORAN (for himself, Mr. CARPER, Mr. THUNE, Mr. MANCHIN, Mr. 

WICKER, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mr. ROMNEY, Mr. KAINE, Ms. SINEMA, Mr. 

COTTON, Mr. YOUNG, Mr. KING, Mr. BARRASSO, Mr. KENNEDY, Ms. 

COLLINS, Mrs. BRITT, Mrs. HYDE-SMITH, Mr. CRAMER, Mr. RUBIO, Mr. 

DURBIN, Mrs. CAPITO, Ms. ERNST, and Mrs. MURRAY) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To award a Congressional Gold Medal to Robert M. Gates, 

in recognition of his service to the United States as 

an intelligence professional, Secretary of Defense, and 

educator and leader for young people of the United 

States. 

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 ‘‘Robert M. Gates Con5 gressional Gold Medal Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) Robert ‘‘Bob’’ M. Gates was born on Sep4 tember 25, 1943, in Wichita, Kansas. He stated in 

5 2007, ‘‘Kansas imparts to its children three charac6 teristics that have been a source of strength to me 

7 over the years: a rejection of cynicism, and enduring 

8 optimism and idealism.’’. 

9 (2) Bob Gates joined the Boy Scouts of Amer10 ica and attained the rank of Eagle Scout. 

11 (3) Graduating from Wichita East High School, 

12 Bob Gates matriculated at the College of William & 

13 Mary before completing graduate studies at Indiana 

14 University and a doctorate at Georgetown Univer15 sity. 

16 (4) Bob Gates was recruited to the Central In17 telligence Agency in 1966, beginning a life of contin18 uous public service for the next 27 years. In this 

19 span, Bob Gates worked for 6 Presidents of both 

20 parties and 8 Directors of Central Intelligence. 

21 (5) In January 1967, Bob Gates took leave 

22 from the Central Intelligence Agency and was com23 missioned as a second lieutenant in the United 

24 States Air Force, serving for 1 year as an intel25 ligence officer at Whiteman Air Force Base in Mis26 souri. 


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1 (6) Returning to the Central Intelligence Agen2 cy in January 1968, Bob Gates began his career as 

3 an analyst specializing in the Soviet Union in Au4 gust of that year. Thus began his rise to become the 

5 Deputy Director for Intelligence, Deputy Director of 

6 Central Intelligence, including 6 months as Acting 

7 Director, and finally the first analyst to serve as Di8 rector of Central Intelligence. 

9 (7) Bob Gates served on the National Security 

10 Council under 4 presidents beginning with President 

11 Richard Nixon. He likewise served on the Council 

12 under Presidents Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, and 

13 George H.W. Bush. 

14 (8) As Deputy National Security Advisor to Na15 tional Security Advisor Brent Scowcroft under Presi16 dent George H.W. Bush, Bob Gates was integral to 

17 restoring a national security process damaged in the 

18 wake of the Iran-Contra scandal. 

19 (9) Bob Gates was appointed by Scowcroft as 

20 ‘‘Assistant to the President’’ and chaired the Depu21 ties Committee of the National Security Council, 

22 which became, in the words of political scientist Bar23 tholomew Sparrow, ‘‘the Bush administration’s 

24 workhorse for making national security policy’’. 


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1 (10) In this capacity, Bob Gates played an es2 sential role in crafting policies that peacefully ended 

3 the Cold War with the Soviet Union, supported 

4 democratic transitions in Eastern Europe, unified 

5 Germany under the North Atlantic Treaty Organiza6 tion, ejected Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi forces from oc7 cupying Kuwait, and engaged a rising China. 

8 (11) Bob Gates served as the 22nd Secretary of 

9 Defense of the United States, leading the military of 

the United States for 4 1 10 ⁄2 years and was the first 

11 to serve in this position under Presidents of both po12 litical parties. 

13 (12) Bob Gates led transitions to strategies in 

14 Iraq and Afghanistan to combat insurgencies in each 

15 country. 

16 (13) Prioritizing the well-being of the service 

17 members of the United States, Bob Gates fast18 tracked the acquisition of armored vehicles to ensure 

19 more men and women in uniform returned home 

20 alive, and, in the words of then-Chairman of the 

21 Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen, ‘‘[H]e 

22 demanded when they did come home, they were 

23 given all the respect and the dignity and the care 

24 and the support they needed to get on with their 

25 lives.’’. 


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1 (14) Bob Gates, again in the words of Admiral 

2 Mullen, spurred the Pentagon ‘‘to find new effi3 ciencies and new business practices’’ making the De4 partment of Defense ‘‘a better steward of taxpayer 

5 dollars’’. 

6 (15) Outside of government service, Bob Gates 

7 has been committed to the youth and young adults 

8 in the United States. 

9 (16) Bob Gates served as president of the Na10 tional Eagle Scout Association and, from 2014 to 

11 2016, as President of the Boys Scouts of America. 

12 Under his leadership, the Boy Scouts of America 

13 strengthened its volunteer leadership, prioritized di14 versity and outreach to disadvantaged youth, and ar15 rested membership decline. 

16 (17) Bob Gates filled roles in institutions of 

17 higher learning in the United States, most notably 

18 as President of Texas A&M University until his ap19 pointment as Secretary Defense, and as Chancellor 

20 of the College of William & Mary. 

21 (18) Bob Gates is the author of 4 books, in22 cluding 2 memoirs of his time in public service, a 

23 study on leadership, and a defense for enhancing the 

24 nonmilitary tools of the United States to conduct 

25 foreign policy. 


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1 (19) Multiple Presidents of the United States 

2 have specially honored Bob Gates for his distin3 guished career of public service. 

4 (20) President George H.W. Bush awarded Bob 

5 Gates the second highest civilian award in the 

6 United States, the Presidential Citizens Medal, in 

7 1992, declaring, ‘‘Robert Gates has dedicated him8 self to the national security and national interest. As 

9 Deputy National Security Advisor, he chaired a 

10 small group of senior officials around the clock to 

11 resolve the Gulf crisis, and ably managed the inter12 agency coordination central to the vindication of fun13 damental principles of peace. His great skill was in14 dispensable to our historic accomplishments in the 

15 Gulf.’’. 

16 (21) President Barack Obama presented Bob 

17 Gates with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the 

18 highest civilian award in the United States, in 2011. 

19 The citation declares Bob Gates ‘‘has selflessly dedi20 cated his life to ensuring the security of the Amer21 ican people. He has served eight Presidents of both 

22 parties with unwavering patriotism. . . . The United 

23 States honors Robert M. Gates for his extraordinary 

24 leadership and for a lifetime of service and devotion 

25 to our nation.’’. 


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1 (22) Bob Gates has received numerous other 

2 honors from the Federal Government, including the 

3 National Security Medal, the National Intelligence 

4 Distinguished Service Medal, Distinguished Intel5 ligence Medal, the United States Army Decoration 

6 for Exceptional Civilian Service, the United States 

7 Navy Distinguished Public Service Award, and the 

8 United States Air Force Decoration for Exceptional 

9 Civilian Service. 

10 (23) Among other honors, 12 different univer11 sities have bestowed Bob Gates with an honorary 

12 doctorate and the Boy Scouts of America granted 

13 him the Distinguished Service Award, the Silver 

14 Buffalo Award, and the Vigil Honor. In 2011, after 

15 his departure from the Pentagon and public service, 

16 Foreign Policy magazine named Bob Gates ‘‘Amer17 ica’s last bipartisan figure’’. 

18 (24) In a tribute to Bob Gates, President 

19 Barack Obama said, ‘‘I believe the life of Bob Gates 

20 is a lesson, especially to young Americans, a lesson 

21 that public service is an honorable calling; that we 

22 can pass our country, better and stronger, to those 

23 who follow. . . . In his willingness to become the first 

24 Secretary of Defense to serve under Presidents of 

25 both parties, the integrity of Bob Gates is also a reVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:39 Oct 17, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5283.IS S5283

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1 minder, especially to folks here in Washington, that 

2 civility and respectful discourse, and citizenship over 

3 partisanship are not quaint relics of a bygone era; 

4 they are the timeless virtues that we need now more 

5 than ever. For whatever differences of party or ide6 ology we may have, we can only keep America strong 

7 if we remember what keeps America great—our abil8 ity to come together to work together, as Americans, 

9 for a common purpose.’’. 

10 (25) By virtue of his career in public and pri11 vate life, Bob Gates has exemplified commitment to 

12 the security and well-being of the United States, and 

13 has earned the respect of people of the United 

14 States throughout the country. 

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 Robert M. Gates, in rec21 ognition for his service to the United States as an intel22 ligence professional, Secretary of Defense, and educator 

23 and leader for young people of the United States. 

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

25 presentation described in subsection (a), the Secretary of 


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1 the Treasury (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Secretary’’) 

2 shall strike a gold medal with suitable emblems, devices, 

3 and inscriptions to be determined by the Secretary. 

4 SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

5 The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 

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

7 sufficient to cover the costs of the medals, including labor, 

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

9 SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS. 

10 (a) NATIONAL MEDALS.—Medals struck under this 

11 Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 51 of title 

12 31, United States Code. 

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

14 5134 and section 5136 of title 31, United States Code, 

15 all medals struck under this Act shall be considered to 

16 be numismatic 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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