II 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3252 

To provide for the award of a gold medal on behalf of Congress to Jack 

Nicklaus, in recognition of his service to the Nation in promoting excellence, good sportsmanship, and philanthropy. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 24, 2012 

Mr. PORTMAN (for himself, Mr. BROWN of Ohio, Mr. HOEVEN, Ms. AYOTTE, 

Mr. BEGICH, Mr. VITTER, Mr. BLUNT, Mr. BARRASSO, Mr. 

BLUMENTHAL, Mr. CORNYN, Mr. RISCH, Mr. COCHRAN, Mr. UDALL of 

Colorado, Mr. COBURN, Mr. RUBIO, Mr. JOHNSON of Wisconsin, Mr. 

NELSON of Florida, Mr. TOOMEY, Mr. WICKER, Mr. LEE, Mr. COONS, 

Mr. GRAHAM, Ms. LANDRIEU, and Mr. CARPER) introduced the following 

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, 

Housing, and Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To provide for the award of a gold medal on behalf of 

Congress to Jack Nicklaus, in recognition of his service 

to the Nation in promoting excellence, good sportsmanship, and philanthropy. 

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 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Jack Nicklaus is a world-famous golf pro2 fessional, a highly successful business executive, a 

3 prominent advertising spokesman, a passionate and 

4 dedicated philanthropist, a devoted husband, father, 

5 and grandfather, and a man with a common touch 

6 that has made him one of the most popular and ac7 cessible public figures in history. 

8 (2) Jack Nicklaus amassed 120 victories in pro9 fessional competition of national or international 

10 stature, 73 of which came on the Professional Golf 

11 Association (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘PGA’’) 

12 Tour, and professional major-championship titles. 

13 His record 18 professional majors, which began 50 

14 years ago as of June 2012, with his win at the 1962 

15 U.S. Open as a 22-year-old rookie, remains the 

16 standard by which all golfers are measured. He is 

17 the only player in golf history to have won each 

18 major championship at least 3 times, and is the only 

19 player to complete a career ‘‘Grand Slam’’ on both 

20 the regular and senior tours. He also owns the 

21 record for most major championships as a senior 

22 with 8. 

23 (3) Jack Nicklaus’ magnetic personality and 

24 unfailing sense of kindness and thoughtfulness have 

25 endeared him to millions throughout the world. 


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1 (4) Jack Nicklaus has been the recipient of 

2 countless athletic honors, including being named In3 dividual Male Athlete of the Century by Sports Illus4 trated, one of the 10 Greatest Athletes of the Cen5 tury by ESPN, and Golfer of the Century or Golfer 

6 of the Millennium by every major national and inter7 national media outlet. He received the Muhammad 

8 Ali Sports Legend Award and the first-ever ESPY 

9 Lifetime Achievement Award. He became the first 

10 golfer and only the third athlete to receive the Vince 

11 Lombardi Award of Excellence, and is also a 5-time 

12 winner of the PGA Player of the Year Award. He 

13 was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame at 

14 the age of 34. 

15 (5) Jack Nicklaus has received numerous hon16 ors outside of the world of sports, including several 

17 golf industry awards for his work and contributions 

18 as a golf course designer, such as the Old Tom Mor19 ris Award, which is the highest honor given by the 

20 Golf Course Superintendents Association of America, 

21 and both the Donald Ross Award given by the 

22 American Society of Golf Course Architects and the 

23 Don A. Rossi Award given by the Golf Course Build24 ers Association of America. Golf Inc. magazine 

25 named him the Most Powerful Person in Golf for a 


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1 record 6 consecutive years, due to his impact on var2 ious aspects of the industry through his course de3 sign work, marketing and licensing business, his am4 bassadorial role in promoting and growing the game 

5 worldwide, and his involvement on a national and 

6 global level with various charitable causes. 

7 (6) Jack Nicklaus has been involved in the de8 sign of more than 290 golf courses worldwide, and 

9 his business, Nicklaus Design, has 366 courses open 

10 for play in 34 countries and 39 States. 

11 (7) Jack Nicklaus served as the Global Ambas12 sador for a campaign to include golf in the Olympic 

13 Games, which was achieved and will begin in the 

14 2016 Olympic program. 

15 (8) Jack Nicklaus was honored by President 

16 George W. Bush in 2005 by receiving the Presi17 dential Medal of Freedom, the highest honor given 

18 to any United States civilian. 

19 (9) Jack Nicklaus has a long-standing commit20 ment to numerous charitable causes, such as his 

21 founding, along with wife Barbara, of the Nicklaus 

22 Children’s Health Care Foundation, which provides 

23 pediatric health care services throughout South Flor24 ida and in other parts of the country. The Founda25 tion has raised over $21,000,000 in just 6 years. He 


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1 has been a tireless supporter of numerous junior golf 

2 initiatives, working with the PGA of America Junior 

3 Golf Foundation over the course of 4 decades, in4 cluding the establishment of the Barbara and Jack 

5 Nicklaus Junior Golf Endowment Fund and the 

6 PGA-Nicklaus First Tee Teaching Grants. He also 

7 is a spokesperson for several PGA of America and 

8 USGA growth-of-the-game initiatives. He continues 

9 to support several scholarship foundations, other 

10 children’s hospitals, and other causes, including spi11 nal-cord research, pancreatic cancer issues, and 

12 Florida Everglades restoration. 

13 (10) Jack Nicklaus continues to manage the 

14 Memorial Tournament in his home State of Ohio, in 

15 which contributions generated through the aid of 

16 over 2,600 volunteers are given to support Nation17 wide Children’s Hospital and close to 75 other Cen18 tral Ohio charities. This has garnered more than 

19 $5,700,000 for programs and services at Nationwide 

20 Children’s Hospital since 1976, so that Central Ohio 

21 will continue to have one of the best children’s hos22 pitals in the United States. 

23 (11) Jack Nicklaus and his wife serve as hon24 orary chairman and active chairwoman, respectively, 

25 of the Nicklaus Children’s Health Care Foundation 


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1 in North Palm Beach, Florida, which provides free2 of-charge health assistance and services to more 

3 than 4,000 children and their families through Child 

4 Life programs (supporting therapeutic interventions 

5 for children with chronic and acute conditions dur6 ing hospitalization), Miami Children’s Hospital 

7 Nicklaus Care Centers (to offer a new option to 

8 Palm Beach County area families with children who 

9 require pediatric specialty care), and Safe Kids Pro10 gram (aimed at keeping children injury-free and of11 fering safety education in an effort to decrease acci12 dental injuries in children). In April, they announced 

13 the planned opening of the Miami Children’s Hos14 pital Nicklaus Outpatient Center, a 22,000-square15 foot facility in Palm Beach County that will provide 

16 pediatric urgent care, diagnostic services, and reha17 bilitation services. 

18 (12) Jack Nicklaus established an annual pro19 am golf tournament called ‘‘The Jake’’ to honor his 

20 17-month-old grandson who passed away in 2005, 

21 and it serves as a primary fundraiser for the 

22 Nicklaus Children’s Health Care Foundation. The 

23 event alone has raised well over $3,000,000 over the 

24 last several years. 


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1 (13) Jack Nicklaus and General John 

2 Shalikashvili (ret.) serve as honorary chairs of the 

3 American Lake Veterans Golf Course in Tacoma, 

4 Washington, which neighbors a Veterans Adminis5 tration hospital and is designed for the rehabilitation 

6 of wounded and disabled veterans. Nicklaus has do7 nated his design services for the improvement of the 

8 course, and raised contributions for the addition of 

9 9 new holes (the ‘‘Nicklaus Nine’’), the construction 

10 of the Rehabilitation and Learning Center, and the 

11 upgrade of the maintenance facilities. The course is 

12 considered the only one in the United States de13 signed solely for the use of disabled veterans. It 

14 served over 37,000 veterans and their families in 

15 2011 to use the healing powers of golf to rehabilitate 

16 and recreate. The hope is that American Lake will 

17 serve as a pilot program for the more than 150 Vet18 erans Administration hospitals nationwide. 

19 (14) Jack Nicklaus serves as a spokesperson 

20 and Trustee for the First Tee program, which brings 

21 golf to children who would not otherwise be exposed 

22 to it, and teaches them valuable, character-building 

23 life lessons through the game of golf, and is a na24 tional co-chair of the organization’s More Than a 

25 Game campaign. 


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1 (15) Jack Nicklaus remains active in tour2 nament golf, although he retired from competition in 

3 the major championships in 2005, when he played 

4 his final British Open and his final Masters Tour5 nament, and led the United States to a thrilling vic6 tory in the President’s Cup. He consults often with 

7 the PGA Tour, and no fewer than 95 Nicklaus 

8 courses have hosted a combined total of over 650 

9 professional tournaments. In 2011 alone, Nicklaus 

10 courses hosted 15 PGA Tour-sanctioned events. 

11 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

12 (a) AUTHORIZATION.—The Speaker of the House of 

13 Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Sen14 ate shall make appropriate arrangements for the presen15 tation, on behalf of Congress, of a gold medal of appro16 priate design to Jack Nicklaus in recognition of his service 

17 to the Nation in promoting excellence and good sports18 manship. 

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

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

21 of the Treasury shall strike a gold medal with suitable em22 blems, devices, and inscriptions to be determined by the 

23 Secretary. 


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1 SEC. 3. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

2 Under such regulations as the Secretary of the Treas3 ury may prescribe, the Secretary may strike duplicate 

4 medals in bronze of the gold medal struck pursuant to 

5 section 2 and sell such duplicate medals at a price suffi6 cient to cover the costs of the duplicate medals (including 

7 labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, overhead ex8 penses) and the cost of the gold medal. 

9 SEC. 4. NATIONAL MEDALS. 

10 The medals struck under this Act are national medals 

11 for purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United States Code. 

12 SEC. 5. FUNDING. 

13 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

14 authorized to be charged against the United States Mint 

15 Public Enterprise Fund an amount not to exceed $30,000 

16 to pay for the cost of the medals authorized by this Act. 

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

18 sale of duplicate bronze medals under section 3 shall be 

19 deposited in the United States Mint Public Enterprise 

20 Fund. 

Æ 


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