I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2013 

To award posthumously a congressional gold medal to Thurgood Marshall. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 21, 2009 

Mr. PAYNE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To award posthumously a congressional gold medal to 

Thurgood Marshall. 

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 Congress makes the following findings: 

5 (1) Thurgood Marshall, the grandson of a slave, 

6 was born in Baltimore, Maryland on July 2, 1908. 

7 (2) In his youth, Thurgood Marshall developed 

8 an interest in the Constitution and the rule of law. 

9 (3) Despite graduating from Lincoln University 

10 in Pennsylvania in 1930 with honors, Thurgood 

11 Marshall was denied acceptance at the all-White 


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1 University of Maryland Law School because he was 

2 an African-American. 

3 (4) Thurgood Marshall instead attended law 

4 school at Howard University, the country’s most 

5 prominent black university, and graduated first in 

6 his class in 1933. 

7 (5) From 1940 to 1961, Thurgood Marshall 

8 served as the legal director of the National Associa9 tion for the Advancement of Colored People 

10 (NAACP). 

11 (6) Beginning with the case of Chambers v. 

12 Florida in 1940, Thurgood Marshall argued 32 cases 

13 before the Supreme Court and won 29 of them, 

14 earning more Supreme Court victories than any 

15 other individual. 

16 (7) Under the leadership of Thurgood Marshall, 

17 the NAACP fought to abolish segregation in schools 

18 and challenged laws that discriminated against Afri19 can-Americans. 

20 (8) In 1954, Thurgood Marshall argued Brown 

21 v. Board of Education before the Supreme Court, a 

22 case which resulted in the famous decision that de23 clared racial segregation in public schools unconsti24 tutional, overturning the 1896 decision in Plessy v. 

25 Ferguson. 


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1 (9) In 1961, President John F. Kennedy ap2 pointed Thurgood Marshall to the United States 

3 Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit despite heavy 

4 opposition from many southern Senators. 

5 (10) Thurgood Marshall served on the United 

6 States Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit from 

7 1961–1965, during which time he wrote 112 opin8 ions, none of which was overturned on appeal. 

9 (11) In 1965, President Lyndon Johnson ap10 pointed Thurgood Marshall to the position of Solic11 itor General, a post he held from 1965–1967. 

12 (12) In 1967, President Johnson appointed 

13 Thurgood Marshall as the first African-American 

14 Justice to serve on the Supreme Court. 

15 (13) During the 24 years he served on the Su16 preme Court, Thurgood Marshall promoted affirma17 tive action and sought protection for the rights of all 

18 Americans, continuing to support integration but 

19 also championing the rights of women, children, 

20 prisoners, and the homeless. 

21 (14) Thurgood Marshall died on January 24, 

22 1993, at the age of 84. 

23 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

24 (a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of 

25 the House of Representatives and the President Pro TemVerDate Nov 24 2008 05:04 Apr 23, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2013.IH H2013

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1 pore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements 

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

3 medal of appropriate design, to the family of Thurgood 

4 Marshall, in recognition of the contributions of Thurgood 

5 Marshall to the Nation. 

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

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

8 of the Treasury (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Sec9 retary’’) shall strike a gold medal with suitable emblems, 

10 devices, and inscriptions to be determined by the Sec11 retary. 

12 SEC. 3. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

13 The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 

14 bronze of the gold medal struck pursuant to section 2 

15 under such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, at 

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

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

18 and the cost of the gold medal. 

19 SEC. 4. STATUS OF MEDALS. 

20 (a) NATIONAL MEDALS.—The medals struck under 

21 this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 51 

22 of title 31, United States Code. 

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

24 5134 of title 31, Unites States Code, all medals struck 

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


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

2 SALE. 

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

4 authorized to be charged against the United States Mint 

5 Public Enterprise Fund such amounts as may be nec6 essary to pay for the costs of the medals stuck pursuant 

7 to this Act. 

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

9 sale of duplicate bronze medals authorized under section 

10 3 shall be deposited into the United States Mint Public 

11 Enterprise Fund. 

Æ 


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