II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1514 

To authorize the President to award a gold medal on behalf of the Congress 

to Elouise Pepion Cobell, in recognition of her outstanding and enduring 

contributions to American Indians, Alaska Natives, and the Nation 

through her tireless pursuit of justice. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 6, 2011 

Mr. TESTER (for himself, Mr. BAUCUS, Mr. AKAKA, and Mr. INOUYE) 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 Elouise Pepion Cobell, in recognition 

of her outstanding and enduring contributions to American Indians, Alaska Natives, and the Nation through 

her tireless pursuit of justice. 

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 the following: 

5 (1) Elouise Pepion Cobell was born on the 

6 Blackfeet Reservation on November 5, 1945, with 

7 the Indian name ‘‘Little Bird Woman’’. 


emcdonald on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 1514 IS

1 (2) Elouise Cobell is a citizen of the Blackfeet 

2 Nation and the great-granddaughter of Mountain 

3 Chief, a legendary Indian leader. 

4 (3) In 1996, Elouise Cobell filed an historic 

5 lawsuit against the Federal Government, seeking 

6 justice for the Government’s failure to account for 

7 billions of dollars received in trust by the United 

8 States for the benefit of 500,000 individual Indians. 

9 (4) Throughout the prosecution of the suit that 

10 bears her name, Elouise Cobell led the charge 

11 against governmental malfeasance, and displayed 

12 unyielding resilience in her pursuit of justice for this 

13 Nation’s most vulnerable population. 

14 (5) After a more than 15-year, tenacious fight 

15 with the Government, Elouise Cobell agreed to settle 

16 the lawsuit in December 2009 for $3,400,000,000, 

17 making it the largest settlement with the Govern18 ment in American History. 

19 (6) Education of young people has long been a 

20 priority for Elouise Cobell. To provide educational 

21 opportunities for Indian children, Elouise Cobell cre22 ated, as part of the lawsuit settlement, a scholarship 

23 fund that will help Indian youth to access higher 

24 education, academic as well as vocational. 


emcdonald on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 1514 IS

1 (7) Elouise Cobell is the recipient of many 

2 awards and honors. In 1997, she received a ‘‘Genius 

3 Grant’’ from the John D. and Catherine T. Mac4 Arthur Foundation’s Fellows program, a portion of 

5 which was used to fund her lawsuit. Elouise Cobell 

6 received the 2002 International Women’s Forum 

7 award for ‘‘Women Who Make a Difference’’ in 

8 Mexico City. In 2004, the National Center for Amer9 ican Indian Enterprise Development presented her 

10 with the Jay Silverheels Achievement Award. A year 

11 later, she received a Cultural Freedom Fellowship 

12 from the Lannan Foundation, an award that cited 

13 her persistence in bringing to light the ‘‘more than 

14 a century of Government malfeasance and dishon15 esty’’ in the Government’s mismanagement of the 

16 Individual Indian Trust. In 2007, she received an 

17 AARP Impact Award, and in 2011 Elouise Cobell 

18 was named ‘‘Montana Citizen of the Year’’ by the 

19 Montana Trial Lawyers Association. She has re20 ceived honorary degrees from Montana State Univer21 sity, Rollins College, and Dartmouth College. 

22 (8) Elouise Cobell is a respected leader in In23 dian Country for civic and economic development. 

24 For 13 years, she served her own tribal community 

25 as treasurer for the Blackfeet Nation, and has 


emcdonald on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 1514 IS

1 served on a number of Native American organiza2 tional boards, including the board of trustees for the 

3 National Museum of the American Indian. Her con4 tributions to economic development in Indian Coun5 try are substantial, not the least of which is her role 

6 in the establishment and management of the Native 

7 American Bank. 

8 (9) As a Montanan, Elouise Cobell has stayed 

9 invested in issues affecting the Montana community 

10 by serving as a trustee for the Nature Conservancy 

11 of Montana, while also working her own ranch that 

12 produces cattle and crops. 

13 (10) Elouise Cobell has changed immeasurably 

14 the lives of individual Indians and women in the 

15 United States, North America, and around the world 

16 through her advocacy efforts to obtain justice for the 

17 often overlooked population of indigenous peoples. 

18 (11) Elouise Cobell’s life and work has shined 

19 light on the barriers confronted by individual Indi20 ans in the United States, and her actions not only 

21 raise the national awareness of these issues, they re22 solve them. 

23 (12) Elouise Cobell is an inspiration to women, 

24 individual American Indians and Alaska Natives, 


emcdonald on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 1514 IS

1 and advocates who seek to give voice to the voiceless 

2 and most vulnerable across the globe. 

3 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

4 (a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The President is 

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

6 medal of appropriate design to Elouise Pepion Cobell in 

7 recognition of her outstanding and enduring contributions 

8 to the welfare of individual Indians in the United States 

9 and her inspiration to indigenous peoples across the globe. 

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

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

12 of the Treasury (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Sec13 retary’’) shall strike a gold medal with suitable emblems, 

14 devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the Sec15 retary. 

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, 

20 and at a price sufficient to cover the cost thereof, includ21 ing labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, overhead ex22 penses, and the cost of the gold medal. 


emcdonald on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
6 

•S 1514 IS

1 SEC. 4. NATIONAL MEDALS. 

2 The medals struck pursuant to this Act are national 

3 medals for purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United 

4 States Code. 

5 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS; PROCEEDS 

6 OF SALE. 

7 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

8 authorized to be charged against the Numismatic Public 

9 Enterprise Fund an amount not to exceed $30,000 to pay 

10 for the cost of the medal authorized by this Act. 

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

12 sale of duplicate bronze medals under section 3 shall be 

13 deposited in the Numismatic Public Enterprise Fund. 

Æ 


emcdonald on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS