I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 188 

To posthumously award a Congressional gold medal to Shirley Chisholm. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 4, 2005 

Mr. RANGEL introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To posthumously award a Congressional gold medal to 

Shirley Chisholm. 

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 ‘‘Shirley Chisholm Con5 gressional Gold Medal Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds as follows: 

8 (1) Shirley Chisholm was a pioneer: she was the 

9 first African American woman elected to Congress in 

10 1968 where she served until 1982. 
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1 (2) Shirley Chisholm inspired and led the 

2 march of political achievement by African Americans 

3 and women in the three decades since she ran for 

4 the Presidency of the United States. 

5 (3) Her election to Congress and her candidacy 

6 for the Presidency raised the profile and aspirations 

7 of all African Americans and women in the field of 

8 politics. 

9 (4) Shirley Chisholm was recognized for her ac10 tivism, independence, and ground-breaking achieve11 ments in politics during and after the civil rights 

12 era. 

13 (5) Shirley Chisholm was born in Brooklyn, 

14 New York, on November 30, 1924, attended Brook15 lyn College, and earned a Master’s degree from Co16 lumbia University. 

17 (6) Shirley Chisholm worked in education and 

18 social services before being elected to the New York 

19 State Assembly in 1964. 

20 (7) Shirley Chisholm established the Unity 

21 Democratic Club in 1960, which played a significant 

22 role in rallying black and Hispanic voters in New 

23 York City. 

24 (8) In 1969, Shirley Chisholm began her service 

25 in the 91st Congress, representing Brooklyn’s 12th 
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1 Congressional District in the United States House of 

2 Representatives. 

3 (9) During her service in the House of Rep4 resentatives, Shirley Chisholm promoted the employ5 ment of women in Congress and was vocal in her 

6 support of civil rights, women’s rights, and the poor, 

7 while fervently opposing the Vietnam War. 

8 (10) In 1972, Shirley Chisholm was the first 

9 African-American to seek the nomination of a major 

10 party for President of the United States. 

11 (11) Shirley Chisholm was a co-founder of the 

12 National Organization for Women. 

13 (12) An historic figure in American political 

14 history, Shirley Chisholm died at the age of 80 in 

15 Ormond Beach, Florida, on New Year’s Day, 2005. 

16 SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

17 (a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of 

18 the House of Representatives and the President pro tem19 pore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements 

20 for the posthumous presentation, on behalf of the Con21 gress, of a gold medal of appropriate design in commemo22 ration of Shirley Chisholm, in recognition of her activism, 

23 independence, and ground-breaking achievements in poli24 tics, her election as the first African-American woman in 

25 the Congress, and her campaign to be the first African- 
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1 American to gain the nomination of a major political party 

2 for President of the United States. 

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

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

5 of the Treasury (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Sec6 retary’’) shall strike a gold medal with suitable emblems, 

7 devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the Sec8 retary. 

9 SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

10 The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 

11 bronze of the gold medal struck pursuant to section 2 

12 under such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, at 

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

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

15 and the cost of the gold medal. 

16 SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS. 

17 (a) NATIONAL MEDALS.—The medals struck pursu18 ant to this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 

19 51 of title 31, United States Code. 

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

21 5134 of title 31, United States Code, all medals struck 

22 under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic items. 
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1 SEC. 6. AUTHORITY TO USE FUND AMOUNTS; PROCEEDS OF 

2 SALE. 

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

4 authorized to be charged against the United States Mint 

5 Public Enterprise Fund, such amounts as may be nec6 essary to pay for the costs of the medals struck pursuant 

7 to this Act. 

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

9 sale of duplicate bronze medals authorized under section 

10 3 shall be deposited into the United States Mint Public 

11 Enterprise Fund. 

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