II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3842 

To posthumously award a Congressional Gold Medal to Muhammad Ali, 

in recognition of his contributions to the United States. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 29, 2024 

Mr. PADILLA (for himself, Mr. BOOKER, Ms. BUTLER, and Mrs. GILLIBRAND) 

introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 

Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To posthumously award a Congressional Gold Medal to Muhammad Ali, in recognition of his contributions to the 

United States. 

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 ‘‘Muhammad Ali Con5 gressional Gold Medal Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) Born Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr., on Janu9 ary 17, 1942, in Louisville, Kentucky, Muhammad 


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1 Ali was the first child of Cassius, Sr., and Odessa 

2 Clay. 

3 (2) Muhammad Ali was one of the most cele4 brated athletes of the 20th century. He produced 

5 some of the greatest sports memories in the United 

6 States, from winning a gold medal at the 1960 Sum7 mer Olympics to lighting the Olympic torch at the 

8 1996 Summer Olympics. 

9 (3) After an impressive amateur career, during 

10 which he won 2 National AAU light heavyweight ti11 tles, Muhammad Ali became the first professional 

12 boxer in history to capture the heavyweight title 3 

13 separate times. 

14 (4) On April 28, 1967, he was stripped of his 

15 boxing title and barred from competing for being a 

16 conscientious objector to the war in Vietnam on reli17 gious and moral grounds. However, following a 

18 unanimous decision by the Supreme Court of the 

19 United States in 1971, Muhammad Ali’s conscien20 tious objector status was confirmed, his boxing li21 cense was reinstated, and he was cleared of any 

22 wrongdoing. 

23 (5) As an African American and a Muslim who 

24 lived in an era that continued to question his civil 

25 rights, Muhammad Ali battled issues of race and reVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:10 Mar 02, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3842.IS S3842

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1 ligion, and received recognition as one of the cham2 pions of the Civil Rights Movement in the United 

3 States. 

4 (6) Muhammad Ali was the recipient of many 

5 awards for his sporting prowess and his support of 

6 racial harmony, including the Dr. Martin Luther 

7 King Memorial Award, the Spirit of America Award, 

8 the Amnesty International Lifetime Achievement 

9 Award, the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage, the Es10 sence Living Legend Award, the Rainbow Coalition 

11 Lifetime Achievement Award, the XNBA Human 

12 Spirit Award, the Presidential Citizens Medal, and 

13 the Presidential Medal of Freedom. 

14 (7) Muhammad Ali was acknowledged by many 

15 organizations for his achievements both inside and 

16 outside the boxing ring, including being crowned 

17 ‘‘Sportsman of the Century’’ by Sports Illustrated, 

18 being named ‘‘Athlete of the Century’’ by GQ maga19 zine, being named ‘‘Sports Personality of the Cen20 tury’’ by the British Broadcasting Corporation, 

21 being named ‘‘Kentucky Athlete of the Century’’ by 

22 the Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame, being named 

23 ‘‘Kentuckian of the Century’’ by the State of Ken24 tucky, being named ‘‘Louisvillian of the Century’’ by 

25 the Advertising Club of Louisville, being named 


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1 ‘‘Boxer of the Century’’ by the World Sports Awards 

2 of the Century, being recognized by the Inter3 national Boxing Hall of Fame, and receiving hon4 orary doctorate degrees from Muhlenberg College 

5 and Princeton University. 

6 (8) Muhammad Ali received the prestigious 

7 Otto Hahn Peace Medal in Gold from the United 

8 Nations Association of Germany for his work with 

9 the United Nations and the Civil Rights Movement 

10 in the United States. 

11 (9) Muhammad Ali was selected by the Cali12 fornia Bicentennial Foundation for the U.S. Con13 stitution for personifying the vitality of the Bill of 

14 Rights in various high-profile activities. 

15 (10) Despite having been diagnosed with Par16 kinson’s disease in the early 1980s, Muhammad Ali 

17 dedicated his life to the cause of universal human 

18 rights and freedom. His commitment to equal justice 

19 and peace touched the lives of hundreds of thou20 sands of people worldwide. 

21 (11) President Jimmy Carter asked Muhammad 

22 Ali to meet with African leaders in Tanzania, Kenya, 

23 Nigeria, Liberia, and Senegal as part of the diplo24 matic efforts of President Carter to promote human 

25 rights in the 1980s. 


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1 (12) In 1990, Muhammad Ali traveled to the 

2 Middle East to seek the release of United States and 

3 British hostages that were being held as human 

4 shields in the first Gulf War. As a result of his 

5 intervention, 15 United States hostages were freed 

6 on December 2nd of that year. 

7 (13) In 1998, Muhammad Ali was chosen as 

8 the ‘‘U.N. Messenger of Peace’’. 

9 (14) Several Presidents of the United States 

10 recognized Muhammad Ali, including President 

11 George W. Bush who, on November 17, 2002, called 

12 him ‘‘a man of peace’’ and stated that ‘‘across the 

13 world, billions of people know Muhammad Ali as a 

14 brave, compassionate, and charming man, and the 

15 American people are proud to call Muhammad Ali 

16 one of our own’’, President Bill Clinton who stated 

17 that Muhammad Ali ‘‘captured the world’s imagina18 tion and its heart. Outside the ring, Muhammad Ali 

19 has dedicated his life to working for children, feed20 ing the hungry, supporting his faith, and standing 

21 up for racial equality. He always fought for a just 

22 and more humane world, breaking down barriers 

23 here in America and around the world. There is no 

24 telling how many tens of millions of people had their 

25 hearts swell with pride and their eyes swell with 


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1 tears in 1996 when Muhammad Ali lit the Olympic 

2 torch, because we know, now and forever, he is the 

3 greatest’’, President Jimmy Carter who cited Mu4 hammad Ali as ‘‘Mr. International Friendship’’, and 

5 President Barack Obama who, as a Senator, had a 

6 framed picture of Muhammad Ali hanging in his of7 fice, and before announcing his intentions to run for 

8 President, Obama visited with Muhammad Ali at the 

9 Ali Center in Louisville, Kentucky. 

10 (15) Muhammad Ali encouraged humanity 

11 through his perseverance and the support of thou12 sands of people. He helped such organizations as the 

13 Chicago-based adoption agency, The Cradle, the 

14 Make-A-Wish Foundation, the Special Olympics’ or15 ganization, Best Buddies; and Herbert E. Birch 

16 Services, an organization that runs a school for 

17 handicapped children and young adults, in addition 

18 to a summer camp for children with AIDS. 

19 (16) Muhammad Ali and his wife Lonnie were 

20 the founding directors of the Muhammad Ali Par21 kinson Center in Phoenix, Arizona, and helped raise 

22 over $50,000,000 for Parkinson’s research. The 

23 Center’s mission is to provide excellence in treat24 ment, research, and education for patients and famiVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:10 Mar 02, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3842.IS S3842

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1 lies affected by Parkinson’s disease and other move2 ment disorders, regardless of their ability to pay. 

3 (17) Muhammad Ali was an inspiration to 

4 countless individuals with Parkinson’s disease, in5 cluding members of the Rock Steady Boxing Foun6 dation in Indianapolis, Indiana, which was founded 

7 to give people with Parkinson’s disease hope by im8 proving their quality of life using boxing for fitness. 

9 (18) Muhammad Ali was one of the founding 

10 members of Athletes for Hope, an organization cre11 ated by a few very successful athletes of exemplary 

12 character who have a deep commitment to charitable 

13 and community causes. 

14 (19) Muhammad Ali also established the Mu15 hammad Ali Center in his hometown of Louisville, 

16 Kentucky, which promotes respect, hope, and under17 standing, and inspires people everywhere to be as 

18 great as they can be. A visitor of the Muhammad Ali 

19 Center experiences the ‘‘hows’’ of Ali’s life: How he 

20 found the courage, the dedication, and the discipline 

21 to become a world champion, how he found the con22 viction to stand up for what he believed, and how he 

23 turned his passion for excellence in the ring to a 

24 passion for peace on the world stage. 


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1 (20) Like Muhammad Ali himself, the Muham2 mad Ali Center focuses on what brings individuals 

3 together, not what sets them apart, and is a ‘‘global 

4 gathering place’’ to which people can come, both on5 line and in person, to learn, share, and celebrate our 

6 commonalities as human beings and to formulate 

7 ways of advancing humanity. 

8 (21) Muhammad Ali helped to provide more 

9 than 22,000,000 aid packets to assist people in 

10 need, and until the last years of his life, he traveled, 

11 on average, more than 200 days per year for human12 itarian causes. 

13 (22) Muhammad Ali, known simply as ‘‘the 

14 greatest’’, transcended the glamour and glory of 

15 being a sports champion to become not only one of 

16 the greatest sports figures, but one of the greatest 

17 role models of our time. 

18 (23) On June 3, 2016, Muhammad Ali died at 

19 the age of 74. 

20 SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

21 (a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of 

22 the House of Representatives and the President pro tem23 pore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements 

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


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1 medal of appropriate design to Muhammad Ali, in recogni2 tion of his contributions to the United States. 

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

4 presentation described in subsection (a), the Secretary of 

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

6 shall strike a gold medal with suitable emblems, devices, 

7 and inscriptions to be determined by the Secretary. 

8 (c) TRANSFER OF MEDAL AFTER PRESENTATION.— 

9 Following the presentation of the gold medal in honor of 

10 Muhammad Ali under subsection (a), the gold medal shall 

11 be given to his wife, Lonnie Ali. 

12 SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

13 The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 

14 bronze of the gold medal struck pursuant to section 3 at 

15 a price sufficient to cover the cost of the medals, including 

16 labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead ex17 penses. 

18 SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS. 

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

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

21 31, United States Code. 

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

23 5134 and 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all medals 

24 struck under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic 

25 items. 


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1 SEC. 6. 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 struck under 

7 this Act. 

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

9 sale of duplicate bronze medals authorized under section 

10 4 shall be deposited into the United States Mint Public 

11 Enterprise Fund. 

Æ 


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