I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1484 

To award a Congressional Gold Medal to Rabbi Arthur Schneier in recognition 

of his pioneering role in promoting religious freedom and human rights 

throughout the world, for close to half a century. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 12, 2009 

Mrs. MALONEY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To award a Congressional Gold Medal to Rabbi Arthur 

Schneier in recognition of his pioneering role in promoting religious freedom and human rights throughout 

the world, for close to half a century. 

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 ‘‘Rabbi Arthur Schneier 

5 Congressional Gold Medal Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds as follows: 


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1 (1) Rabbi Arthur Schneier, Spiritual Leader of 

2 Park East Synagogue and Founder and President, 

3 Appeal of Conscience Foundation, has played a pio4 neering role in promoting religious freedom and 

5 human rights throughout the world, for close to half 

6 a century. 

7 (2) The President of the United States awarded 

8 him the Presidential Citizens Medal for ‘‘his service 

9 as an international envoy for four administrations’’ 

10 and as a Holocaust survivor, ‘‘devoting a lifetime to 

11 overcoming forces of hatred and intolerance’’. 

12 (3) He received the United States Department 

13 of State Special Recognition Award from Secretary 

14 Colin Powell for ‘‘. . . his ecumenical work in favor 

15 of mutual understanding, tolerance and peace . . .’’. 

16 (4) In China in 2004, he headed an interfaith 

17 Appeal of Conscience Foundation delegation which 

18 met with government officials on behalf of religious 

19 freedom and strengthened exchanges between reli20 gious communities in China and the United States. 

21 (5) He has regularly led delegations of religious 

22 leaders to China since the early 1980s. 

23 (6) In the Former Soviet Union, Rabbi 

24 Schneier was, in 2004, the keynote speaker at the 


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1 Interreligious Conference on Peace hosted by Patri2 arch Aleksey II. 

3 (7) In Armenia in 2002, he held meetings with 

4 the Catholics and government leaders to help ease 

5 tensions between Armenia and Turkey. 

6 (8) In Yugoslavia, he convened the Religious 

7 Summit on the Former Yugoslavia in Switzerland 

8 and the Conflict Resolution Conference in Vienna, 

9 mobilizing religious leaders to halt the bloodshed in 

10 former Yugoslavia (1992, 1995). 

11 (9) In the Balkans, Caucasus, and Central 

12 Asia, he initiated the Peace and Tolerance Con13 ference in Istanbul, Turkey, in cooperation with the 

14 Turkish Government and the Ecumenical Patriarch 

15 Bartholomew I (1994). 

16 (10) In Bosnia-Herzegovina, he met with top 

17 government and religious leaders in Sarajevo to pro18 mote healing and conciliation between the Serbian 

19 Orthodox, Muslim, Catholic, and Jewish commu20 nities (1997). 

21 (11) Rabbi Schneier initiated the interfaith ap22 peal to the United Nations for the worldwide protec23 tion of holy sites, which was adopted by the United 

24 Nations General Assembly in May 2001 as the reso25 lution for the ‘‘Protection of Religious Sites’’. 


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1 (12) In 1980, he initiated the Annual Seminar 

2 on Religious Life to educate Foreign Service officers 

3 in the religious traditions of the countries of their 

4 assignment. 

5 (13) The Foreign Service Institute honored him 

6 in 2001 for ‘‘20 years of excellent cooperation in 

7 furthering the objective of religious freedom’’. 

8 (14) He has been very active in humanitarian 

9 missions, such as mobilizing the American religious 

10 community in support for the victims of the Arme11 nian and Turkish earthquakes. 

12 (15) A United States Alternate Representative 

13 to the United Nations General Assembly and Chair14 man of the United States Commission for the Pres15 ervation of America’s Heritage Abroad, he was one 

16 of 3 American religious leaders appointed by the 

17 President of the United States to start the first dia18 logue on religious freedom with President Jiang 

19 Zemin and other top Chinese leaders (1998). 

20 (16) He was a United States delegate to the 

21 Stockholm International Forum for the Prevention 

22 of Genocide (2004). 

23 (17) Born in Vienna, Austria, in 1930, Rabbi 

24 Schneier lived under Nazi occupation in Budapest 


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1 during World War II and arrived in the United 

2 States in 1947. 

3 (18) He holds the Ordination and Doctor of Di4 vinity Degree from Yeshiva University. 

5 (19) In 2004, Yeshiva University honored him 

6 by establishing the Rabbi Arthur Schneier Center 

7 for International Affairs. 

8 SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

9 (a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of 

10 the House of Representatives and the President pro tem11 pore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements 

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

13 medal of appropriate design to Rabbi Arthur Schneier in 

14 recognition of his pioneering role in promoting religious 

15 freedom and human rights throughout the world, for close 

16 to half a century. 

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

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

19 of the Treasury (hereafter in this Act referred to as the 

20 ‘‘Secretary’’) shall strike a gold medal with suitable em21 blems, devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the 

22 Secretary. 

23 SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

24 The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 

25 bronze of the gold medal struck pursuant to section 3 


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1 under such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, at 

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

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

4 and the cost of the gold medal. 

5 SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS. 

6 (a) NATIONAL MEDALS.—The medals struck pursu7 ant to this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 

8 51 of title 31, United States Code. 

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

10 5134 of title 31, United States Code, all medals struck 

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

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

13 SALE. 

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

15 authorized to be charged against the United States Mint 

16 Public Enterprise Fund, such amounts as may be nec17 essary to pay for the costs of the medal struck pursuant 

18 to this Act. 

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

20 sale of duplicate bronze medals authorized under section 

21 4 shall be deposited into the United States Mint Public 

22 Enterprise Fund. 

Æ 


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