II 

Calendar No. 585 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 754 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 27, 2018 

Received; read twice and placed on the calendar 

AN ACT 

To award the Congressional Gold Medal to Anwar Sadat 

in recognition of his heroic achievements and courageous 

contributions to peace in the Middle East. 

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 ‘‘Anwar Sadat Centen5 nial Celebration Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) Anwar Sadat was born on December 25, 

9 1918, in Mit Abu al-Kum, al-Minufiyah, Egypt, as 

10 1 of 13 children in a poor Egyptian family. 


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1 (2) In 1938, Sadat graduated from the Royal 

2 Military Academy in Cairo and was appointed to the 

3 Signal Corps. 

4 (3) Sadat entered the Army as a second lieuten5 ant and was posted to Sudan where he met Gamal 

6 Abdel Nasser and fellow junior officers who became 

7 the ‘‘Free Officers’’ who led the Egyptian revolution 

8 of 1952. 

9 (4) Sadat held various high positions during 

10 Nasser’s presidency, assuming the role of President 

11 of the National Assembly in 1960 and Vice Presi12 dent in 1964. 

13 (5) President Nasser died of a heart attack on 

14 September 28, 1970, at which point Sadat became 

15 acting President. Sadat was subsequently elected as 

16 the third President of Egypt. 

17 (6) On October 6, 1973, President Sadat, along 

18 with his Syrian counterparts, launched an offensive 

19 against Israel. A permanent cease-fire was reached 

20 on October 25, 1973. 

21 (7) In 1974, after talks facilitated by Secretary 

22 of State Henry Kissinger, Egypt and Israel signed 

23 an agreement allowing Egypt to formally retrieve 

24 land in the Sinai. President Sadat later wrote in his 

25 memoirs that his meetings with Kissinger ‘‘marked 


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1 the beginning of a relationship of mutual under2 standing with the United States culminating and 

3 crystallizing in what we came to describe as a ‘peace 

4 process’. Together we started that process and the 

5 United States still supports our joint efforts to this 

6 day’’. 

7 (8) Months of diplomacy between Egypt and 

8 Israel followed the signing of this initial agreement 

9 and a second disengagement agreement, the Sinai 

10 Interim Agreement, was signed in September of 

11 1975. 

12 (9) President Sadat addressed a joint session of 

13 Congress on November 5, 1975, during which he un14 derscored the shared values between the United 

15 States and Egypt. In this speech, President Sadat 

16 addressed the path to peace, saying, ‘‘We are faced, 

17 together with other nations, with one of the greatest 

18 challenges of our time, namely the task of convincing 

19 this generation, and those to follow, that we can fi20 nally build a viable international system capable of 

21 meeting the demands of tomorrow and solving the 

22 problems of the coming age’’. 

23 (10) On November 19, 1977, President Sadat 

24 became the first Arab leader to visit Israel, meeting 

25 with the Israeli Prime Minister, Menachem Begin. 


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1 President Sadat spoke before the Israeli Knesset in 

2 Jerusalem about his views on how to achieve com3 prehensive peace in the Arab-Israeli conflict. 

4 (11) Before commencing negotiations, President 

5 Sadat courageously announced to the Knesset, ‘‘I 

6 have come to you so that together we might build a 

7 durable peace based on justice, to avoid the shedding 

8 of 1 single drop of blood from an Arab or an Israeli. 

9 It is for this reason that I have proclaimed my read10 iness to go to the farthest corner of the world’’. 

11 President Sadat further poignantly stated that ‘‘any 

12 life lost in war is a human life, irrespective of its 

13 being that of an Israeli or an Arab. . . . When the 

14 bells of peace ring, there will be no hands to beat 

15 the drums of war’’. 

16 (12) On September 17, 1978, President Jimmy 

17 Carter hosted President Sadat and Prime Minister 

18 Begin at Camp David where the 3 leaders engaged 

19 in 13 days of negotiations that resulted in the 

20 ‘‘Framework for Peace in the Middle East’’ (com21 monly known as the ‘‘Camp David Accords’’). 

22 (13) Following negotiations, President Sadat 

23 and Prime Minister Begin signed the Egypt-Israel 

24 Peace Treaty (in this section referred to as the 

25 ‘‘Peace Treaty’’) at the White House on March 26, 


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1 1979. Addressing President Sadat at the signing of 

2 the Peace Treaty, which remains an important an3 chor for peace in the region today, Prime Minister 

4 Begin commended President Sadat by saying, ‘‘In 

5 the face of adversity and hostility, you have dem6 onstrated the human value that can change his7 tory—civil courage’’. 

8 (14) The Peace Treaty featured mutual rec9 ognition of each country by the other and ultimately 

10 the cessation of the state of war that had existed be11 tween Israel and Egypt since the 1948 Arab-Israeli 

12 War. Israel completely withdrew its armed forces 

13 and civilians from the rest of the Sinai. 

14 (15) In 1978, both President Sadat and Prime 

15 Minister Begin were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize 

16 for signing the Peace Treaty, which made Egypt the 

17 first Arab country to officially recognize Israel. 

18 (16) While presenting the Nobel Peace Prize to 

19 President Sadat, Aase Lionaes, Chairman of the 

20 Norwegian Nobel Committee, said, ‘‘During the 30 

21 preceding years, the peoples of the Middle East 

22 have, on 4 separate occasions, been the victims of 

23 warfare and there seemed no prospect of peace. 

24 President Sadat’s great contribution to peace was 

25 that he had sufficient courage and foresight to break 


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1 away from this vicious circle. His decision to accept 

2 Prime Minister Menachem Begin’s invitation of No3 vember 17, 1977, to attend a meeting of the Israeli 

4 parliament on November 19 was an act of great 

5 courage, both from a personal and from a political 

6 point of view. This was a dramatic break with the 

7 past and a courageous step forward into a new age’’. 

8 (17) During his Nobel lecture, President Sadat 

9 remarked, ‘‘I made my trip because I am convinced 

10 that we owe it to this generation and the generations 

11 to come not to leave a stone unturned in our pursuit 

12 of peace’’. 

13 (18) In remarks to the People’s Assembly in 

14 Cairo on March 10, 1979, President Carter praised 

15 President Sadat, telling the Assembly, ‘‘Your Presi16 dent has demonstrated the power of human courage 

17 and human vision to create hope where there had 

18 been only despair.’’. President Carter also said that 

19 the Peace Treaty would ‘‘strengthen cooperation be20 tween Egypt and the United States’’ and under21 scored the support of the United States for the 

22 agreement, saying, ‘‘I fully share and will support 

23 President Sadat’s belief that stability must be main24 tained in this part of the world . . . He and I recog25 nize that the security of this vital region is being 


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1 challenged. I applaud his determination to meet that 

2 challenge, and my Government will stand with him’’. 

3 (19) The signing of the Peace Treaty enraged 

4 many individuals who opposed normalized relations 

5 with Israel. President Sadat was assassinated on Oc6 tober 6, 1981, by Khalid Islambouli, a member of 

7 Egyptian Islamic Jihad. President Sadat was well 

8 aware of the controversy to which his actions would 

9 lead, but pushed for peace anyway. 

10 (20) Upon the death of President Sadat, Presi11 dent Ronald Reagan proclaimed, ‘‘President Sadat 

12 was a courageous man whose vision and wisdom 

13 brought nations and people together. In a world 

14 filled with hatred, he was a man of hope. In a world 

15 trapped in the animosities of the past, he was a man 

16 of foresight, a man who sought to improve a world 

17 tormented by malice and pettiness’’. 

18 (21) President Sadat is recognized in the 

19 United States and throughout the world as a re20 spected leader and champion of peace whose vision 

21 provided a roadmap for the peaceful resolution of 

22 conflict that endures nearly 40 years after its incep23 tion. 

24 (22) President Sadat bravely reached out to 

25 Israel and dedicated himself to peace, furthering the 


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1 national security of Egypt and the stability of the 

2 Middle East. 

3 (23) On the 30th anniversary of the Peace 

4 Treaty, President Barack Obama praised the endur5 ing legacy of the Camp David Accords and the 

6 ‘‘courage and foresight of these leaders, who stood 

7 together in unity to change the course of our shared 

8 history’’. President Obama closed by saying, 

9 ‘‘Today, as we seek to expand the circle of peace 

10 among Arabs and Israelis, we take inspiration from 

11 what Israel and Egypt achieved 3 decades ago, 

12 knowing that the destination is worthy of the strug13 gle’’. 

14 (24) The Camp David Accords and the Peace 

15 Treaty continue to serve the interests of the United 

16 States by preserving peace and serving as a founda17 tion for partnership and dialogue in a region fraught 

18 with conflict and division. 

19 SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

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

21 House of Representatives and the President pro tempore 

22 of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements for the 

23 posthumous award, on behalf of Congress, of a gold medal 

24 of appropriate design to Anwar Sadat in recognition of 


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1 his achievements and heroic actions to attain comprehen2 sive peace in the Middle East. 

3 (b) DESIGN AND STRIKING.—For the purpose of the 

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

5 Treasury (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall 

6 strike a gold medal with suitable emblems, devices, and 

7 inscriptions to be determined by the Secretary. 

8 (c) PRESENTATION.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The gold medal referred to 

10 in subsection (a) shall be presented to— 

11 (A)(i) the widow of Anwar Sadat, Jehan 

12 Sadat; or 

13 (ii) if Jehan Sadat is unavailable, the next 

14 of kin of Jehan Sadat; and 

15 (B) a representative of the Government of 

16 Egypt. 

17 (2) AWARD OF MEDAL.—Following the presen18 tation described in paragraph (1), the gold medal 

19 shall be given to— 

20 (A) Jehan Sadat; or 

21 (B) if Jehan Sadat is unavailable, the next 

22 of kin of Jehan Sadat. 

23 SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

24 The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 

25 bronze of the gold medal struck under section 3 under 


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1 such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, at a price 

2 sufficient to cover the cost thereof, including labor, mate3 rials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses, and 

4 the cost of the gold medal. 

5 SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS. 

6 (a) NATIONAL MEDALS.—The medals struck under 

7 this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 51 

8 of title 31, United States Code. 

9 (b) NUMISMATIC ITEMS.—For purposes of sections 

10 5134 and 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all medals 

11 struck under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic 

12 items. 

Passed the House of Representatives September 26, 

2018. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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Calendar No. 585 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 754 

AN ACT 

To award the Congressional Gold Medal to Anwar 

Middle East. and courageous contributions to peace in the Sadat in recognition of his heroic achievements 

SEPTEMBER 27, 2018 

Received; read twice and placed on the calendar 


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