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103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 170

To award a congressional gold medal in honor of the late John Birks ‘‘Dizzy’’

Gillespie.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JANUARY 21 (legislative day, JANUARY 5), 1993

Mr. HOLLINGS (for himself, Mr. AKAKA, Mr. BRADLEY, Mr. BREAUX, Mr.

BROWN, Mr. CONRAD, Mr. DANFORTH, Mr. DECONCINI, Mr. DURENBERGER, Mr. HATCH, Mr. HEFLIN, Mr. JOHNSTON, Mr. KOHL, Mr. LAUTENBERG, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. METZENBAUM, Mr. NUNN, Mr. REID, Mr.

SHELBY, Mr. SIMON, Mr. SIMPSON, Mr. THURMOND, and Mr. WOFFORD)

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 in honor of the late

John Birks ‘‘Dizzy’’ Gillespie.

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 that—

5 (1) John Birks ‘‘Dizzy’’ Gillespie was one of the

6 most recognized and beloved artists in the world, ad7 mired not only for his unique musicianship, but for
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1 his ability to reach people on a distinctly personal

2 level;

3 (2) as a musician, pioneer, innovator, composer,

4 arranger, bandleader, raconteur, entertainer, and

5 cultural ambassador, Mr. Gillespie distinguished

6 himself as one of the immortal figures in the history

7 of jazz, ‘‘a national American treasure’’;

8 (3) Mr. Gillespie received the Kennedy Center

9 Honors, the most prestigious public recognition of

10 an artist’s lifetime contributions in the performing

11 arts in the United States, the Smithsonian Medal

12 from the Smithsonian Institution, and the American

13 Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers’

14 ‘‘Duke’’ award for his lifetime achievements as a

15 musician, composer, and bandleader;

16 (4) Mr. Gillespie received many additional hon17 ors, including the National Medal of Arts, presented

18 by President Bush, a Grammy lifetime Achievement

19 Award from the National Academy of Recording

20 Arts and Sciences, and the Commandant D’Ordre

21 des Arts et Lettres, the highest honor in the arts in

22 France, presented by the French Minister of Cul23 ture, Jack Lang, and was crowned a traditional Af24 rican chief, with the title ‘‘Bashere of Iperu’’, in Ni25 geria;
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1 (5) Mr. Gillespie performed before royalty and

2 countless world leaders, including 4 American Presi3 dents;

4 (6) at the personal invitation of President Sam

5 Nujoma, Mr. Gillespie performed at the State Inde6 pendence Banquet of Namibia, before the leaders of

7 many countries of the world, kings, presidents,

8 prime ministers, the Secretary-General of the United

9 Nations, Nelson Mandela, and a host of other dig10 nitaries;

11 (7) Mr. Gillespie was acclaimed as a visionary

12 risk taker, whose daring integration of ethnic influ13 ences added a vibrant and indelible dimension to

14 jazz, and to music in all of its popular forms;

15 (8) Mr. Gillespie and the late Charlie ‘‘Bird’’

16 Parker pioneered ‘‘be-bop’’, a new and fresh har17 monic and rhythmic vocabulary that created a musi18 cal revolution which transformed jazz and dramati19 cally influenced 20th century musical culture;

20 (9) Mr. Gillespie is universally credited as the

21 catalyst who incorporated Afro-Cuban, Brazilian,

22 and Caribbean music and rhythms into the jazz

23 idiom;

24 (10) Mr. Gillespie’s third great big band, the

25 United Nations Orchestra, which exemplified the es-
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1 sence of Mr. Gillespie’s universal musical philosophy,

2 enthralled audiences in 20 countries on the con3 tinents of North America, South America, Europe,

4 and Australia since the band’s inception in 1988;

5 (11) in 1956, Mr. Gillespie was the first jazz

6 artist appointed by the Department of State as Cul7 tural Ambassador to tour on behalf of the United

8 States, and his resoundingly successful tours

9 through the Near East, Asia, Eastern Europe, and

10 Latin America were early landmarks in a lifetime of

11 cultural statesmanship by the inimitable jazz master

12 on behalf of his country; and

13 (12) in January 1989, Mr. Gillespie was asked

14 to represent the United States and embarked on a

15 ground breaking, month-long tour in Africa, spon16 sored by the United States Information Agency Arts

17 America Program.

18 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL.

19 (a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The President is

20 authorized to present, on behalf of the Congress, to Mrs.

21 Lorraine Gillespie, in memory of her late husband John

22 Birks ‘‘Dizzy’’ Gillespie, a gold medal of appropriate de23 sign, in recognition of over half a century of musical

24 genius.
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1 (b) DESIGN AND STRIKING.—For purposes of the

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

3 of the Treasury shall strike a gold medal with suitable em4 blems, devices, and inscriptions to be selected by the

5 Secretary.

6 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATION.—There is

7 authorized to be appropriated an amount not to exceed

8 $25,000 to carry out this section.

9 SEC. 3. DUPLICATE MEDALS.

10 (a) STRIKING AND SALE.—The Secretary of the

11 Treasury may strike and sell duplicates in bronze of the

12 gold medal struck pursuant to section 2 under such regu13 lations as the Secretary may prescribe, at a price sufficient

14 to cover the cost of such duplicates and the gold medal,

15 including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, and

16 overhead expenses.

17 (b) REIMBURSEMENT OF APPROPRIATION.—The ap18 propriation used to carry out section 2 shall be reimbursed

19 out of the proceeds of sales under subsection (a).

20 SEC. 4. NATIONAL MEDALS.

21 The medals struck pursuant to this Act are national

22 medals for purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United

23 States Code.

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