I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5499 

To award a Congressional Gold Medal to Stephen Michael Gleason. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 12, 2018 

Mr. RICHMOND (for himself, Mrs. MCMORRIS RODGERS, and Mr. SCALISE) 

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

A BILL 

To award a Congressional Gold Medal to Stephen Michael 

Gleason. 

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 ‘‘Stephen Michael Glea5 son Congressional Gold Medal Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) Stephen ‘‘Steve’’ Gleason was born March 

9 19, 1977, in Spokane, Washington to Mike and Gail 

10 Gleason. 


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1 (2) Steve attended Gonzaga Preparatory School 

2 for high school where he excelled as both a football 

3 and baseball player. 

4 (3) In 1995, Steve enrolled at Washington 

5 State University where he was a 2-sport athlete for 

6 the baseball and football teams and helped the Cou7 gars football team advance to the 1997 Rose Bowl. 

8 (4) In 2000, Steve signed a professional football 

9 contract with the Indianapolis Colts of the National 

10 Football League as an undrafted free agent but 

11 later joined the New Orleans Saints in November of 

12 that same season. 

13 (5) Steve would go on to play 7 more seasons 

14 as a member of the New Orleans Saints. 

15 (6) Steve will always be remembered for his 

16 blocked punt on September 25, 2006, against the 

17 Atlanta Falcons, the night the Louisiana Superdome 

18 reopened for the first time after Hurricane Katrina 

19 in a game the Saints would win 23 to 3. 

20 (7) In January, 2011 Steve was diagnosed with 

21 amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or ALS, considered a 

22 terminal neuro-muscular disease. 

23 (8) Following his diagnosis, Steve, with the lov24 ing support of his wife, Michel, began a mission to 

25 show that patients can not only live but thrive after 


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1 a diagnosis of ALS and established The Gleason Ini2 tiative Foundation also known simply as ‘‘Team 

3 Gleason’’. 

4 (9) At the time of his diagnosis, however, Steve 

5 said there will be ‘‘No White Flags’’, which has be6 come the mantra of Team Gleason. 

7 (10) The Gleason Initiative Foundation helps 

8 provide individuals with neuromuscular diseases or 

9 injuries with leading edge technology, equipment and 

10 services, raises global awareness about ALS to find 

11 solutions and an end to the disease, and has helped 

12 hundreds of people with ALS experience life adven13 tures they never thought possible after their diag14 nosis. 

15 (11) Steve’s story and mission have been told 

16 by the NFL Network, ESPN, HBO, ABC, CBS, 

17 CNN, and many local media outlets, as well as in a 

18 2016 documentary titled ‘‘Gleason’’, which was her19 alded at the Sundance Film Festival and premiered 

20 across the country with Variety calling the produc21 tion ‘‘an emotional powerhouse’’. The documentary 

22 won several awards, including the 2016 Washington, 

23 D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best 

24 Documentary. 


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1 (12) Steve was named 1 of 2 Sports 

2 Illustrated’s Inspirations of the Year in 2014, has 

3 been a keynote speaker for Microsoft and at 2 

4 United Nations sponsored Social Innovation Sum5 mits, and received the 2015 George S. Halas Cour6 age Award, given to a NFL player, coach or staff 

7 member who overcomes the most adversity to suc8 ceed. 

9 (13) Steve helped advocate for the Steve Glea10 son Act of 2015 (Public Law 114–40; 129 Stat. 

11 441), and the Steve Gleason Enduring Voices Act of 

12 2017, H.R. 2465, 115th Congress (2017), which 

13 permanently ensures people living with diseases such 

14 as ALS have access to speech generating devices re15 gardless of their setting, whether at home or a 

16 healthcare institution. 

17 (14) In 2014, Steve and Team Gleason hosted 

18 a global summit to bring together researchers, pa19 tients, caregivers, and all ALS stakeholders to create 

20 a plan to ultimately end ALS. That summit resulted 

21 in the single largest coordinated and collaborative 

22 ALS research project in the world, Answer ALS, 

23 which brings together nearly two dozen research in24 stitutions, 1,000 patients and 20,000,000,000,000 

25 data points that are important to the project and 


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1 that will define the unknown pathways that will lead 

2 to treatments or finally a cure. 

3 (15) In 2015, Steve and Microsoft worked to4 gether to create a method for people who are com5 pletely paralyzed to navigate their power wheelchairs 

6 with their eyes. Today, Steve, Microsoft and all 

7 wheelchair manufacturers are working collabo8 ratively to make it widely available to all who need 

9 this technology. Microsoft has also made eye track10 ing technology part of all Windows 10 products 

11 across the globe. 

12 (16) In 2011, 10 months after his diagnosis, 

13 Steve and Michel made their most significant accom14 plishment, becoming parents to their son Rivers. 

15 (17) In addition to serving as advocates for all 

16 who are suffering from other debilitating neuro17 logical diseases, Steve and Michel Gleason continue 

18 to fight to find a solution for ALS so they can share 

19 many years together and as parents to Rivers. 

20 SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

21 (a) AWARD AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of the 

22 House of Representatives and the President pro tempore 

23 of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements for the 

24 award, on behalf of the Congress, of a single gold medal 

25 of appropriate design to Stephen Michael Gleason. 


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

2 award referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary of the 

3 Treasury (hereafter in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Sec4 retary’’) shall strike the gold medal with suitable emblems, 

5 devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the Sec6 retary. 

7 SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

8 Under such regulations as the Secretary may pre9 scribe, the Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 

10 bronze of the gold medal struck under section 3, at a price 

11 sufficient to cover the costs of the medals, including labor, 

12 materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses. 

13 SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS. 

14 Medals struck pursuant to this Act are national med15 als for purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United States 

16 Code. 

Æ 


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