I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2939 

To award the Congressional Gold Medal to Shimon Peres. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

AUGUST 1, 2013 

Mr. KENNEDY (for himself and Mr. FRANKS of Arizona) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To award the Congressional Gold Medal to Shimon Peres. 

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 Congress makes the following findings: 

5 (1) Shimon Peres was born in Poland in 1923. 

6 (2) The Peres family emigrated to Tel Aviv in 

7 1934, and all of the family members of Shimon 

8 Peres who remained in Poland were murdered dur9 ing the Holocaust. 

10 (3) Before Israel gained independence, Shimon 

11 Peres earned the respect of senior leaders in the 


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1 independence movement in Israel, most notably 

2 David Ben-Gurion. 

3 (4) The founding generation of Israel was cen4 tral to the development of Israel, and Shimon Peres 

5 is the only surviving member of that founding gen6 eration. 

7 (5) Shimon Peres has served in numerous high8 level cabinet positions and ministerial posts in Israel, 

9 including head of the Israeli Navy, Minister of De10 fense, Foreign Minister, Prime Minister, and Presi11 dent, among many others. 

12 (6) Shimon Peres has honorably served Israel 

13 for over 70 years, during which he has significantly 

14 contributed to United States interests and has 

15 played a pivotal role in forging the strong and un16 breakable bond between the United States and 

17 Israel. 

18 (7) By presenting the Congressional Gold 

19 Medal to Shimon Peres, the first to be awarded to 

20 a sitting President of Israel, Congress proclaims its 

21 unbreakable bond with Israel and reaffirms its con22 tinual support for Israel as we commemorate the 

23 65th anniversary of the independence of Israel and 

24 the 90th birthday of Shimon Peres, which are both 

25 significant milestones in Israeli history. 


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1 (8) Maintaining strong bilateral relations be2 tween the United States and Israel has been a pri3 ority of Shimon Peres since he began working with 

4 the United States in the days of John F. Kennedy. 

5 The strong bond is exemplified by the following: 

6 (A) President Reagan said to Shimon 

7 Peres upon his visit to the United States, ‘‘Mr. 

8 Prime Minister, I thank you very much for your 

9 visit. It’s been an occasion to renew a friend10 ship and to review and enhance the strength of 

11 our unique bilateral relationship.’’. 

12 (B) At another point President Reagan 

13 said of Shimon Peres, ‘‘His vision, his states14 manship and his tenacity are greatly appre15 ciated here.’’. 

16 (C) While visiting with Shimon Peres at 

17 the Residence of the President in Jerusalem, 

18 President Obama described Shimon Peres as 

19 ‘‘. . . a son of Israel who’s devoted his life to 

20 keeping Israel strong and sustaining the bonds 

21 between our two nations’’. 

22 (D) On March 20, 2013, Shimon Peres re23 affirmed his belief in the relationship between 

24 the United States and Israel, stating, ‘‘America 

25 stood by our side from the very beginning. You 


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1 support us as we rebuild our ancient homeland 

2 and as we defend our land. From Holocaust to 

3 redemption.’’. 

4 (E) On March 21, 2013, Shimon Peres 

5 stated, ‘‘. . . America is so great and we are so 

6 small. But I learned that you don’t measure us 

7 by size, but by values. When it comes to values, 

8 we are you and you are us . . . As I look back, 

9 I feel that the Israel of today has exceeded the 

10 vision we had 65 years ago. Reality has sur11 passed our dreams. The United States of Amer12 ica helped us to make this possible.’’. 

13 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

14 (a) AWARD AUTHORIZED.—The President pro tem15 pore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Rep16 resentatives shall make appropriate arrangements for the 

17 award, on behalf of Congress, of a single gold medal of 

18 appropriate design in honor of President Shimon Peres. 

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

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

21 Treasury shall strike a gold medal with suitable emblems, 

22 devices, and inscriptions to be determined by the Sec23 retary. 


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1 SEC. 3. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

2 Under such regulations as the Secretary of the Treas3 ury may prescribe, the Secretary may strike duplicate 

4 medals in bronze of the gold medal struck pursuant to 

5 section 2 and sell such duplicate medals at a price suffi6 cient to cover the costs of the medals, including labor, ma7 terials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses. 

8 SEC. 4. NATIONAL MEDALS. 

9 Medals struck pursuant to this Act are national med10 als for purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United States 

11 Code. 

12 SEC. 5. AUTHORITY TO USE FUND AMOUNTS; PROCEEDS OF 

13 SALE. 

14 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF CHARGES.—There is author15 ized to be charged against the United States Mint Public 

16 Enterprise Fund, such amounts as may be necessary to 

17 pay for the costs of the medals struck pursuant to this 

18 Act. 

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

20 sale of duplicate bronze medals under section 3 shall be 

21 deposited in the United States Mint Public Enterprise 

22 Fund. 

Æ 


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