I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1925 

To award a Congressional Gold Medal to Dr. Balazs ‘‘Ernie’’ Bodai in 

recognition of his many outstanding contributions to the Nation, including a tireless commitment to breast cancer research. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 21, 2015 

Ms. SPEIER (for herself, Mr. BARTON, Ms. BROWN of Florida, Mr. BURGESS, 

Ms. JUDY CHU of California, Mr. COHEN, Mrs. COMSTOCK, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. DOLD, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. 

FARR, Mr. HANNA, Mr. HASTINGS, Ms. LOFGREN, Ms. MATSUI, Ms. 

MOORE, Ms. NORTON, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. STIVERS, Mr. 

TAKANO, Ms. WILSON of Florida, Mr. YODER, Ms. LEE, Mr. HONDA, and 

Mrs. BUSTOS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To award a Congressional Gold Medal to Dr. Balazs ‘‘Ernie’’ 

Bodai in recognition of his many outstanding contributions to the Nation, including a tireless commitment 

to breast cancer research. 

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 as follows: 


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1 (1) Dr. Balazs ‘‘Ernie’’ Bodai was born in Bu2 dapest, Hungary, in 1951. 

3 (2) As a child, Dr. Bodai and his family lived 

4 in a bomb shelter for over a year during the Hun5 garian Revolution of 1956 before managing to es6 cape and immigrate to the United States. 

7 (3) Dr. Bodai received his B.A. and M.S. de8 grees from the University of California, Los Angeles, 

9 and subsequently received his M.D. degree from the 

10 University of California, Davis, at the young age of 

11 26. 

12 (4) Dr. Bodai has authored over 250 medical 

13 articles and published 5 books, 4 of which focus on 

14 cancer. 

15 (5) After working as a breast cancer surgeon 

16 for over 30 years and treating more than 15,000 pa17 tients, Dr. Bodai remains frustrated with the pace 

18 of breast cancer research funding. 

19 (6) In 1996, Dr. Bodai launched a campaign to 

20 create a postal stamp to benefit breast cancer re21 search. 

22 (7) After several trips to Washington, DC, and 

23 countless visits with United States Senators and 

24 Members of Congress, the Stamp Out Breast Cancer 

25 Act, which allowed a breast cancer stamp to be sold 


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1 at up to 8 cents above the normal first-class rate, 

2 was passed and signed into law in August 1997. 

3 (8) As a direct result of Dr. Bodai’s tireless 

4 commitment to breast cancer research, as of Feb5 ruary 2015, more than 985,000,000 breast cancer 

6 stamps have been sold in the United States—pro7 viding over $80,000,000 for crucial, life-saving re8 search. 

9 (9) The Breast Cancer Research Stamp re10 cently surpassed the Elvis Presley Stamp to become 

11 the all-time best seller for the United States Postal 

12 Service. 

13 (10) In an effort to expand breast cancer re14 search internationally, in 2005, Dr. Bodai intro15 duced the first ever ‘‘global stamp’’ to raise aware16 ness and funding to conquer the disease worldwide. 

17 (11) As of 2014, as a direct result of Dr. 

18 Bodai’s tireless commitment, over 70 countries have 

19 either created their own stamp or are in the process 

20 of doing so—making breast cancer research, early 

21 detection, and eradication a global health priority. 

22 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

23 (a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of 

24 the House of Representatives and the President pro tem25 pore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements 


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1 for the presentation, on behalf of the Congress, of a gold 

2 medal of appropriate design, to Dr. Balazs ‘‘Ernie’’ Bodai 

3 in recognition of his many outstanding contributions to 

4 the Nation, including a tireless commitment to breast can5 cer research. 

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

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

8 of the Treasury (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Sec9 retary’’) shall strike a gold medal with suitable emblems, 

10 devices, and inscriptions to be determined by the Sec11 retary. 

12 SEC. 3. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

13 The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 

14 bronze of the gold medal struck pursuant to section 2 

15 under such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, at 

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

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

18 and the cost of the gold medal. 

19 SEC. 4. STATUS OF MEDALS. 

20 (a) NATIONAL MEDALS.—The medals struck pursu21 ant to this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 

22 51 of title 31, United States Code. 

23 (b) NUMISMATIC ITEMS.—For purposes of sections 

24 5134 and 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all medals 


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1 struck under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic 

2 items. 

Æ 


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