II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2011 

To award a Congressional Gold Medal to honor the contributions of all 

of those whose efforts led to the successful development of life saving 

vaccines to combat the novel coronavirus. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 10, 2021 

Mr. COONS (for himself and Mr. BLUNT) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 

Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To award a Congressional Gold Medal to honor the contributions of all of those whose efforts led to the successful 

development of life saving vaccines to combat the novel 

coronavirus. 

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 ‘‘COVID–19 Vaccine 

5 Developers Gold Medal Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Researchers, scientists, doctors, epidemiolo2 gists, and others around the world have worked tire3 lessly and collaboratively to develop lifesaving vac4 cines to combat the coronavirus by reducing the like5 lihood of transmission, building immune resiliency, 

6 avoiding hospitalizations, and reducing the likelihood 

7 of death. 

8 (2) Through the academic, research and ana9 lytic expertise of universities and their faculty, re10 searchers, and students, their efforts contributed to 

11 providing valuable information to the public on the 

12 severity of the coronavirus worldwide and, in some 

13 cases, contributed to vaccine development. 

14 (3) Several of the resulting vaccines represent 

15 historic breakthroughs in biopharmaceutical tech16 nology, which are predicated on years of leading re17 search conducted in laboratories and hospitals that 

18 benefit from the significant financial investment of 

19 United States taxpayers through the Department of 

20 Health and Human Services, the National Institutes 

21 of Health, including the National Institute of Allergy 

22 and Infectious Diseases, and the Biomedical Ad23 vanced Research and Development Authority. 

24 (4) These professionals worked under record 

25 timelines to develop safe, effective vaccines demVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:37 Jun 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2011.IS S2011

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1 onstrated in trials and granted emergency use au2 thorization by the Food and Drug Administration, 

3 outpacing the typical vaccine development timeframe 

4 of 5 to 10 years and beating the previous record by 

5 3 years. 

6 (5) These remarkable achievements in medical 

7 science will have positive implications for future vac8 cine development, helping to combat new viruses, 

9 leading to improvements in health and well-being. 

10 (6) The tremendous efforts in vaccine develop11 ment can be celebrated and attributed to building di12 verse teams, including the notable efforts of many 

13 individuals across the planet. 

14 (7) Vaccines authorized for emergency use in 

15 the United States benefitted greatly from global co16 operation, strategic partnerships, and collaboration 

17 with publicly funded agencies and research capabili18 ties of the academic community. 

19 (8) As a result of the collaborative efforts, peo20 ple around the world are benefitting from the ad21 ministration of vaccines, although work remains to 

22 support governments around the world in ensuring 

23 vaccines are equitably distributed. 

24 (9) The United States, including through co25 operation with bilateral and multilateral partnerVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:37 Jun 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2011.IS S2011

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1 ships, can help scale up manufacturing and distribu2 tion to all corners of the globe. 

3 (10) The vaccines developed are contributing to 

4 the safety of people of the United States, rebuilding 

5 the United States economy, and the reunion of fami6 lies. 

7 SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDALS. 

8 (a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of 

9 the House of Representatives and the President pro tem10 pore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements 

11 for the presentation, on behalf of Congress, of a single 

12 gold medal of appropriate design in recognition of all those 

13 whose efforts led to the successful development of vaccines 

14 that received emergency use authorizations to respond to 

15 the coronavirus. 

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

17 awards under subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treas18 ury (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall strike 

19 a gold medal described in that subsection with suitable 

20 emblems, devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by 

21 the Secretary. 

22 (c) SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—After the award of the gold 

24 medal under subsection (a), the medal shall be given 


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1 to the Smithsonian Institution where the medal shall 

2 be— 

3 (A) available for display, as appropriate; 

4 and 

5 (B) made available for research. 

6 (2) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of 

7 Congress that the Smithsonian Institution should 

8 make the gold medal received under paragraph (1) 

9 available for— 

10 (A) the purpose of education, research, and 

11 the encouragement of science, technology, engi12 neering, and math professions through the 

13 Smithsonian Science Education Center; and 

14 (B) on display at a physical Smithsonian 

15 museum or on loan, as appropriate, so that the 

16 medal may be displayed elsewhere. 

17 SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

18 Under regulations that the Secretary may promul19 gate, the Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 

20 bronze of the gold medal struck under section 3 at a price 

21 sufficient to cover the cost of the medals, including labor, 

22 materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses. 


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1 SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS. 

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

3 this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 51 

4 of title 31, United States Code. 

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

6 5134 and 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all medals 

7 struck under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic 

8 items. 

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

10 SALE. 

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

12 authorized to be charged against the United States Mint 

13 Public Enterprise Fund such sums as may be necessary 

14 to pay for the costs of the medal authorized under section 

15 3. 

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

17 sale of duplicate bronze medals authorized under section 

18 4 shall be deposited in the United States Mint Public En19 terprise Fund. 

Æ 


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