I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 671 

To award a Congressional Gold Medal to the Freedom Riders, collectively, 

in recognition of their unique contribution to Civil Rights, which inspired 

a revolutionary movement for equality in interstate travel. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 3, 2015 

Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia (for himself, Mr. COLLINS of Georgia, Ms. HAHN, 

Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. NADLER, Mr. YARMUTH, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, 

Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. LYNCH, Ms. NORTON, Mr. KILMER, Mr. ISRAEL, Mr. 

MURPHY of Florida, Mr. LIPINSKI, Ms. BROWN of Florida, Mr. CROWLEY, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Mr. MICHAEL F. DOYLE of Pennsylvania, 

Mr. COHEN, Ms. EDWARDS, Ms. BROWNLEY of California, Mr. CLYBURN, 

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona, Mr. PIERLUISI, Mr. CUMMINGS, Ms. PINGREE, 

Mr. LEVIN, Mr. MEEKS, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. 

CICILLINE, Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Mr. 

TONKO, Mr. PETERS, Mr. CLAY, Ms. WILSON of Florida, Mr. CAPUANO, 

Mrs. BEATTY, Ms. JENKINS of Kansas, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. 

ELLISON, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia, 

Ms. SPEIER, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mr. JEFFRIES, Ms. KAPTUR, 

Mr. LANGEVIN, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. AL GREEN of Texas, 

Mr. WALZ, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Ms. LEE, Mr. NUNNELEE, Ms. 

CHU of California, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Mr. DANNY

K. DAVIS of Illinois, Mrs. KIRKPATRICK, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. 

HINOJOSA, Mr. DOGGETT, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Ms. MAXINE WATERS of California, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Mr. GENE GREEN of 

Texas, Mr. SARBANES, Mr. SCHOCK, Mr. VARGAS, Mr. DEUTCH, Mrs. 

BUSTOS, Mr. O’ROURKE, Mr. BEYER, Ms. FUDGE, Mr. HIGGINS, Mr. 

HASTINGS, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mr. THOMPSON of California, Ms. KUSTER, 

Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Mr. PITTS, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, Mr. BRADY of 

Pennsylvania, Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California, Ms. DELBENE, Mr. 

POCAN, Ms. SEWELL of Alabama, Mr. SWALWELL of California, Mr. 

SCOTT of Virginia, Mr. RICHMOND, Mr. FATTAH, Ms. TITUS, Mr. 

VEASEY, Mr. CA ́RDENAS, Mr. PRICE of North Carolina, Mr. RODNEY

DAVIS of Illinois, Ms. DEGETTE, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. RUSH, 

Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. ESTY, Mr. GARAMENDI, Mr. ROHRABACHER, Ms. 

EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. RUPPERSBERGER, Miss RICE

of New York, Mr. LIEU of California, Mr. SIRES, Mr. PASCRELL, Ms. 


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BORDALLO, Mr. RIGELL, Mr. QUIGLEY, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, Mr. BEN

RAY LUJA ́N of New Mexico, Ms. ADAMS, Mr. GUTIE ́RREZ, Ms. MOORE, 

Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York, Mrs. LAWRENCE, Ms. BASS, 

Mr. FARR, Mr. BERA, Mr. SHERMAN, Mrs. LOVE, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. 

PAYNE, Mr. HONDA, Mr. BROOKS of Alabama, Ms. PLASKETT, and Mr. 

MCNERNEY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committee on House 

Administration, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To award a Congressional Gold Medal to the Freedom Riders, collectively, in recognition of their unique contribution to Civil Rights, which inspired a revolutionary movement for equality in interstate travel. 

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 the following: 

5 (1) In 1960, the Supreme Court ruled in Boyn6 ton v. Virginia that segregated bus and rail stations 

7 were unconstitutional. 

8 (2) The rigid system of racial segregation that 

9 prevailed in the United States during the 1960s did 

10 not permit a Black person to sit next to a White 

11 person on any bus traveling through interstate com12 merce and in most locations in the South. Bus sta13 tions had ‘‘Whites Only’’ waiting areas and Blacks 


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1 were not permitted to wait in those areas despite the 

2 Supreme Court making it the law of the land. 

3 (3) The Freedom Riders, with the intent to end 

4 segregation in public transportation throughout the 

5 South, paved the way for full racial integration of 

6 the United States transit system. They overcame 

7 prejudice, discrimination, and violence. They sparked 

8 a movement that changed our Nation. 

9 (4) The Congress of Racial Equality (C.O.R.E.) 

10 selected thirteen volunteers for nonviolent response 

11 training to join in the Freedom Rides from Wash12 ington, DC, to New Orleans, LA. The Freedom Rid13 ers used their strategies of nonviolence throughout 

14 the South to challenge the region’s Jim Crow laws 

15 directly and enforce the Supreme Court decision in 

16 Boynton. 

17 (5) On the morning of May 4, 1961, the Free18 dom Riders, comprised of seven Blacks and six 

19 Whites, boarded two buses, with Blacks and Whites 

20 seated together. Those thirteen Freedom Riders 

21 were: Genevieve Hughes Houghton, Charles Person, 

22 Hank Thomas, John Lewis, Edward Blankenheim, 

23 James Farmer, Walter Bergman, Frances Bergman, 

24 Joseph Perkins, Jimmy McDonald, Mae Francis 

25 Moultrie, Benjamin Elton Cox, and Albert Bigelow. 


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1 Most segregated States considered even this level of 

2 integration a crime. At various stops along the way, 

3 the Freedom Riders would enter areas designated 

4 ‘‘Whites’’ and ‘‘Colored’’ and would eat together at 

5 segregated lunch counters to defy local laws. 

6 (6) Initially, the Freedom Riders had encoun7 tered only minor clashes until a stop in South Caro8 lina. In Rock Hill, an angry mob severely beat John 

9 Lewis, now a Congressman from the 5th District of 

10 Georgia, when he entered the bus station. Henry 

11 ‘‘Hank’’ Thomas was jailed when he entered the bus 

12 station in Winnsboro. Authorities delivered him to a 

13 waiting mob long after the station had closed that 

14 evening. A local Black minister rescued Thomas, en15 abling him to rejoin the group in Columbia. How16 ever, Lewis was so badly beaten he could not con17 tinue the Freedom Rides. 

18 (7) Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and other civil 

19 rights leaders met with the group in Atlanta to dis20 suade their continuance through the Deep South due 

21 to death threats. Despite these warnings, more Free22 dom Riders joined in Atlanta. Dedicated to their 

23 mission to end segregation in the South and trained 

24 in nonviolent movements, the Freedom Riders con25 tinued on their journey. 


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1 (8) On Mother’s Day, May 14, 1961, the Free2 dom Riders were on two different buses. An angry 

3 mob in Anniston, Alabama, firebombed the first bus. 

4 When the Freedom Riders rushed out, still choking 

5 from the thick smoke of the burning bus, the wait6 ing angry mob beat them with lead pipes and base7 ball bats as the bus exploded. Ambulances refused to 

8 transport the Black Freedom Riders to the hospital. 

9 The mob beat the Freedom Riders on the second bus 

10 and forced them to sit in the back. As they jour11 neyed to Birmingham, another mob savagely beat 

12 the Freedom Riders. 

13 (9) The Nashville (TN) Student Group, a local 

14 group of students who had been successful in deseg15 regating the lunch counters and movie theaters in 

16 Nashville (TN), vowed not to let these acts of vio17 lence curtail the goal of the Freedom Rides. They 

18 sent their members to continue the Freedom Rides 

19 and called out to other student groups to do the 

20 same. 

21 (10) As the violence grew, the Attorney General 

22 of the United States called in the National Guard 

23 and the U.S. Marshals to protect the Freedom Rid24 ers as they journeyed through Alabama. This protec25 tion was short-lived. The Federal authorities turned 


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1 the Freedom Riders over to the local authorities in 

2 Mississippi who then arrested the Freedom Riders 

3 for disturbing the peace. 

4 (11) The government of Mississippi imprisoned 

5 many of the Freedom Riders in Parchman Prison 

6 known for its horrific conditions, such as subjecting 

7 the Freedom Riders to strip searches, work on chain 

8 gangs, and light shining in their cells 24 hours a 

9 day. Despite these conditions, the Freedom Riders 

10 refused bail because they were determined to spread 

11 the message of their nonviolent movement. 

12 (12) Five months after the first Freedom Rides 

13 left on their historic ride, the Interstate Commerce 

14 Commission in conjunction with the U.S. Attorney 

15 General Robert Kennedy issued a Federal order ban16 ning segregation at all interstate public facilities 

17 based upon ‘‘race, color or creed’’. The law became 

18 effective on November 1, 1961. 

19 (13) In 2011, the President of the United 

20 States paid tribute to the Freedom Riders with a 

21 Presidential proclamation honoring the 50th anni22 versary of the first Freedom Ride by brave Ameri23 cans whose selfless act of courage helped pave the 

24 way for others to continue on the road to Civil 

25 Rights in America. 


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1 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

2 (a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZATION.—The Speaker 

3 of the House of Representatives and the President pro 

4 tempore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrange5 ments for the presentation, on behalf of the Congress, of 

6 a gold medal of appropriate design to the Freedom Riders, 

7 collectively, in recognition of their unique contribution to 

8 Civil Rights, which inspired a revolutionary movement to 

9 equality in interstate travel. 

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

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

12 Treasury (hereafter in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Sec13 retary’’) shall strike a gold medal with suitable emblems, 

14 devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the Sec15 retary. 

16 (c) SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Following the award of the 

18 gold medal under subsection (a), the gold medal 

19 shall be given to the Smithsonian Institution, where 

20 it will be available for display as appropriate and 

21 available for research. 

22 (2) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.—It is the sense 

23 of the Congress that the Smithsonian Institution 

24 should make the gold medal awarded pursuant to 

25 this Act available for display elsewhere, particularly 


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1 at appropriate locations associated with the Freedom 

2 Riders. 

3 SEC. 3. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

4 The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 

5 bronze of the gold medal struck pursuant to section 2 

6 under such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, at 

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

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

9 and the cost of the gold medal. 

10 SEC. 4. NATIONAL MEDALS. 

11 Medals struck pursuant to this Act are national med12 als for the purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United 

13 States Code. 

Æ 


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