H. R. 754 

One Hundred Fifteenth Congress 

of the 

United States of America 

AT THE SECOND SESSION 

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Wednesday, 

the third day of January, two thousand and eighteen 

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. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 

the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Anwar Sadat Centennial Celebration Act’’. 

SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

Congress finds the following: 

(1) Anwar Sadat was born on December 25, 1918, in Mit 

Abu al-Kum, al-Minufiyah, Egypt, as 1 of 13 children in a 

poor Egyptian family. 

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

Academy in Cairo and was appointed to the Signal Corps. 

(3) Sadat entered the Army as a second lieutenant and 

was posted to Sudan where he met Gamal Abdel Nasser and 

fellow junior officers who became the ‘‘Free Officers’’ who led 

the Egyptian revolution of 1952. 

(4) Sadat held various high positions during Nasser’s presidency, assuming the role of President of the National Assembly 

in 1960 and Vice President in 1964. 

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

28, 1970, at which point Sadat became acting President. Sadat 

was subsequently elected as the third President of Egypt. 

(6) On October 6, 1973, President Sadat, along with his 

Syrian counterparts, launched an offensive against Israel. A 

permanent cease-fire was reached on October 25, 1973. 

(7) In 1974, after talks facilitated by Secretary of State 

Henry Kissinger, Egypt and Israel signed an agreement 

allowing Egypt to formally retrieve land in the Sinai. President 

Sadat later wrote in his memoirs that his meetings with Kissinger ‘‘marked the beginning of a relationship of mutual understanding with the United States culminating and crystallizing 

in what we came to describe as a ‘peace process’. Together 

we started that process and the United States still supports 

our joint efforts to this day’’. 

(8) Months of diplomacy between Egypt and Israel followed 

the signing of this initial agreement and a second disengagement agreement, the Sinai Interim Agreement, was signed 

in September of 1975. 

(9) President Sadat addressed a joint session of Congress 

on November 5, 1975, during which he underscored the shared 
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values between the United States and Egypt. In this speech, 

President Sadat addressed the path to peace, saying, ‘‘We are 

faced, together with other nations, with one of the greatest 

challenges of our time, namely the task of convincing this 

generation, and those to follow, that we can finally build a 

viable international system capable of meeting the demands 

of tomorrow and solving the problems of the coming age’’. 

(10) On November 19, 1977, President Sadat became the 

first Arab leader to visit Israel, meeting with the Israeli Prime 

Minister, Menachem Begin. President Sadat spoke before the 

Israeli Knesset in Jerusalem about his views on how to achieve 

comprehensive peace in the Arab-Israeli conflict. 

(11) Before commencing negotiations, President Sadat 

courageously announced to the Knesset, ‘‘I have come to you 

so that together we might build a durable peace based on 

justice, to avoid the shedding of 1 single drop of blood from 

an Arab or an Israeli. It is for this reason that I have proclaimed 

my readiness to go to the farthest corner of the world’’. President Sadat further poignantly stated that ‘‘any life lost in 

war is a human life, irrespective of its being that of an Israeli 

or an Arab. * * * When the bells of peace ring, there will 

be no hands to beat the drums of war’’. 

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

hosted President Sadat and Prime Minister Begin at Camp 

David where the 3 leaders engaged in 13 days of negotiations 

that resulted in the ‘‘Framework for Peace in the Middle East’’ 

(commonly known as the ‘‘Camp David Accords’’). 

(13) Following negotiations, President Sadat and Prime 

Minister Begin signed the Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty (in this 

section referred to as the ‘‘Peace Treaty’’) at the White House 

on March 26, 1979. Addressing President Sadat at the signing 

of the Peace Treaty, which remains an important anchor for 

peace in the region today, Prime Minister Begin commended 

President Sadat by saying, ‘‘In the face of adversity and hostility, you have demonstrated the human value that can change 

history—civil courage’’. 

(14) The Peace Treaty featured mutual recognition of each 

country by the other and ultimately the cessation of the state 

of war that had existed between Israel and Egypt since the 

1948 Arab-Israeli War. Israel completely withdrew its armed 

forces and civilians from the rest of the Sinai. 

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

Begin were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for signing the 

Peace Treaty, which made Egypt the first Arab country to 

officially recognize Israel. 

(16) While presenting the Nobel Peace Prize to President 

Sadat, Aase Lionaes, Chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, said, ‘‘During the 30 preceding years, the peoples of 

the Middle East have, on 4 separate occasions, been the victims 

of warfare and there seemed no prospect of peace. President 

Sadat’s great contribution to peace was that he had sufficient 

courage and foresight to break away from this vicious circle. 

His decision to accept Prime Minister Menachem Begin’s invitation of November 17, 1977, to attend a meeting of the Israeli 

parliament on November 19 was an act of great courage, both 

from a personal and from a political point of view. This was 
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a dramatic break with the past and a courageous step forward 

into a new age’’. 

(17) During his Nobel lecture, President Sadat remarked, 

‘‘I made my trip because I am convinced that we owe it to 

this generation and the generations to come not to leave a 

stone unturned in our pursuit of peace’’. 

(18) In remarks to the People’s Assembly in Cairo on March 

10, 1979, President Carter praised President Sadat, telling 

the Assembly, ‘‘Your President has demonstrated the power 

of human courage and human vision to create hope where 

there had been only despair.’’. President Carter also said that 

the Peace Treaty would ‘‘strengthen cooperation between Egypt 

and the United States’’ and underscored the support of the 

United States for the agreement, saying, ‘‘I fully share and 

will support President Sadat’s belief that stability must be 

maintained in this part of the world * * * He and I recognize 

that the security of this vital region is being challenged. I 

applaud his determination to meet that challenge, and my 

Government will stand with him’’. 

(19) The signing of the Peace Treaty enraged many individuals who opposed normalized relations with Israel. President 

Sadat was assassinated on October 6, 1981, by Khalid 

Islambouli, a member of Egyptian Islamic Jihad. President 

Sadat was well aware of the controversy to which his actions 

would lead, but pushed for peace anyway. 

(20) Upon the death of President Sadat, President Ronald 

Reagan proclaimed, ‘‘President Sadat was a courageous man 

whose vision and wisdom brought nations and people together. 

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

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

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

by malice and pettiness’’. 

(21) President Sadat is recognized in the United States 

and throughout the world as a respected leader and champion 

of peace whose vision provided a roadmap for the peaceful 

resolution of conflict that endures nearly 40 years after its 

inception. 

(22) President Sadat bravely reached out to Israel and 

dedicated himself to peace, furthering the national security 

of Egypt and the stability of the Middle East. 

(23) On the 30th anniversary of the Peace Treaty, President 

Barack Obama praised the enduring legacy of the Camp David 

Accords and the ‘‘courage and foresight of these leaders, who 

stood together in unity to change the course of our shared 

history’’. President Obama closed by saying, ‘‘Today, as we 

seek to expand the circle of peace among Arabs and Israelis, 

we take inspiration from what Israel and Egypt achieved 3 

decades ago, knowing that the destination is worthy of the 

struggle’’. 

(24) The Camp David Accords and the Peace Treaty continue to serve the interests of the United States by preserving 

peace and serving as a foundation for partnership and dialogue 

in a region fraught with conflict and division. 

SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

(a) AWARD AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate shall 
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make appropriate arrangements for the posthumous award, on 

behalf of Congress, of a gold medal of appropriate design to Anwar 

Sadat in recognition of his achievements and heroic actions to 

attain comprehensive peace in the Middle East. 

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

referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury (referred 

to in this Act as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall strike a gold medal with 

suitable emblems, devices, and inscriptions to be determined by 

the Secretary. 

(c) PRESENTATION.— 

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

(a) shall be presented to— 

(A)(i) the widow of Anwar Sadat, Jehan Sadat; or 

(ii) if Jehan Sadat is unavailable, the next of kin of 

Jehan Sadat; and 

(B) a representative of the Government of Egypt. 

(2) AWARD OF MEDAL.—Following the presentation 

described in paragraph (1), the gold medal shall be given to— 

(A) Jehan Sadat; or 

(B) if Jehan Sadat is unavailable, the next of kin 

of Jehan Sadat. 

SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in bronze of the 

gold medal struck under section 3 under such regulations as the 

Secretary may prescribe, at a price sufficient to cover the cost 

thereof, including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, and 

overhead expenses, and the cost of the gold medal. 

SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS. 

(a) NATIONAL MEDALS.—The medals struck under this Act are 

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

States Code. 

(b) NUMISMATIC ITEMS.—For purposes of sections 5134 and 

5136 of title 31, United States Code, all medals struck under 

this Act shall be considered to be numismatic items. 

Speaker of the House of Representatives. 

Vice President of the United States and

President of the Senate.