II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1616 

To award the Congressional Gold Medal to Bob Dole, in recognition for 

his service to the nation as a soldier, legislator, and statesman. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 24, 2017 

Mr. ROBERTS (for himself, Mr. MORAN, Mr. MCCAIN, Mr. COCHRAN, Mr. 

SHELBY, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. GRASSLEY, Mr. MCCONNELL, Mr. HATCH, 

Mr. LEAHY, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. INHOFE, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, and Mrs. 

ERNST) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To award the Congressional Gold Medal to Bob Dole, in 

recognition for his service to the nation as a soldier, 

legislator, and statesman. 

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 ‘‘Bob Dole Congres5 sional Gold Medal Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

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1 (1) Bob Dole was born on July 22, 1923, in 

2 Russell, Kansas. 

3 (2) Growing up during the Great Depression, 

4 Bob Dole learned the values of hard work and dis5 cipline, and worked at a local drug store. 

6 (3) In 1941, Bob Dole enrolled at the Univer7 sity of Kansas as a pre-medical student. During his 

8 time at KU he played for the basketball, football, 

9 and track teams, and joined the Kappa Sigma Fra10 ternity, from which he would receive the ‘‘Man of 

11 the Year’’ award in 1970. 

12 (4) Bob Dole’s collegiate studies were inter13 rupted by WWII, and he enlisted in the United 

14 States Army. During a military offensive in Italy, he 

15 was seriously wounded while trying to save a fellow 

16 soldier. Despite his grave injuries, Dole recovered 

17 and was awarded two Purple Hearts and a Bronze 

18 Star with an Oak Cluster for his service. He also re19 ceived an American Campaign Medal, a European20 African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, and a 

21 World War II Victory Medal. 

22 (5) While working on his law degree from 

23 Washburn University, Bob Dole was elected into the 

24 Kansas House of Representatives, serving from 

25 1951–1953. 

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1 (6) Bob Dole was elected into the U.S. House 

2 of Representatives and served two Kansas districts 

3 from 1961–1969. 

4 (7) In 1969, Bob Dole was elected into the U.S. 

5 Senate and served until 1996. Over the course of 

6 this period, he served as Chairman of the Repub7 lican National Committee, Chairman of the Finance 

8 Committee, Senate Minority Leader, and Senate 

9 Majority Leader. 

10 (8) Bob Dole was known for his ability work 

11 across the aisle and embrace practical bipartisanship 

12 on issues such as Social Security. 

13 (9) Bob Dole has been a life-long advocate for 

14 the disabled and was a key figure in the passing of 

15 the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990. 

16 (10) After his appointment as Majority Leader, 

17 Bob Dole set the record as the nation’s longest-serv18 ing Republican Leader in the Senate. 

19 (11) Several Presidents of the United States 

20 have specially honored Bob Dole for his hard work 

21 and leadership in the public sector. This recognition 

22 is exemplified by the following: 

23 (A) President Reagan awarded Bob Dole 

24 the Presidential Citizens Medal in 1989 stating, 

25 ‘‘Whether on the battlefield or Capitol Hill, 

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1 Senator Dole has served America heroically. 

2 Senate Majority Leader during one of the most 

3 productive Congresses of recent time, he has 

4 also been a friend to veterans, farmers, and 

5 Americans from every walk of life. Bob Dole 

6 has stood for integrity, straight talk and 

7 achievement throughout his years of distin8 guished public service.’’. 

9 (B) Upon awarding Bob Dole with the 

10 Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1997, Presi11 dent Clinton made the following comments, 

12 ‘‘Son of the soil, citizen, soldier and legislator, 

13 Bob Dole understands the American people, 

14 their struggles, their triumphs and their dreams 

15 . . . In times of conflict and crisis, he has 

16 worked to keep America united and strong . . . 

17 our country is better for his courage, his deter18 mination, and his willingness to go the long 

19 course to lead America.’’. 

20 (12) After his career in public office, Bob Dole 

21 became an active advocate for the public good. He 

22 served as National Chairman of the World War II 

23 Memorial Campaign, helping raise over $197 million 

24 to construct the National WWII Memorial, and as 

25 Co-Chair of the Families of Freedom Scholarship 

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1 Fund, raising over $120 million for the educational 

2 needs of the families of victims of 9/11. 

3 (13) From 1997–2001, Bob Dole served as 

4 chairman of the International Commission on Miss5 ing Persons in the Former Yugoslavia. 

6 (14) In 2003, Bob Dole established The Robert 

7 J. Dole Institute of Politics at the University of 

8 Kansas to encourage bipartisanship in politics. 

9 (15) Bob Dole is a strong proponent of inter10 national justice and, in 2004, received the Golden 

11 Medal of Freedom from the President of Kosovo for 

12 his support of democracy and freedom in Kosovo. 

13 (16) In 2007, President George W. Bush ap14 pointed Bob Dole to co-chair the President’s Com15 mission on Care for America’s Returning Wounded 

16 Warriors, which inspected the system of medical 

17 care received by U.S. soldiers returning from Iraq 

18 and Afghanistan. 

19 (17) Bob Dole was the co-creator of the McGov20 ern-Dole International Food for Education and 

21 Child Nutrition Program, helping combat child hun22 ger and poverty. In 2008, he was co-awarded the 

23 World Food Prize for his work with this organiza24 tion. 

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1 (18) Bob Dole is co-founder of the Bipartisan 

2 Policy Center which works to develop policies suit3 able for bipartisan support. 

4 (19) Bob Dole is a strong advocate for vet5 erans, having volunteered on a weekly basis for more 

6 than a decade on behalf of the Honor Flight Net7 work. 

8 (20) Bob Dole serves as Finance Chairman of 

9 the Campaign for the National Eisenhower Memo10 rial, leading the private fundraising effort to memo11 rialize President Dwight D. Eisenhower in Wash12 ington, DC. 

13 (21) Bob Dole was acknowledged by many or14 ganizations for his achievements both inside and 

15 outside of politics, including being awarded the 

16 ‘‘U.S. Senator John Heinz Award for Outstanding 

17 Public Service By An Elected Official’’, the Gold 

18 Good Citizenship Award, the American Patriot 

19 Award, the Survivor’s Gratitude Award, the U.S. 

20 Association of Former Member of Congress Distin21 guished Service Award, a Distinguished Service 

22 Medal, the French Legion of Honor medal, the Ho23 ratio Alger Award, the U.S. Defense Department’s 

24 Distinguished Public Service Award, the National 

25 Collegiate Athletic Association’s Teddy Roosevelt 

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1 Award, the Albert Schweitzer Medal ‘‘for out2 standing contributions to animal welfare’’, the 2004 

3 Sylvanus Thayer Award, and honorary degrees from 

4 the University of Kansas, Fort Hays State Univer5 sity, and the University of New Hampshire School 

6 of Law. 

7 (22) Throughout his life-long service to our 

8 country, Bob Dole has embodied the American spirit 

9 of leadership and determination, and serves as one 

10 of the most prolific role models both in and outside 

11 of politics. 

12 SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

13 (a) AWARD AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of the 

14 House of Representatives and the President pro tempore 

15 of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements for the 

16 award, on behalf of Congress, of a gold medal of appro17 priate design to Bob Dole, in recognition for his service 

18 to the nation as a soldier, legislator, and statesman. 

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

20 award referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary of the 

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

22 strike a gold medal with suitable emblems, devices, and 

23 inscriptions to be determined by the Secretary. 

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1 SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

2 The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 

3 bronze of the gold medal struck under section 3 under 

4 such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, at a price 

5 sufficient to cover the cost thereof, including labor, mate6 rials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses, and 

7 the cost of the gold medal. 

8 SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS. 

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

10 this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 51 

11 of title 31, United States Code. 

12 (b) NUMISMATIC ITEMS.—For purposes of sections 

13 5134 and 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all medals 

14 struck under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic 

15 items. 

Æ 

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