I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8619 

To award posthumously the Congressional Gold Medal to Emmett Till and 

Mamie Till-Mobley. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 16, 2020 

Mr. RUSH (for himself and Mr. BACON) 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 posthumously the Congressional Gold Medal to 

Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley. 

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 ‘‘Emmett Till and 

5 Mamie Till-Mobley Congressional Gold Medal Act of 

6 2020’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

8 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) The brutal lynching of Emmett Till and the 

2 subsequent bravery and boldness of his mother, 

3 Mamie Till-Mobley, became a catalyst for the civil 

4 rights movement. 

5 (2) On August 28, 1955, 14 year old Emmett 

6 Till was kidnapped, beaten, and shot in Money, Mis7 sissippi, where he had traveled from Chicago to stay 

8 with his great uncle, Moses Wright. 

9 (3) The corpse of Emmett Till was discovered 

10 days later in the Tallahatchie River and his mur11 derers were acquitted despite Moses Wright pro12 viding an eyewitness testimony that the men on trial 

13 kidnapped Emmett Till. 

14 (4) Mamie Till-Mobley, the mother of Emmett 

15 Till, demonstrated her love for her son and her cour16 age and strength in suffering in the days that fol17 lowed as she brought the body of Emmett Till back 

18 to Chicago for burial and demanded an open casket 

19 funeral, which drew more than 50,000 attendees. 

20 (5) Mamie Till-Mobley further allowed a photo21 graph to be taken of Emmett Till in his casket, 

22 which was shown throughout the world. 

23 (6) The original casket of Emmett Till stands 

24 on display at the National Museum of African Amer25 ican History and Culture as an enduring reminder 


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1 of the racial violence that is a part of the history of 

2 the United States that the people of the United 

3 States must confront. 

4 (7) The heroic actions of Mamie Till-Mobley in 

5 the midst of evil, injustice, and grief became a cata6 lyst for the civil rights movement and continued in 

7 the years to come as she worked for justice and hon8 ored the legacy of Emmett Till. 

9 (8) Mamie Till-Mobley went on to create the 

10 Emmett Till Players, which was a significant na11 tional cultural contribution as teenagers traveled 

12 throughout the country presenting Martin Luther 

13 King Jr. speeches in the name of Emmett Till. 

14 (9) Mamie Till-Mobley also served as chair and 

15 co-founder of the Emmett Till Justice Campaign, 

16 which had the dual mission of reopening the murder 

17 of Emmett Till for a reinvestigation and a passage 

18 into law of Federal legislation to ensure that other 

19 racially motivated murders during the civil rights era 

20 were investigated and, when possible, prosecuted. 

21 (10) The efforts of the Emmett Till Justice 

22 Campaign led to the successful joint investigation by 

23 the State of Mississippi, the Federal Bureau of In24 vestigation, and the Department of Justice in 2004, 

25 the passage of the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil 


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1 Rights Crime Act of 2007 (Public Law 110–344; 

2 122 Stat. 3934), signed into law by President 

3 George W. Bush, and the Emmett Till Unsolved 

4 Civil Rights Crimes Reauthorization Act of 2016 

5 (Public Law 114–325; 130 Stat. 1965), signed into 

6 law by President Barack Obama. 

7 (11) The people of the United States honor the 

8 legacy of Emmett Till and the incredible suffering 

9 and equally incredible courage, resilience, and efforts 

10 of Mamie Till-Mobley that led to the civil rights 

11 movement that began in the 1950s. 

12 SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

13 (a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of 

14 the House of Representatives and the President pro tem15 pore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements 

16 for the posthumous presentation, on behalf of Congress, 

17 of a gold medal of appropriate design in commemoration 

18 of Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley. 

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

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

21 of the Treasury (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Sec22 retary’’) shall strike a gold medal with suitable emblems, 

23 devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the Sec24 retary. 

25 (c) AWARD OF MEDAL.— 


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

2 medal referred to in subsection (a), the gold medal 

3 shall be given to the National Museum of African 

4 American History and Culture, where it shall be dis5 played as appropriate. 

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

7 Congress that the National Museum of African 

8 American History and Culture should make the gold 

9 medal received under paragraph (1) available for 

10 display elsewhere, particularly at other locations and 

11 events associated with Emmett Till and Mamie Till12 Mobley. 

13 SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

14 Under such regulations as the Secretary may pre15 scribe, the Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 

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

17 sufficient to cover the costs of the medals, including labor, 

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

19 SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS. 

20 (a) NATIONAL MEDALS.—Medals struck under this 

21 Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 51 of title 

22 31, United States Code. 


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

2 5134 of title 31, United States Code, all medals struck 

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

Æ 


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