I

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1971

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 27, 2000

Referred to the Committee on Banking and Financial Services

AN ACT

To authorize the President to award a gold medal on behalf

of the Congress to Milton Friedman, in recognition of

his outstanding and enduring contributions to individual

freedom and opportunity in American society through

his exhaustive research and teaching of economics, and

his extensive writings on economics and public policy.

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 ‘‘Milton Friedman Con5 gressional Gold Medal Act’’.
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

2 The Congress finds that—

3 (1) Milton Friedman, born July 31, 1912 in

4 New York, New York, is acclaimed as one of the

5 great original thinkers of this century;

6 (2) Milton Friedman is a living American suc7 cess story in rising from poverty in an immigrant

8 family to realize the American dream;

9 (3) Milton Friedman is the world’s most re10 nowned economist;

11 (4) Milton Friedman was awarded the Nobel

12 Memorial Prize for Economic Service in 1976;

13 (5) Milton Friedman is a Paul Snowden Russell

14 Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of Eco15 nomics at the University of Chicago, where he

16 taught from 1946 to 1976, and where he is widely

17 regarded as the leader of the Chicago school of mon18 etary economics;

19 (6) Milton Friedman has been a senior research

20 fellow at the Hoover Institute since 1977, and a

21 member of the research staff of the National Bureau

22 of Economic Research from 1937 to 1981;

23 (7) Milton Friedman has selflessly served his

24 country on several occasions, serving as an informal

25 economic advisor to Presidents Richard Nixon and

26 Ronald Reagan;
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1 (8) Milton Friedman has been awarded hon2 orary degrees by universities in the United States,

3 Japan, Israel, and Guatemala, as well as the Grand

4 Cordon of the First Class Order of the Sacred

5 Treasure by the Japanese government in 1986; and

6 (9) Milton Friedman is known throughout the

7 world as a champion of freedom, opportunity, free

8 markets, and capitalism.

9 SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL.

10 (a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The President is

11 authorized to present, on behalf of the Congress, a gold

12 medal of appropriate design to Milton Friedman in rec13 ognition of his outstanding and enduring contributions to

14 individual freedom and opportunity in American society

15 through his exhaustive research and teaching of econom16 ics, and his extensive writings on economics and public

17 policy.

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

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

20 Treasury (hereafter in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Sec21 retary’’) shall strike a gold medal with suitable emblems,

22 devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the Sec23 retary.
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1 SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS.

2 The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in

3 bronze of the gold medal struck pursuant to section 3,

4 under such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe,

5 and at a price sufficient to cover the costs thereof, includ6 ing labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead

7 expenses, and the cost of the gold medal.

8 SEC. 5. STATUS AS NATIONAL MEDALS.

9 The medals struck pursuant to this Act are national

10 medals for purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United

11 States Code.

12 SEC. 6. FUNDING.

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

14 authorized to be charged against the United States Mint

15 Public Enterprise Fund an amount not to exceed $30,000

16 to pay for the cost of the medals authorized by this Act.

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

18 sale of duplicate bronze medals under section 4 shall be

19 deposited in the United States Mint Public Enterprise

20 Fund.

Passed the Senate November 19, 1999.

Attest: GARY SISCO,

Secretary.