II

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1476

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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

OCTOBER 1, 2001

Mr. CLELAND (for himself and Mr. MILLER) introduced the following bill;

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs

A BILL

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.

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 finds that—

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
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1 records of public service to the American people and

2 the international community;

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

4 civil disobedience to combat segregation, discrimina5 tion, and racial injustice;

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

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

8 Parks and the segregation of the bus system of

9 Montgomery, Alabama;

10 (4) in 1963, Dr. King led the march on Wash11 ington, D.C., that was followed by his famous ad12 dress, the ‘‘I Have a Dream’’ speech;

13 (5) through his work and reliance on nonviolent

14 protest, Dr. King was instrumental in the passage of

15 the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Voting Rights

16 Act of 1965;

17 (6) despite efforts to derail his mission, Dr.

18 King acted on his dream of America and succeeded

19 in making the United States a better place;

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

21 April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee;

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

23 movement in 1955 during the Montgomery bus boy24 cott, and played an important role as a leading par25 ticipant in the American civil rights movement;
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1 (9) while raising 4 children, Mrs. King devoted

2 herself to working alongside her husband for non3 violent social change and full civil rights for African

4 Americans;

5 (10) with a strong educational background in

6 music, Mrs. King established and performed several

7 Freedom Concerts, which were well received, and

8 which combined prose and poetry narration with mu9 sical selections to increase awareness and under10 standing of the Southern Christian Leadership Con11 ference (of which Dr. King served as the first presi12 dent);

13 (11) Mrs. King demonstrated composure in

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

15 husband after his brutal assassination;

16 (12) after the assassination, Mrs. King devoted

17 all of her time and energy to developing and building

18 the Atlanta-based Martin Luther King Jr. Center

19 for Nonviolent Social Change (hereafter referred to

20 as the ‘‘Center’’) as an enduring memorial to her

21 husband’s life and his dream of nonviolent social

22 change and full civil rights for all Americans;

23 (13) under Mrs. King’s guidance and direction,

24 the Center has flourished;
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1 (14) the Center was the first institution built in

2 honor of an African American leader;

3 (15) the Center provides local, national, and

4 international programs that have trained tens of

5 thousands of people in Dr. King’s philosophy and

6 methods, and boasts the largest archive of the civil

7 rights movement; and

8 (16) Mrs. King led the massive campaign to es9 tablish Dr. King’s birthday as a national holiday,

10 and the holiday is now celebrated in more than 100

11 countries.

12 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL.

13 (a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The President is

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

15 medal of appropriate design to Reverend Doctor Martin

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

17 Scott King, in recognition of their service to the Nation.

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

19 presentations referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary

20 of the Treasury shall strike a gold medal with suitable em21 blems, devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the

22 Secretary.

23 SEC. 3. DUPLICATE MEDALS.

24 The Secretary of the Treasury shall strike and sell

25 duplicates in bronze of the gold medal struck pursuant
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1 to section 2, under such regulations as the Secretary may

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

3 duplicate medals and the gold medal (including labor, ma4 terials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses).

5 SEC. 4. NATIONAL MEDALS.

6 The medals struck under this Act are national medals

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

8 SEC. 5. FUNDING AND PROCEEDS OF SALE.

9 (a) AUTHORIZATION.—There is authorized to be

10 charged against the United States Mint Public Enterprise

11 Fund an amount not to exceed $30,000 to pay for the

12 cost of the medals authorized by this Act.

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

14 sale of duplicate bronze medals under section 3 shall be

15 deposited in the United States Mint Public Enterprise

16 Fund.

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