II 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1345 

To award posthumously a Congressional Gold Medal to Dr. R. Adams Cowley, 

in recognition of his lifelong commitment to the advancement of trauma 

care. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 23, 2013 

Ms. MIKULSKI (for herself and Mr. CARDIN) 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 Dr. 

R. Adams Cowley, in recognition of his lifelong commitment to the advancement of trauma care. 

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 ‘‘Dr. R. Adams Cowley 

5 Congressional Gold Medal Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds as follows: 

8 (1) Dr. Cowley was a pioneer in the practice of 

9 open-heart surgery, trauma mitigation, and emerVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:37 Jul 25, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1345.IS S1345

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1 gency medical services. His goal through vigorous 

2 research into the impacts of trauma was to reduce 

3 the instances of death due to shock and was award4 ed a $100,000 contract from the Army to study the 

5 effects of shock in soldiers. 

6 (2) Dr. Cowley established the first clinical 

7 shock trauma unit in the Nation in 1960. Dr. 

8 Cowley’s realization of the importance of the first 60 

9 minutes of treatment after critical injury led to an 

10 idea called the ‘‘Golden Hour Theory’’. 

11 (3) Dr. Cowley’s advocacy of the Golden Hour 

12 theory led to the first medevac transport system in 

13 1969 after the opening of the new 5-story, 32-bed 

14 Center for the Study of Trauma in Baltimore, Mary15 land. 

16 (4) Dr. Cowley’s work continued to produce 

17 new advances in shock trauma treatment. In 1979, 

18 former Maryland Governor Marvin Mandel issued an 

19 Executive order establishing the Center for the 

20 Study of Trauma at the Maryland Institute for 

21 Emergency Medicine and Dr. Cowley was appointed 

22 Director of the Division of Emergency Medical Serv23 ices. 

24 (5) Dr. Cowley was a tireless advocate for the 

25 Shock Trauma Center throughout his entire career 


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1 testifying before Maryland legislators and fighting 

2 for funding for equipment, helicopters, and anything 

3 else he needed to build the EMS System in Mary4 land. 

5 (6) Dr. Cowley’s hard work laid the foundation 

6 for emergency medicine to become a discipline of its 

7 own. Hundreds of medical personnel have trained at 

8 the Shock Trauma Center including members of the 

9 United States Military in preparation for deploy10 ment to Afghanistan and Iraq. 

11 SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

12 (a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of 

13 the House of Representatives and the President pro tem14 pore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements 

15 for the posthumous presentation, on behalf of the Con16 gress, of a gold medal of appropriate design in commemo17 ration of Dr. R. Adams Cowley, in recognition of his life18 long commitment to the advancement of trauma care. 

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

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

21 of the Treasury (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Sec22 retary’’) shall strike a gold medal with suitable emblems, 

23 devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the Sec24 retary. 


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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 pursuant to section 3 

4 under such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, at 

5 a price sufficient to cover the cost thereof, including labor, 

6 materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses, 

7 and the cost of the gold medal. 

8 SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS. 

9 (a) NATIONAL MEDALS.—The medals struck pursu10 ant to this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 

11 51 of title 31, United States Code. 

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

13 5134 of title 31, United States Code, all medals struck 

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

Æ 


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