II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 682 

To award a congressional gold medal to Edward William Brooke III in 

recognition of his unprecedented and enduring service to our Nation. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 17, 2007 

Mr. KENNEDY (for himself, Mr. MCCONNELL, Mr. REID, Mr. WARNER, Mr. 

KERRY, Mr. STEVENS, Mr. DOMENICI, Mr. COLEMAN, Mr. GREGG, Mr. 

COCHRAN, Ms. SNOWE, Mr. ENZI, Mr. AKAKA, Mr. BAUCUS, Mr. BINGAMAN, Mr. BIDEN, Mrs. BOXER, Mr. BROWN, Ms. CANTWELL, Mr. 

CARDIN, Mrs. CLINTON, Mr. DORGAN, Mr. DURBIN, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, 

Mr. HARKIN, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Ms. LANDRIEU, Mr. LAUTENBERG, Mr. 

LIEBERMAN, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. OBAMA, 

Mr. REED, Mr. ROCKEFELLER, Mr. SALAZAR, Mr. SCHUMER, Mr. TESTER, Mr. WEBB, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. BAYH, Ms. MIKULSKI, and Ms. STABENOW) introduced the following bill; which was read 

twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban 

Affairs 

A BILL 

To award a congressional gold medal to Edward William 

Brooke III in recognition of his unprecedented and enduring service to our Nation. 

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 ‘‘Edward William 

5 Brooke III Congressional Gold Medal Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 The Congress finds as follows: 

3 (1) Edward William Brooke III was the first 

4 African American elected by popular vote to the 

5 United States Senate and served with distinction for 

6 2 terms from January 3, 1967, to January 3, 1979. 

7 (2) In 1960, Senator Brooke began his public 

8 career when Governor John Volpe appointed him 

9 chairman of the Boston Finance Commission, where 

10 the young lawyer established an outstanding record 

11 of confronting and eliminating graft and corruption 

12 and proposed groundbreaking legislation for con13 sumer protection and against housing discrimination 

14 and air pollution. 

15 (3) At a time when few African Americans held 

16 State or Federal office, Senator Brooke became an 

17 exceptional pioneer, beginning in 1962, when he 

18 made national and State history by being elected At19 torney General of Massachusetts, the first African 

20 American in the Nation to serve as a State Attorney 

21 General, the second highest office in the State, and 

22 the only Republican to win statewide in the election 

23 that year, at a time when there were fewer than 

24 1,000 African American officials in our nation. 

25 (4) He won office as a Republican in a state 

26 that was strongly Democratic. 


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1 (5) As Massachusetts Attorney General, Sen2 ator Brooke became known for his fearless and hon3 est execution of the laws of his State and for his vig4 orous prosecution of organized crime. 

5 (6) The pioneering accomplishments of Edward 

6 William Brooke III in public service were achieved 

7 although he was raised in Washington, DC at a time 

8 when the Nation’s capital was a city where schools, 

9 public accommodations, and other institutions were 

10 segregated, and when the District of Columbia did 

11 not have its own self-governing institutions or elect12 ed officials. 

13 (7) Senator Brooke graduated from Paul Lau14 rence Dunbar High School and went on to graduate 

15 from Howard University in 1941. 

16 (8) Senator Brooke’s enduring advocacy for 

17 self-government and congressional voting rights for 

18 the citizens of Washington, DC has roots in his life 

19 and personal experience as a native Washingtonian. 

20 (9) Senator Brooke served for 5 years in the 

21 United States Army in the segregated 366th Infan22 try Regiment during World War II in the European 

23 theater of operations, attaining the rank of captain 

24 and receiving a Bronze Star Medal for ‘‘heroic or 


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1 meritorious achievement or service’’ and the Distin2 guished Service Award. 

3 (10) After the war, Senator Brooke attended 

4 Boston University School of Law, where he served 

5 as editor of the school’s Law Review, graduating 

6 with an LL.B. in 1948 and an LL.M. in 1949, and 

7 made Massachusetts his home. 

8 (11) During his career in Congress, Senator 

9 Brooke was a leader on some of the most critical 

10 issues of his time, including the war in Vietnam, the 

11 struggle for civil rights, the shameful system of 

12 apartheid in South Africa, the Cold War, and United 

13 States’ relations with the People’s Republic of 

14 China. 

15 (12) President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed 

16 Senator Brooke to the President’s Commission on 

17 Civil Disorders in 1967, where his work on discrimi18 nation in housing would serve as the basis for the 

19 1968 Civil Rights Act. 

20 (13) Senator Brooke continued to champion 

21 open housing when he left the Senate and became 

22 the head of the National Low-Income Housing Coa23 lition. 

24 (14) Senator Brooke has been recognized with 

25 many high honors, among them the Presidential 


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1 Medal of Freedom in 2004, an honor that recognizes 

2 ‘‘an especially meritorious contribution to the secu3 rity or national interests of the United States, world 

4 peace, cultural or other significant public or private 

5 endeavors’’; the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit 

6 from the Government of Italy; a State courthouse 

7 dedicated in his honor by the Commonwealth of 

8 Massachusetts, making him the first African Amer9 ican to have a State courthouse named in his honor; 

10 the NAACP Spingarn Medal; and the Charles Evans 

11 Hughes award from the National Conference of 

12 Christians and Jews. 

13 (15) Senator Brooke’s biography, Bridging The 

14 Divide: My Life, was published in 2006, and he is 

15 the author of The Challenge of Change: Crisis in 

16 Our Two-Party System, published in 1966. 

17 (16) Senator Brooke became a racial pioneer, 

18 but race was never at the center of his political cam19 paigns. 

20 (17) He demonstrated to all that with commit21 ment, determination, and strength of character, even 

22 the barriers once thought insurmountable can be 

23 overcome. 


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1 (18) He has devoted his life to the service of 

2 others, and made enormous contributions to our so3 ciety today. 

4 (19) The life and accomplishments of Senator 

5 Brooke is inspiring proof, as he says, that ‘‘people 

6 can be elected on the basis of their qualifications 

7 and not their race’’. 

8 SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

9 (a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of 

10 the House of Representatives and the President pro tem11 pore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements 

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

13 medal of appropriate design to Edward William Brooke 

14 III in recognition of his unprecedented and enduring serv15 ice to our Nation. 

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

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

18 of the Treasury (hereafter in this Act referred to as the 

19 ‘‘Secretary’’) shall strike a gold medal with suitable em20 blems, devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the 

21 Secretary. 

22 SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

23 The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 

24 bronze of the gold medal struck pursuant to section 3 

25 under such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, at 


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

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

3 and the cost of the gold medal. 

4 SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS. 

5 (a) NATIONAL MEDALS.—The medals struck pursu6 ant to this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 

7 51 of title 31, United States Code. 

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

9 5134 of title 31, United States Code, all medals struck 

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

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

12 SALE. 

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

14 authorized to be charged against the United States Mint 

15 Public Enterprise Fund, such amounts as may be nec16 essary to pay for the costs of the medals struck pursuant 

17 to this Act. 

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

19 sale of duplicate bronze medals authorized under section 

20 4 shall be deposited into the United States Mint Public 

21 Enterprise Fund. 

Æ 


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