IC 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 266 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

AUGUST 24, 2018 

Referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

AN ACT 

To award the Congressional Gold Medal to Anwar Sadat 

in recognition of his heroic achievements and courageous 

contributions to peace in the Middle East. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Anwar Sadat Centen3 nial Celebration Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) Anwar Sadat was born on December 25, 

7 1918, in Mit Abu al-Kum, al-Minufiyah, Egypt, as 

8 1 of 13 children in a poor Egyptian family. 

9 (2) In 1938, Sadat graduated from the Royal 

10 Military Academy in Cairo and was appointed to the 

11 Signal Corps. 

12 (3) Sadat entered the Army as a second lieuten13 ant and was posted to Sudan where he met Gamal 

14 Abdel Nasser and fellow junior officers who became 

15 the ‘‘Free Officers’’ who led the Egyptian revolution 

16 of 1952. 

17 (4) Sadat held various high positions during 

18 Nasser’s presidency, assuming the role of President 

19 of the National Assembly in 1960 and Vice Presi20 dent in 1964. 

21 (5) President Nasser died of a heart attack on 

22 September 28, 1970, at which point Sadat became 

23 acting President. Sadat was subsequently elected as 

24 the third President of Egypt. 

25 (6) On October 6, 1973, President Sadat, along 

26 with his Syrian counterparts, launched an offensive 


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1 against Israel. A permanent cease-fire was reached 

2 on October 25, 1973. 

3 (7) In 1974, after talks facilitated by Secretary 

4 of State Henry Kissinger, Egypt and Israel signed 

5 an agreement allowing Egypt to formally retrieve 

6 land in the Sinai. President Sadat later wrote in his 

7 memoirs that his meetings with Kissinger ‘‘marked 

8 the beginning of a relationship of mutual under9 standing with the United States culminating and 

10 crystallizing in what we came to describe as a ‘peace 

11 process’. Together we started that process and the 

12 United States still supports our joint efforts to this 

13 day’’. 

14 (8) Months of diplomacy between Egypt and 

15 Israel followed the signing of this initial agreement 

16 and a second disengagement agreement, the Sinai 

17 Interim Agreement, was signed in September of 

18 1975. 

19 (9) President Sadat addressed a joint session of 

20 Congress on November 5, 1975, during which he un21 derscored the shared values between the United 

22 States and Egypt. In this speech, President Sadat 

23 addressed the path to peace, saying, ‘‘We are faced, 

24 together with other nations, with one of the greatest 

25 challenges of our time, namely the task of convincing 


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1 this generation, and those to follow, that we can fi2 nally build a viable international system capable of 

3 meeting the demands of tomorrow and solving the 

4 problems of the coming age’’. 

5 (10) On November 19, 1977, President Sadat 

6 became the first Arab leader to visit Israel, meeting 

7 with the Israeli Prime Minister, Menachem Begin. 

8 President Sadat spoke before the Israeli Knesset in 

9 Jerusalem about his views on how to achieve com10 prehensive peace in the Arab-Israeli conflict. 

11 (11) Before commencing negotiations, President 

12 Sadat courageously announced to the Knesset, ‘‘I 

13 have come to you so that together we might build a 

14 durable peace based on justice, to avoid the shedding 

15 of 1 single drop of blood from an Arab or an Israeli. 

16 It is for this reason that I have proclaimed my read17 iness to go to the farthest corner of the world’’. 

18 President Sadat further poignantly stated that ‘‘any 

19 life lost in war is a human life, irrespective of its 

20 being that of an Israeli or an Arab. . . . When the 

21 bells of peace ring, there will be no hands to beat 

22 the drums of war’’. 

23 (12) On September 17, 1978, President Jimmy 

24 Carter hosted President Sadat and Prime Minister 

25 Begin at Camp David where the 3 leaders engaged 


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1 in 13 days of negotiations that resulted in the 

2 ‘‘Framework for Peace in the Middle East’’ (com3 monly known as the ‘‘Camp David Accords’’). 

4 (13) Following negotiations, President Sadat 

5 and Prime Minister Begin signed the Egypt-Israel 

6 Peace Treaty (in this section referred to as the 

7 ‘‘Peace Treaty’’) at the White House on March 26, 

8 1979. Addressing President Sadat at the signing of 

9 the Peace Treaty, which remains an important an10 chor for peace in the region today, Prime Minister 

11 Begin commended President Sadat by saying, ‘‘In 

12 the face of adversity and hostility, you have dem13 onstrated the human value that can change his14 tory—civil courage’’. 

15 (14) The Peace Treaty featured mutual rec16 ognition of each country by the other and ultimately 

17 the cessation of the state of war that had existed be18 tween Israel and Egypt since the 1948 Arab-Israeli 

19 War. Israel completely withdrew its armed forces 

20 and civilians from the rest of the Sinai. 

21 (15) In 1978, both President Sadat and Prime 

22 Minister Begin were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize 

23 for signing the Peace Treaty, which made Egypt the 

24 first Arab country to officially recognize Israel. 


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1 (16) While presenting the Nobel Peace Prize to 

2 President Sadat, Aase Lionaes, Chairman of the 

3 Norwegian Nobel Committee, said, ‘‘During the 30 

4 preceding years, the peoples of the Middle East 

5 have, on 4 separate occasions, been the victims of 

6 warfare and there seemed no prospect of peace. 

7 President Sadat’s great contribution to peace was 

8 that he had sufficient courage and foresight to break 

9 away from this vicious circle. His decision to accept 

10 Prime Minister Menachem Begin’s invitation of No11 vember 17, 1977, to attend a meeting of the Israeli 

12 parliament on November 19 was an act of great 

13 courage, both from a personal and from a political 

14 point of view. This was a dramatic break with the 

15 past and a courageous step forward into a new age’’. 

16 (17) During his Nobel lecture, President Sadat 

17 remarked, ‘‘I made my trip because I am convinced 

18 that we owe it to this generation and the generations 

19 to come not to leave a stone unturned in our pursuit 

20 of peace’’. 

21 (18) In remarks to the People’s Assembly in 

22 Cairo on March 10, 1979, President Carter praised 

23 President Sadat, telling the Assembly, ‘‘Your Presi24 dent has demonstrated the power of human courage 

25 and human vision to create hope where there had 


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1 been only despair.’’. President Carter also said that 

2 the Peace Treaty would ‘‘strengthen cooperation be3 tween Egypt and the United States’’ and under4 scored the support of the United States for the 

5 agreement, saying, ‘‘I fully share and will support 

6 President Sadat’s belief that stability must be main7 tained in this part of the world . . . He and I recog8 nize that the security of this vital region is being 

9 challenged. I applaud his determination to meet that 

10 challenge, and my Government will stand with him’’. 

11 (19) The signing of the Peace Treaty enraged 

12 many individuals who opposed normalized relations 

13 with Israel. President Sadat was assassinated on Oc14 tober 6, 1981, by Khalid Islambouli, a member of 

15 Egyptian Islamic Jihad. President Sadat was well 

16 aware of the controversy to which his actions would 

17 lead, but pushed for peace anyway. 

18 (20) Upon the death of President Sadat, Presi19 dent Ronald Reagan proclaimed, ‘‘President Sadat 

20 was a courageous man whose vision and wisdom 

21 brought nations and people together. In a world 

22 filled with hatred, he was a man of hope. In a world 

23 trapped in the animosities of the past, he was a man 

24 of foresight, a man who sought to improve a world 

25 tormented by malice and pettiness’’. 


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1 (21) President Sadat is recognized in the 

2 United States and throughout the world as a re3 spected leader and champion of peace whose vision 

4 provided a roadmap for the peaceful resolution of 

5 conflict that endures nearly 40 years after its incep6 tion. 

7 (22) President Sadat bravely reached out to 

8 Israel and dedicated himself to peace, furthering the 

9 national security of Egypt and the stability of the 

10 Middle East. 

11 (23) On the 30th anniversary of the Peace 

12 Treaty, President Barack Obama praised the endur13 ing legacy of the Camp David Accords and the 

14 ‘‘courage and foresight of these leaders, who stood 

15 together in unity to change the course of our shared 

16 history’’. President Obama closed by saying, 

17 ‘‘Today, as we seek to expand the circle of peace 

18 among Arabs and Israelis, we take inspiration from 

19 what Israel and Egypt achieved 3 decades ago, 

20 knowing that the destination is worthy of the strug21 gle’’. 

22 (24) The Camp David Accords and the Peace 

23 Treaty continue to serve the interests of the United 

24 States by preserving peace and serving as a foundaVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:40 Aug 28, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S266.RFH S266

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1 tion for partnership and dialogue in a region fraught 

2 with conflict and division. 

3 SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

4 (a) AWARD AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of the 

5 House of Representatives and the President pro tempore 

6 of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements for the 

7 posthumous award, on behalf of Congress, of a gold medal 

8 of appropriate design to Anwar Sadat in recognition of 

9 his achievements and heroic actions to attain comprehen10 sive peace in the Middle East. 

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

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

13 Treasury (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall 

14 strike a gold medal with suitable emblems, devices, and 

15 inscriptions to be determined by the Secretary. 

16 (c) PRESENTATION.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—The gold medal referred to 

18 in subsection (a) shall be presented to— 

19 (A)(i) the widow of Anwar Sadat, Jehan 

20 Sadat; or 

21 (ii) if Jehan Sadat is unavailable, the next 

22 of kin of Jehan Sadat; and 

23 (B) a representative of the Government of 

24 Egypt. 


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1 (2) AWARD OF MEDAL.—Following the presen2 tation described in paragraph (1), the gold medal 

3 shall be given to— 

4 (A) Jehan Sadat; or 

5 (B) if Jehan Sadat is unavailable, the next 

6 of kin of Jehan Sadat. 

7 SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

8 The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 

9 bronze of the gold medal struck under section 3 under 

10 such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, at a price 

11 sufficient to cover the cost thereof, including labor, mate12 rials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses, and 

13 the cost of the gold medal. 

14 SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS. 

15 (a) NATIONAL MEDALS.—The medals struck under 

16 this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 51 

17 of title 31, United States Code. 

18 (b) NUMISMATIC ITEMS.—For purposes of sections 

19 5134 and 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all medals 


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1 struck under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic 

2 items. 

Passed the Senate August 22, 2018. 

Attest: JULIE E. ADAMS, 

Secretary. 


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