II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2762 

To award posthumously a Congressional Gold Medal to Robert Cleckler 

(‘‘Bobby’’) Bowden, in honor of his achievements both on and off the 

football field. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 12, 2023 

Mr. SCOTT of Florida (for himself and Mr. RUBIO) introduced the following 

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

Housing, and Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To award posthumously a Congressional Gold Medal to Robert Cleckler (‘‘Bobby’’) Bowden, in honor of his achievements both on and off the football field. 

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 Cleckler 

5 (‘Bobby’) Bowden Congressional Gold Medal Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Robert Cleckler (‘‘Bobby’’) Bowden (re2 ferred to in this Act as ‘‘Bobby Bowden’’) was born 

3 on November 8, 1929, in Birmingham, Alabama. 

4 (2) Bobby Bowden served as the head coach of 

5 the Florida State University Seminoles from 1976 to 

6 2009. 

7 (3) At Florida State University, teams coached 

8 by Bobby Bowden won 2 national championships (in 

9 1993 and 1999) and 12 Atlantic Coast Conference 

10 titles. 

11 (4) Bobby Bowden posted a 316–97–4 record in 

12 his 34 years at Florida State University. 

13 (5) Throughout his entire 44 years of coaching 

14 college football, Bobby Bowden won a total of 377 

15 games, making him one of the winningest coaches in 

16 college football history. 

17 (6) Bobby Bowden and his wife, Ann Estock, 

18 his childhood sweetheart, were married for 72 years, 

19 with 6 children and 21 grandchildren and great20 grandchildren. 

21 (7) In 1999, in an event that was the first of 

22 its kind in the history of Division I–A football, 

23 Bobby Bowden coached what would be the first of 

24 many games against a team coached by his son, 

25 which was termed ‘‘The Bowden Bowl’’. 


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1 (8) In 2004, the Fellowship of Christian Ath2 letes began presenting an annual ‘‘Bobby Bowden 

3 Award’’ to a football player for philanthropic work. 

4 (9) In 2011, Bobby Bowden was awarded the 

5 ‘‘Children’s Champion Award for Leadership Devel6 opment’’ by the Children’s Hunger Fund, a chari7 table organization, in recognition of his humani8 tarian work. 

9 (10) In 2021, Bobby Bowden received the inau10 gural Medal of Freedom Award from the Governor 

11 of Florida. 

12 (11) Bobby Bowden leaves a legacy of leader13 ship for his contributions on the football field and in 

14 his community. 

15 (12) While Bobby Bowden is recognized for his 

16 many football accomplishments, he will also be re17 membered as a family man who counted all as part 

18 of his family and encouraged recognizing the human19 ity of every individual and loving others as brothers 

20 and sisters. 

21 (13) Bobby Bowden believed each individual 

22 had merit and the United States is better for his 

23 legacy. 

24 (14) The spirit that Bobby Bowden embodied is 

25 the spirit of the United States, of which the people 


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1 of the United States can be proud and seek to emu2 late in both large and small ways. 

3 (15) Bobby Bowden never asked for accolades, 

4 and for this, and the totality of his life and his love, 

5 he should be honored in perpetuity. 

6 SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

7 (a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of 

8 the House of Representatives and the President pro tem9 pore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements 

10 for the posthumous presentation, on behalf of Congress, 

11 of a gold medal of appropriate design to commemorate the 

12 life of Bobby Bowden, in recognition of his achievements 

13 both on and off the football field. 

14 (b) DESIGN AND STRIKING.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—For the purpose of the 

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

17 the Treasury (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Sec18 retary’’) shall strike a gold medal with suitable em19 blems, devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by 

20 the Secretary. 

21 (2) IMAGE.—The emblems, devices, and inscrip22 tions determined by the Secretary shall include an 

23 inscription of the name of Robert Cleckler 

24 (‘‘Bobby’’) Bowden. 


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1 (c) DISPOSITION OF MEDAL.—Following the award 

2 of the gold medal under subsection (a), the gold medal 

3 shall be given to the next of kin of Bobby Bowden. 

4 SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

5 (a) STRIKING OF DUPLICATES.—The Secretary may 

6 strike duplicates in bronze of the gold medal struck under 

7 section 3. 

8 (b) SELLING OF DUPLICATES.—The Secretary may 

9 sell such duplicates under subsection (a) at a price suffi10 cient to cover the costs of such duplicates, including labor, 

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

12 SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS. 

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

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

15 31, United States Code. 

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

17 5134 of title 31, United States Code, all medals struck 

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

19 SEC. 6. AUTHORITY TO USE FUND AMOUNTS; PROCEEDS OF 

20 SALE. 

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

22 authorized to be charged against the United States Mint 

23 Public Enterprise Fund such amounts as may be nec24 essary to pay for the costs of the medals struck pursuant 

25 to this Act. 


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

2 sale of duplicate bronze medals authorized under section 

3 4 shall be deposited into the United States Mint Public 

4 Enterprise Fund. 

Æ 


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