I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2782 

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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 22, 2013 

Mr. RUPPERSBERGER (for himself, Mr. HARRIS, Mr. SARBANES, Ms. 

EDWARDS, Mr. HOYER, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. CUMMINGS, and Mr. 

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

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 The Congress finds as follows: 


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

2 open-heart surgery, trauma mitigation and emer3 gency medical services. His goal through vigorous 

4 research into the impacts of trauma was to reduce 

5 the instances of death due to shock and was award6 ed a $100,000 contract from the Army to study the 

7 effects of shock in soldiers. 

8 (2) Dr. Cowley established the first clinical 

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

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

11 minutes of treatment after critical injury led to an 

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

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

14 theory led to the first medevac transport system in 

15 1969 after the opening of the new 5-story, 32-bed 

16 Center for the Study of Trauma in Baltimore, Mary17 land. 

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

19 new advances in shock trauma treatment. In 1979, 

20 former Maryland Governor Marvin Mandel issued an 

21 Executive order establishing the Center for the 

22 Study of Trauma at the Maryland Institute for 

23 Emergency Medicine and Dr. Cowley was appointed 

24 Director of the Division of Emergency Medical Serv25 ices. 


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

2 Shock Trauma Center throughout his entire career 

3 testifying before Maryland legislators and fighting 

4 for funding for equipment, helicopters and anything 

5 else he needed to build the EMS System in Mary6 land. 

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

8 for emergency medicine to become a discipline of its 

9 own. Hundreds of medical personnel have trained at 

10 the Shock Trauma Center including members of the 

11 United States Military in preparation for deploy12 ment to Afghanistan and Iraq. 

13 SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

14 (a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of 

15 the House of Representatives and the President pro tem16 pore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements 

17 for the posthumous presentation, on behalf of the Con18 gress, of a gold medal of appropriate design in commemo19 ration of Dr. R. Adams Cowley, in recognition of his life20 long commitment to the advancement of trauma care. 

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

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

23 of the Treasury (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Sec24 retary’’) shall strike a gold medal with suitable emblems, 


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1 devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the Sec2 retary. 

3 SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

4 The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 

5 bronze of the gold medal struck pursuant to section 3 

6 under such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, at 

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

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

9 and the cost of the gold medal. 

10 SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS. 

11 (a) NATIONAL MEDALS.—The medals struck pursu12 ant to this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 

13 51 of title 31, United States Code. 

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

15 5134 of title 31, United States Code, all medals struck 

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

Æ 


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