I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1968 

To posthumously award a Congressional gold medal to Shirley Chisholm. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 28, 2019 

Mr. JEFFRIES (for himself, Mr. CLYBURN, Ms. WATERS, Ms. CLARKE of New 

York, Ms. ADAMS, Mr. ALLRED, Ms. BASS, Mrs. BEATTY, Mr. BISHOP

of Georgia, Ms. BLUNT ROCHESTER, Mr. BRINDISI, Mr. BROWN of Maryland, Ms. BROWNLEY of California, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Mr. CARSON of 

Indiana, Mr. CASTEN of Illinois, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Ms. CLARK of 

Massachusetts, Mr. CLAY, Mr. CISNEROS, Mr. COHEN, Mr. COX of California, Mr. CUMMINGS, Ms. DAVIDS of Kansas, Ms. DEAN, Mr. 

DELGADO, Ms. DELAURO, Mrs. DEMINGS, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. ESPAILLAT, 

Ms. FUDGE, Miss GONZA ́LEZ-COLO ́N of Puerto Rico, Mr. GREEN of 

Texas, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. HAALAND, Mr. HIGGINS of New York, Ms. 

HILL of California, Ms. NORTON, Ms. KENDRA S. HORN of Oklahoma, 

Mr. HORSFORD, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Ms. JAYAPAL, Ms. JOHNSON of 

Texas, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. KING of New York, Mrs. LAWRENCE, Mr. LAWSON of Florida, Ms. LEE of California, Mrs. LEE of Nevada, Mr. LEVIN of Michigan, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mrs. LOWEY, Mrs. 

CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of 

New York, Mrs. MCBATH, Mr. MEEKS, Ms. MOORE, Mr. MOULTON, Mr. 

MORELLE, Mrs. MURPHY, Mr. NADLER, Mr. NEGUSE, Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, Mr. PAYNE, Ms. PLASKETT, Ms. PRESSLEY, Miss RICE of New 

York, Mr. RICHMOND, Mr. ROSE of New York, Mr. RUSH, Mr. SAN

NICOLAS, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Mr. DAVID SCOTT

of Georgia, Mr. SERRANO, Ms. SEWELL of Alabama, Mr. STANTON, Mr. 

SUOZZI, Ms. TITUS, Mrs. TRAHAN, Mr. TRONE, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr. TONKO, Ms. UNDERWOOD, Mr. VAN DREW, Mr. VEASEY, 

Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Ms. WILSON of Florida, Mr. 

ZELDIN, Mr. CLEAVER, Mrs. DAVIS of California, Ms. SPEIER, Mrs. 

NAPOLITANO, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Ms. GABBARD, Ms. WASSERMAN

SCHULTZ, Mr. MALINOWSKI, Mr. MICHAEL F. DOYLE of Pennsylvania, 

Ms. KAPTUR, Ms. MENG, Mr. YARMUTH, Mr. GONZALEZ of Texas, Ms. 

KUSTER of New Hampshire, and Mrs. HAYES) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in 

addition to the Committee on House Administration, for a period to be 

subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration 


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of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

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) In 1968, Shirley Chisholm became the first 

9 African-American woman elected to Congress where 

10 she served until 1982. 

11 (2) Shirley Chisholm inspired and led the 

12 march of political achievement by African-Americans 

13 and women in the three decades since she ran for 

14 the Presidency of the United States. 

15 (3) Her election to Congress and her candidacy 

16 for the Presidency raised the profile and aspirations 

17 of all African-Americans and women in the field of 

18 politics. 


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1 (4) Shirley Chisholm was recognized for her ac2 tivism, independence, and groundbreaking achieve3 ments in politics during and after the civil rights 

4 era. 

5 (5) Shirley Chisholm was born in Brooklyn, 

6 New York, on November 30, 1924, attended Brook7 lyn College, and earned a Master’s degree from Co8 lumbia University. 

9 (6) Shirley Chisholm worked in education and 

10 social services before being elected to the New York 

11 State Assembly in 1964. 

12 (7) Shirley Chisholm established the Unity 

13 Democratic Club in 1960, which played a significant 

14 role in rallying Black and Hispanic voters in New 

15 York City. 

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

17 in the 91st Congress, representing Brooklyn’s 12th 

18 Congressional District in the United States House of 

19 Representatives. 

20 (9) During her service in the House of Rep21 resentatives, Shirley Chisholm promoted the employ22 ment of women in Congress and was vocal in her 

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

24 while fervently opposing the Vietnam War. 


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

2 African-American to seek the nomination of a major 

3 party for President of the United States. 

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

5 National Organization for Women. 

6 (12) An historic figure in American political 

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

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

9 SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

10 (a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of 

11 the House of Representatives and the President pro tem12 pore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements 

13 for the posthumous presentation, on behalf of the Con14 gress, of a gold medal of appropriate design in commemo15 ration of Shirley Chisholm, in recognition of her activism, 

16 independence, and groundbreaking achievements in poli17 tics, her election as the first African-American woman in 

18 the Congress, and her campaign to be the first African19 American to gain the nomination of a major political party 

20 for President of the United States. 

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 (c) SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Following the award of the 

5 gold medal referred to in subsection (a), the gold 

6 medal shall be given to the Smithsonian Institution, 

7 where it will be displayed as appropriate and made 

8 available for research. 

9 (2) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of 

10 Congress that the Smithsonian Institution should 

11 make the gold medal received under this Act avail12 able for display elsewhere, particularly at other loca13 tions and events associated with Shirley Chisholm. 

14 SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

15 The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 

16 bronze of the gold medal struck pursuant to section 3 

17 under such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, at 

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

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

20 and the cost of the gold medal. 

21 SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS. 

22 (a) NATIONAL MEDALS.—The medals struck pursu23 ant to this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 

24 51 of title 31, United States Code. 


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

2 5134 of title 31, United States Code, all medals struck 

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

Æ 


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