I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 406 

To award a Congressional Gold Medal in recognition of Alice Paul’s role 

in the women’s suffrage movement and in advancing equal rights for women. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 9, 2009 

Mr. BACA (for himself, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mrs. MALONEY, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. 

BOSWELL, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr. GONZALEZ, Ms. BERKLEY, Ms. 

BORDALLO, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, Mr. MOORE of Kansas, Mr. 

BLUMENAUER, Mr. WEXLER, Mrs. MCCARTHY of New York, Mr. SIRES, 

Ms. MCCOLLUM, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. OLVER, 

Mr. SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. DOYLE, Mr. HIGGINS, Mr. DINGELL, Mrs. 

GILLIBRAND, Mr. KLEIN of Florida, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. WATT, Mr. MARKEY of Massachusetts, Mr. CHANDLER, Mr. NUNES, Mr. FRANKS of Arizona, Mr. CONAWAY, Mr. COHEN, Ms. MATSUI, Mrs. BONO MACK, Mrs. 

CHRISTENSEN, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. FARR, Mr. CARTER, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, 

Mr. JONES, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. FILNER, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE

JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. WOLF, Mr. CARNAHAN, Mr. HOLT, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. DELAHUNT, Mr. MCCOTTER, Mr. LEVIN, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Ms. EDWARDS of Maryland, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. PASTOR of Arizona, and Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of 

California) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To award a Congressional Gold Medal in recognition of Alice 

Paul’s role in the women’s suffrage movement and in 

advancing equal rights for women. 

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 ‘‘Alice Paul Women’s 

3 Suffrage Congressional Gold Medal Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 The Congress finds as follows: 

6 (1) Alice Paul was born on January, 11, 1885, 

7 in Moorestown, New Jersey, and died on July 9, 

8 1977. 

9 (2) Alice Paul dedicated her life to securing suf10 frage and equal rights for all women and, as founder 

11 of the National Woman’s Party, she was instru12 mental in the passage of the 19th Amendment to the 

13 United States Constitution. 

14 (3) Alice Paul and the National Woman’s Party 

15 were the first group ever to picket the White House. 

16 (4) While President Woodrow Wilson trumpeted 

17 America’s values of democracy abroad during World 

18 War I, Alice Paul was dedicated to reminding the 

19 President that not all Americans enjoyed democracy 

20 at home. 

21 (5) Alice Paul used nonviolent civil disobedience 

22 to bring national attention to the women’s suffrage 

23 movement, such as the 3-week hunger strike she un24 dertook when she was sentenced to jail in October, 

25 1917, for her demonstrations. 


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1 (6) Alice Paul’s courage inspired thousands of 

2 women to join the women’s suffrage movement. 

3 (7) Instead of patiently waiting for States to 

4 grant women suffrage, Alice Paul mobilized an en5 tire generation of women to pressure the United 

6 States Congress and the President to give all women 

7 in America the right to vote. 

8 (8) Alice Paul did not stop her fight after the 

9 19th Amendment was ratified; she drafted the Equal 

10 Rights Amendment to the United States Constitu11 tion in 1923 and fought tirelessly for its passage 

12 until her death 54 years later. 

13 (9) Alice Paul lobbied Congress to include gen14 der in civil rights bills and was successful in includ15 ing sex discrimination in Title VII of the Civil 

16 Rights Act of 1964. 

17 (10) Alice Paul sought equal rights for women 

18 all over the world, not just Americans and, as a 

19 means of pursuing this goal, founded the World 

20 Party for Equal Rights for Women in the 1930s. 

21 (11) Alice Paul was instrumental in the place22 ment of a passage on gender equality in the pre23 amble of the United Nations Charter. 


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1 (12) Few people have played a greater role in 

2 shaping the history of the United States than Alice 

3 Paul. 

4 (13) Alice Paul is an example to all Americans 

5 of what one person can do to make a difference for 

6 millions of people. 

7 SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

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 the Congress, of a gold 

12 medal of appropriate design in commemoration of Alice 

13 Paul, in recognition of her role in the women’s suffrage 

14 movement and in advancing equal rights for women. 

15 (b) PRESENTATION AND DISPLAY.—The medal re16 ferred to in subsection (a) shall be presented jointly to 

17 representatives of the Alice Paul Institute and the Sewall18 Belmont House, to be shared equally and displayed as ap19 propriate. 

20 (c) DESIGN AND STRIKING.—For purposes of the 

21 presentation referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary 

22 of the Treasury (hereafter in this Act referred to as the 

23 ‘‘Secretary’’) shall strike a gold medal with suitable em24 blems, devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the 

25 Secretary. 


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1 SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

2 The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 

3 bronze of the gold medal struck pursuant to section 3 

4 under such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, at 

5 a price sufficient to cover the cost thereof, including labor, 

6 materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses, 

7 and the cost of the gold medal. 

8 SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS. 

9 (a) NATIONAL MEDALS.—The medals struck pursu10 ant to this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 

11 51 of title 31, United States Code. 

12 (b) NUMISMATIC ITEMS.—For purposes of section 

13 5134 of title 31, United States Code, all medals struck 

14 under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic items. 

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

16 SALE. 

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

18 authorized to be charged against the United States Mint 

19 Public Enterprise Fund, such amounts as may be nec20 essary to pay for the costs of the medals struck pursuant 

21 to this Act. 

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

23 sale of duplicate bronze medals authorized under section 

24 4 shall be deposited into the United States Mint Public 

25 Enterprise Fund. 

Æ 


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