I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 715 

To posthumously award a Congressional Gold Medal to Lena Horne in recognition of her achievements and contributions to American culture and 

the civil rights movement. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 14, 2013 

Mr. HASTINGS of Florida (for himself, Mr. CLAY, Ms. HAHN, Ms. LEE of 

California, Ms. FUDGE, Ms. CLARKE, Mr. MCGOVERN, and Mr. WATT) 

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

A BILL 

To posthumously award a Congressional Gold Medal to Lena 

Horne in recognition of her achievements and contributions to American culture and the civil rights movement. 

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 ‘‘Lena Horne Recogni5 tion Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds as follows: 


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1 (1) Lena Mary Calhoun Horne was born on 

2 June 30, 1917, in Brooklyn, New York. At the age 

3 of 16, Lena Horne was hired as a dancer in the cho4 rus of Harlem’s famous Cotton Club, where she was 

5 introduced to such legendary jazz performers as 

6 Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, Count Basie, Ethel 

7 Waters, and Billie Holiday. 

8 (2) In 1940, she became one of the first Afri9 can-American women to perform with an all-White 

10 band when she toured with Charlie Barnet’s jazz 

11 band as its featured singer. 

12 (3) She was discovered by a Metro-Goldwyn13 Mayer (MGM) talent scout and became the first Af14 rican-American artist to sign a long-term contract 

15 with a major studio. 

16 (4) Despite her extraordinary beauty and tal17 ent, Lena Horne was often limited to minor acting 

18 roles because of her race. 

19 (5) Scenes in which she did sing were cut out 

20 when they were sent to local distributors in the 

21 South and studio executives cast another actress as 

22 Julie in the film version of ‘‘Show Boat’’ instead of 

23 Lena Horne because they did not want the show to 

24 star an African-American actress. However, Lena 

25 Horne dazzled audiences and critics in a number of 


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1 films, including ‘‘Cabin in the Sky’’ and ‘‘Stormy 

2 Weather’’. 

3 (6) During World War II, Lena Horne toured 

4 extensively with the United Service Organizations 

5 (USO) on the West Coast and in the South in sup6 port of the troops and expressed outrage about the 

7 way African-American soldiers were treated. 

8 (7) She refused to sing for segregated audiences 

9 or to groups in which German prisoners of war were 

10 seated in front of African-American servicemen. 

11 (8) During the period of McCarthyism in the 

12 1950s, Lena Horne was blacklisted as a communist 

13 for 7 years because of her civil rights activism and 

14 friendship with Paul Robeson and W.E.B. Du Bois. 

15 (9) In 1957, Lena Horne recorded Lena Horne 

16 at the Waldorf-Astoria, which reached the Top 10 

17 and became the best-selling album by a female sing18 er in RCA Victor’s history. 

19 (10) Lena Horne rose to international stardom 

20 and toured the world, sharing the stage with such 

21 names as Count Basie, Tony Bennett, Billy 

22 Eckstine, Vic Damone, and Harry Belafonte, and 

23 also starred in musical and television specials with 

24 such giants as Judy Garland, Bing Crosby, and 

25 Frank Sinatra. 


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1 (11) Lena Horne used her fame to become a 

2 powerful voice for civil rights and equality. 

3 (12) In 1963, she participated in the historic 

4 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, at 

5 which Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his im6 mortal ‘‘I Have a Dream’’ speech. 

7 (13) Lena Horne also performed at rallies 

8 throughout the country for the National Council for 

9 Negro Women and worked with the National Asso10 ciation for the Advancement of Colored People 

11 (NAACP), of which she was a member from the age 

12 of 2, the Delta Sigma Theta sorority, and the Urban 

13 League. 

14 (14) Through the end of the 20th century, 

15 Lena Horne continued to entertain large audiences 

16 of all ages and backgrounds. In 1981, she captivated 

17 audiences with her one-woman Broadway show, 

18 ‘‘Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music’’, which en19 joyed a 14-month run before going on tour, and 

20 earned her a special Tony Award and two Grammy 

21 Awards. 

22 (15) In 2002, 73 years after the Academy 

23 Awards were first awarded, Halle Berry became the 

24 first African-American woman to win an Oscar for 

25 Best Actress and recognized in her acceptance 


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1 speech how Lena Horne paved the way for her and 

2 other African-American actresses. 

3 (16) Lena Horne passed away in New York 

4 City on May 9, 2010, at the age of 92. 

5 (17) Lena Horne was an entertainer, activist, 

6 and mother who used her beauty, talent, and intel7 ligence to fight racial discrimination and injustice 

8 and rise to international stardom. 

9 (18) A symbol of elegance and grace, she enter10 tained people of all walks of life for over 60 years, 

11 and broke barriers for future generations. 

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 the Con17 gress, of a gold medal of appropriate design in commemo18 ration of Lena Horne in recognition of her achievements 

19 and contributions to American culture and the civil rights 

20 movement. 

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

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

23 of the Treasury (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Sec24 retary’’) shall strike a gold medal with suitable emblems, 


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1 devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the Sec2 retary. 

3 SEC. 4. 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. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS. 

11 (a) NATIONAL MEDALS.—The medals struck pursu12 ant to this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 

13 51 of title 31, United States Code. 

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

15 5134 of title 31, United States Code, all medals struck 

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

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

18 SALE. 

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

20 authorized to be charged against the United States Mint 

21 Public Enterprise Fund, such amounts as may be nec22 essary to pay for the costs of the medals struck pursuant 

23 to this Act. 

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

25 sale of duplicate bronze medals authorized under section 


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1 4 shall be deposited into the United States Mint Public 

2 Enterprise Fund. 

Æ 


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