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[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 531 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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.

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

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that--
            (1) Rosa Parks was born on February 4, 1913, in Tuskegee, 
        Alabama, the first child of James and Leona (Edwards) McCauley;
            (2) Rosa Parks is honored as the ``first lady of civil 
        rights'' and the ``mother of the freedom movement'', and her 
        quiet dignity ignited the most significant social movement in 
        the history of the United States;
            (3) Rosa Parks was arrested on December 1, 1955, in 
        Montgomery, Alabama, for refusing to give up her seat on a bus 
        to a white man, and her stand for equal rights became 
        legendary;
            (4) news of Rosa Parks' arrest resulted in 42,000 African 
        Americans boycotting Montgomery buses for 381 days, beginning 
        on December 5, 1955, until the bus segregation laws were 
        changed on December 21, 1956;
            (5) the United States Supreme Court ruled on November 13, 
        1956, that the Montgomery segregation law was unconstitutional, 
        and on December 20, 1956, Montgomery officials were ordered to 
        desegregate buses;
            (6) the civil rights movement led to the Civil Rights Act 
        of 1964, which broke down the barriers of legal discrimination 
        against African Americans and made equality before the law a 
        reality for all Americans;
            (7) Rosa Parks is the recipient of many awards and 
        accolades for her efforts on behalf of racial harmony, 
        including the Springarn Award, the NAACP's highest honor for 
        civil rights contributions, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, 
        the Nation's highest civilian honor, and the first 
        International Freedom Conductor Award from the National 
        Underground Railroad Freedom Center;
            (8) Rosa Parks has dedicated her life to the cause of 
        universal human rights and truly embodies the love of humanity 
        and freedom;
            (9) Rosa Parks was the first woman to join the Montgomery 
        chapter of the NAACP, was an active volunteer for the 
        Montgomery Voters League, and in 1987, cofounded the Rosa and 
        Raymond Parks Institute for Self-Development;
            (10) Rosa Parks, by her quiet courage, symbolizes all that 
        is vital about nonviolent protest, as she endured threats of 
        death and persisted as an advocate for the simple, basic 
        lessons she taught the Nation and from which the Nation has 
        benefited immeasurably; and
            (11) Rosa Parks, who has resided in the State of Michigan 
        since 1957, has become a living icon for freedom in America.

SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL.

    (a) Presentation Authorized.--The President is authorized to award 
to Rosa Parks, on behalf of the Congress, a gold medal of appropriate 
design honoring Rosa Parks in recognition of her contributions to the 
Nation.
    (b) Design and Striking.--For the purposes of the award referred to 
in subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury (hereafter in this Act 
referred to as the ``Secretary'') shall strike a gold medal with 
suitable emblems, devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the 
Secretary.

SEC. 3. DUPLICATE MEDALS.

    The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in bronze of the gold 
medal struck pursuant to section 2, under such regulations as the 
Secretary may prescribe, and at a price sufficient to cover the costs 
thereof, including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, and 
overhead expenses, and the cost of the gold medal.

SEC. 4. STATUS AS NATIONAL MEDALS.

    The medals struck pursuant to this Act are national medals for 
purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United States Code.

SEC. 5. FUNDING.

    (a) Authority To Use Fund Amounts.--There is authorized to be 
charged against the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund an amount 
not to exceed $30,000 to pay for the cost of the medals authorized by 
this Act.
    (b) Proceeds of Sale.--Amounts received from the sale of duplicate 
bronze medals under section 3 shall be deposited in the United States 
Mint Public Enterprise Fund.
                                 <all>
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