106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 531

AN ACT

To authorize the President to award a gold medal on behalf

of the Congress to Rosa Parks in recognition of her

contributions to the Nation.

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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S 531 ES

1 SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

2 The Congress finds that—

3 (1) Rosa Parks was born on February 4, 1913,

4 in Tuskegee, Alabama, the first child of James and

5 Leona (Edwards) McCauley;

6 (2) Rosa Parks is honored as the ‘‘first lady of

7 civil rights’’ and the ‘‘mother of the freedom move8 ment’’, and her quiet dignity ignited the most sig9 nificant social movement in the history of the United

10 States;

11 (3) Rosa Parks was arrested on December 1,

12 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama, for refusing to give

13 up her seat on a bus to a white man, and her stand

14 for equal rights became legendary;

15 (4) news of Rosa Parks’ arrest resulted in

16 42,000 African Americans boycotting Montgomery

17 buses for 381 days, beginning on December 5, 1955,

18 until the bus segregation laws were changed on De19 cember 21, 1956;

20 (5) the United States Supreme Court ruled on

21 November 13, 1956, that the Montgomery segrega22 tion law was unconstitutional, and on December 20,

23 1956, Montgomery officials were ordered to deseg24 regate buses;

25 (6) the civil rights movement led to the Civil

26 Rights Act of 1964, which broke down the barriers
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S 531 ES

1 of legal discrimination against African Americans

2 and made equality before the law a reality for all

3 Americans;

4 (7) Rosa Parks is the recipient of many awards

5 and accolades for her efforts on behalf of racial har6 mony, including the Springarn Award, the NAACP’s

7 highest honor for civil rights contributions, the Pres8 idential Medal of Freedom, the Nation’s highest ci9 vilian honor, and the first International Freedom

10 Conductor Award from the National Underground

11 Railroad Freedom Center;

12 (8) Rosa Parks has dedicated her life to the

13 cause of universal human rights and truly embodies

14 the love of humanity and freedom;

15 (9) Rosa Parks was the first woman to join the

16 Montgomery chapter of the NAACP, was an active

17 volunteer for the Montgomery Voters League, and in

18 1987, cofounded the Rosa and Raymond Parks In19 stitute for Self-Development;

20 (10) Rosa Parks, by her quiet courage, symbol21 izes all that is vital about nonviolent protest, as she

22 endured threats of death and persisted as an advo23 cate for the simple, basic lessons she taught the Na24 tion and from which the Nation has benefited im25 measurably; and
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1 (11) Rosa Parks, who has resided in the State

2 of Michigan since 1957, has become a living icon for

3 freedom in America.

4 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL.

5 (a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The President is

6 authorized to award to Rosa Parks, on behalf of the Con7 gress, a gold medal of appropriate design honoring Rosa

8 Parks in recognition of her contributions to the Nation.

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

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

11 Treasury (hereafter in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Sec12 retary’’) shall strike a gold medal with suitable emblems,

13 devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the Sec14 retary.

15 SEC. 3. DUPLICATE MEDALS.

16 The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in

17 bronze of the gold medal struck pursuant to section 2,

18 under such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe,

19 and at a price sufficient to cover the costs thereof, includ20 ing labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead

21 expenses, and the cost of the gold medal.

22 SEC. 4. STATUS AS NATIONAL MEDALS.

23 The medals struck pursuant to this Act are national

24 medals for purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United

25 States Code.
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1 SEC. 5. FUNDING.

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

3 authorized to be charged against the United States Mint

4 Public Enterprise Fund an amount not to exceed $30,000

5 to pay for the cost of the medals authorized by this Act.

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

7 sale of duplicate bronze medals under section 3 shall be

8 deposited in the United States Mint Public Enterprise

9 Fund.

Passed the Senate April 19, 1999.

Attest:

Secretary.
106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 531

AN ACT

To authorize the President to award a gold medal

ognition of her contributions to the Nation.on behalf of the Congress to Rosa Parks in rec-