I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1303 

To posthumously award a Congressional gold medal to Shirley Chisholm. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 31, 2011 

Mr. RANGEL (for himself, Ms. BALDWIN, Mrs. CHRISTENSEN, Mr. CONYERS, 

Mr. FATTAH, Ms. FUDGE, Mr. AL GREEN of Texas, Mr. HASTINGS of 

Florida, Mr. HOLT, Ms. NORTON, Mr. MEEKS, Ms. MOORE, Mr. SCOTT

of Virginia, and Mr. TOWNS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To posthumously award a Congressional gold medal to 

Shirley Chisholm. 

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 ‘‘Shirley Chisholm Con5 gressional Gold Medal Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds as follows: 


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1 (1) Shirley Chisholm was a pioneer: She was 

2 the first African-American woman elected to Con3 gress in 1968 where she served until 1982. 

4 (2) Shirley Chisholm inspired and led the 

5 march of political achievement by African-Americans 

6 and women in the three decades since she ran for 

7 the Presidency of the United States. 

8 (3) Her election to Congress and her candidacy 

9 for the Presidency raised the profile and aspirations 

10 of all African-Americans and women in the field of 

11 politics. 

12 (4) Shirley Chisholm was recognized for her ac13 tivism, independence, and groundbreaking achieve14 ments in politics during and after the civil rights 

15 era. 

16 (5) Shirley Chisholm was born in Brooklyn, 

17 New York, on November 30, 1924, attended Brook18 lyn College, and earned a Master’s degree from Co19 lumbia University. 

20 (6) Shirley Chisholm worked in education and 

21 social services before being elected to the New York 

22 State Assembly in 1964. 

23 (7) Shirley Chisholm established the Unity 

24 Democratic Club in 1960, which played a significant 


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1 role in rallying Black and Hispanic voters in New 

2 York City. 

3 (8) In 1969, Shirley Chisholm began her service 

4 in the 91st Congress, representing Brooklyn’s 12th 

5 Congressional District in the United States House of 

6 Representatives. 

7 (9) During her service in the House of Rep8 resentatives, Shirley Chisholm promoted the employ9 ment of women in Congress and was vocal in her 

10 support of civil rights, women’s rights, and the poor, 

11 while fervently opposing the Vietnam War. 

12 (10) In 1972, Shirley Chisholm was the first 

13 African-American to seek the nomination of a major 

14 party for President of the United States. 

15 (11) Shirley Chisholm was a co-founder of the 

16 National Organization for Women. 

17 (12) An historic figure in American political 

18 history, Shirley Chisholm died at the age of 80 in 

19 Ormond Beach, Florida, on New Year’s Day 2005. 

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 posthumous presentation, on behalf of the Con25 gress, of a gold medal of appropriate design in commemoVerDate Mar 15 2010 22:06 Apr 04, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1303.IH H1303

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1 ration of Shirley Chisholm, in recognition of her activism, 

2 independence, and groundbreaking achievements in poli3 tics, her election as the first African-American woman in 

4 the Congress, and her campaign to be the first African5 American to gain the nomination of a major political party 

6 for President of the United States. 

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

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

9 of the Treasury (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Sec10 retary’’) shall strike a gold medal with suitable emblems, 

11 devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the Sec12 retary. 

13 SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

14 The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 

15 bronze of the gold medal struck pursuant to section 2 

16 under such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, at 

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

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

19 and the cost of the gold medal. 

20 SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS. 

21 (a) NATIONAL MEDALS.—The medals struck pursu22 ant to this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 

23 51 of title 31, United States Code. 


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

2 5134 of title 31, United States Code, all medals struck 

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

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

5 SALE. 

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

7 authorized to be charged against the United States Mint 

8 Public Enterprise Fund, such amounts as may be nec9 essary to pay for the costs of the medals struck pursuant 

10 to this Act. 

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

12 sale of duplicate bronze medals authorized under section 

13 3 shall be deposited into the United States Mint Public 

14 Enterprise Fund. 

Æ 


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