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106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 531

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.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MARCH 4, 1999

Mr. ABRAHAM (for himself, Mr. SESSIONS, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. KENNEDY, and

Mr. HARKIN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs

A BILL

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,

3 SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

4 The Congress finds that—

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

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

7 Leona (Edwards) McCauley;

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

9 civil rights’’ and the ‘‘mother of the freedom move-
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1 ment’’, and her quiet dignity ignited the most sig2 nificant social movement in the history of the United

3 States;

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

5 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama, for refusing to give

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

7 for equal rights became legendary;

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

9 42,000 African Americans boycotting Montgomery

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

11 until the bus segregation laws were changed on De12 cember 21, 1956;

13 (5) the United States Supreme Court ruled on

14 November 13, 1956, that the Montgomery segrega15 tion law was unconstitutional, and on December 20,

16 1956, Montgomery officials were ordered to deseg17 regate buses;

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

19 Rights Act of 1964, which broke down the barriers

20 of legal discrimination against African Americans

21 and made equality before the law a reality for all

22 Americans;

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

24 and accolades for her efforts on behalf of racial har25 mony, including the Springarn Award, the NAACP’s
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1 highest honor for civil rights contributions, the Pres2 idential Medal of Freedom, the Nation’s highest ci3 vilian honor, and the first International Freedom

4 Conductor Award from the National Underground

5 Railroad Freedom Center;

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

7 cause of universal human rights and truly embodies

8 the love of humanity and freedom;

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

10 Montgomery chapter of the NAACP, was an active

11 volunteer for the Montgomery Voters League, and in

12 1987, cofounded the Rosa and Raymond Parks In13 stitute for Self-Development;

14 (10) Rosa Parks, by her quiet courage, symbol15 izes all that is vital about nonviolent protest, as she

16 endured threats of death and persisted as an advo17 cate for the simple, basic lessons she taught the Na18 tion and from which the Nation has benefited im19 measurably; and

20 (11) Rosa Parks, who has resided in the State

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

22 freedom in America.

23 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL.

24 (a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The President is

25 authorized to award to Rosa Parks, on behalf of the Con-
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1 gress, a gold medal of appropriate design honoring Rosa

2 Parks in recognition of her contributions to the Nation.

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

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

5 Treasury (hereafter in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Sec6 retary’’) shall strike a gold medal with suitable emblems,

7 devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the Sec8 retary.

9 SEC. 3. DUPLICATE MEDALS.

10 The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in

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

12 under such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe,

13 and at a price sufficient to cover the costs thereof, includ14 ing labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead

15 expenses, and the cost of the gold medal.

16 SEC. 4. STATUS AS NATIONAL MEDALS.

17 The medals struck pursuant to this Act are national

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

19 States Code.

20 SEC. 5. FUNDING.

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

22 authorized to be charged against the United States Mint

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

24 to pay for the cost of the medals authorized by this Act.
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1 (b) PROCEEDS OF SALE.—Amounts received from the

2 sale of duplicate bronze medals under section 3 shall be

3 deposited in the United States Mint Public Enterprise

4 Fund.

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