II 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 397 

To posthumously award a Congressional Gold Medal to Lena Horne in recognition of her achievements and contributions to American culture and 

the civil rights movement. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 27, 2013 

Mr. NELSON (for himself, Ms. COLLINS, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, and Mr. SCHUMER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to 

the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To posthumously award a Congressional Gold Medal to Lena 

Horne in recognition of her achievements and contributions to American culture and the civil rights movement. 

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 ‘‘Lena Horne Recogni5 tion Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds as follows: 

8 (1) Lena Mary Calhoun Horne was born on 

9 June 30, 1917, in Brooklyn, New York. At the age 


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1 of 16, Lena Horne was hired as a dancer in the cho2 rus of Harlem’s famous Cotton Club, where she was 

3 introduced to such legendary jazz performers as 

4 Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, Count Basie, Ethel 

5 Waters, and Billie Holiday. 

6 (2) In 1940, she became one of the first Afri7 can-American women to perform with an all-White 

8 band when she toured with Charlie Barnet’s jazz 

9 band as its featured singer. 

10 (3) She was discovered by a Metro-Goldwyn11 Mayer (MGM) talent scout and became the first Af12 rican-American artist to sign a long-term contract 

13 with a major studio. 

14 (4) Despite her extraordinary beauty and tal15 ent, Lena Horne was often limited to minor acting 

16 roles because of her race. 

17 (5) Scenes in which she did sing were cut out 

18 when they were sent to local distributors in the 

19 South and studio executives cast another actress as 

20 Julie in the film version of ‘‘Show Boat’’ instead of 

21 Lena Horne because they did not want the show to 

22 star an African-American actress. However, Lena 

23 Horne dazzled audiences and critics in a number of 

24 films, including ‘‘Cabin in the Sky’’ and ‘‘Stormy 

25 Weather’’. 


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1 (6) During World War II, Lena Horne toured 

2 extensively with the United Service Organizations 

3 (USO) on the West Coast and in the South in sup4 port of the troops and expressed outrage about the 

5 way African-American soldiers were treated. 

6 (7) She refused to sing for segregated audiences 

7 or to groups in which German prisoners of war were 

8 seated in front of African-American servicemen. 

9 (8) During the period of McCarthyism in the 

10 1950s, Lena Horne was blacklisted as a communist 

11 for 7 years because of her civil rights activism and 

12 friendship with Paul Robeson and W.E.B. Du Bois. 

13 (9) In 1957, Lena Horne recorded Lena Horne 

14 at the Waldorf-Astoria, which reached the Top 10 

15 and became the best-selling album by a female sing16 er in RCA Victor’s history. 

17 (10) Lena Horne rose to international stardom 

18 and toured the world, sharing the stage with such 

19 names as Count Basie, Tony Bennett, Billy 

20 Eckstine, Vic Damone, and Harry Belafonte, and 

21 also starred in musical and television specials with 

22 such giants as Judy Garland, Bing Crosby, and 

23 Frank Sinatra. 

24 (11) Lena Horne used her fame to become a 

25 powerful voice for civil rights and equality. 


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1 (12) In 1963, she participated in the historic 

2 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, at 

3 which Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his im4 mortal ‘‘I Have a Dream’’ speech. 

5 (13) Lena Horne also performed at rallies 

6 throughout the country for the National Council for 

7 Negro Women and worked with the National Asso8 ciation for the Advancement of Colored People 

9 (NAACP), of which she was a member from the age 

10 of 2, the Delta Sigma Theta sorority, and the Urban 

11 League. 

12 (14) Through the end of the 20th century, 

13 Lena Horne continued to entertain large audiences 

14 of all ages and backgrounds. In 1981, she captivated 

15 audiences with her one-woman Broadway show, 

16 ‘‘Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music’’, which en17 joyed a 14-month run before going on tour, and 

18 earned her a special Tony Award and two Grammy 

19 Awards. 

20 (15) In 2002, 73 years after the Academy 

21 Awards were first awarded, Halle Berry became the 

22 first African-American woman to win an Oscar for 

23 Best Actress and recognized in her acceptance 

24 speech how Lena Horne paved the way for her and 

25 other African-American actresses. 


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1 (16) Lena Horne passed away in New York 

2 City on May 9, 2010, at the age of 92. 

3 (17) Lena Horne was an entertainer, activist, 

4 and mother who used her beauty, talent, and intel5 ligence to fight racial discrimination and injustice 

6 and rise to international stardom. 

7 (18) A symbol of elegance and grace, she enter8 tained people of all walks of life for over 60 years, 

9 and broke barriers for future generations. 

10 SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

11 (a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of 

12 the House of Representatives and the President pro tem13 pore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements 

14 for the posthumous presentation, on behalf of the Con15 gress, of a gold medal of appropriate design in commemo16 ration of Lena Horne in recognition of her achievements 

17 and contributions to American culture and the civil rights 

18 movement. 

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

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

21 of the Treasury (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Sec22 retary’’) shall strike a gold medal with suitable emblems, 

23 devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the Sec24 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 2, 

4 under such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, at 

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

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

7 and the cost of the gold medal. 

8 SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS. 

9 (a) NATIONAL MEDALS.—The medals struck pursu10 ant to this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 

11 51 of title 31, United States Code. 

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

13 5134 of title 31, United States Code, all medals struck 

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

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

16 SALE. 

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

18 authorized to be charged against the United States Mint 

19 Public Enterprise Fund, such amounts as may be nec20 essary to pay for the costs of the medals struck pursuant 

21 to this Act. 

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

23 sale of duplicate bronze medals authorized under section 

24 4 shall be deposited into the United States Mint Public 

25 Enterprise Fund. 

Æ 


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