I 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4178 

To award posthumously a congressional gold medal to Thurgood Marshall. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 20, 2004 

Mr. PAYNE (for himself, Mr. CASTLE, Mr. TOM DAVIS of Virginia, Mr. SCOTT

of Virginia, and Mr. WOLF) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To award posthumously a congressional gold medal to 

Thurgood Marshall. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 

4 Congress makes the following findings: 

5 (1) Thurgood Marshall, the grandson of a slave, 

6 was born in Baltimore, Maryland on July 2, 1908. 

7 (2) In his youth, Thurgood Marshall developed 

8 an interest in the Constitution and the rule of law. 

9 (3) Despite graduating from Lincoln University 

10 in Pennsylvania in 1930 with honors, Thurgood 
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1 Marshall was denied acceptance at the all-white Uni2 versity of Maryland Law School because he was an 

3 African American. 

4 (4) Thurgood Marshall instead attended law 

5 school at Howard University, the country’s most 

6 prominent black university, and graduated first in 

7 his class in 1933. 

8 (5) From 1940 to 1961, Thurgood Marshall 

9 served as the legal director of the National Associa10 tion for the Advancement of Colored People 

11 (NAACP). 

12 (6) Beginning with the case of Chambers v. 

13 Florida in 1940, Thurgood Marshall argued 32 cases 

14 before the Supreme Court and won 29 of them, 

15 earning more Supreme Court victories than any 

16 other individual. 

17 (7) Under the leadership of Thurgood Marshall, 

18 the NAACP fought to abolish segregation in schools 

19 and challenged laws that discriminated against Afri20 can Americans. 

21 (8) In 1954, Thurgood Marshall argued Brown 

22 v. Board of Education before the Supreme Court, a 

23 case which resulted in the famous decision that de24 clared racial segregation in public schools unconsti-
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1 tutional, overturning the 1896 decision in Plessy v. 

2 Ferguson. 

3 (9) In 1961, President John F. Kennedy ap4 pointed Thurgood Marshall to the United States 

5 Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit despite heavy 

6 opposition from many southern Senators. 

7 (10) Thurgood Marshall served on the United 

8 States Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit from 

9 1961–1965, during which time he wrote 112 opin10 ions, none of which was overturned on appeal. 

11 (11) In 1965, President Lyndon Johnson ap12 pointed Thurgood Marshall to the position of Solic13 itor General, a post he held from 1965–1967. 

14 (12) In 1967, President Johnson appointed 

15 Thurgood Marshall as the first African American 

16 Justice to serve on the Supreme Court. 

17 (13) During the 24 years he served on the Su18 preme Court, Thurgood Marshall promoted affirma19 tive action and sought protection for the rights of all 

20 Americans, continuing to support integration but 

21 also championing the rights of women, children, 

22 prisoners, and the homeless. 

23 (14) Thurgood Marshall died on January 24, 

24 1993 at the age of 84. 
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1 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

2 (a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of 

3 the House of Representatives and the President Pro Tem4 pore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements 

5 for the presentation, on behalf of Congress, of a gold 

6 medal of appropriate design, to the family of Thurgood 

7 Marshall, in recognition of the contributions of Thurgood 

8 Marshall to the Nation. 

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

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

11 of the Treasury (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Sec12 retary’’) shall strike a gold medal with suitable emblems, 

13 devices, and inscriptions to be determined by the Sec14 retary. 

15 SEC. 3. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

16 The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 

17 bronze of the gold medal struck pursuant to section 2 

18 under such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, at 

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

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

21 and the cost of the gold medal. 

22 SEC. 4. STATUS OF MEDALS. 

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

24 this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 51 

25 of title 31, United States Code. 
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1 (b) NUMISMATIC ITEMS.—For purposes of section 

2 5134 of title 31, Unites States Code, all medals struck 

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

4 SEC. 5. AUTHORITY TO USE FUND AMOUNTS; PROCEEDS OF 

5 SALE. 

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

7 authorized to be charged against the United States Mint 

8 Public Enterprise Fund such amounts as may be nec9 essary to pay for the costs of the medals struck pursuant 

10 to this Act. 

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

12 sale of duplicate bronze medals authorized under section 

13 3 shall be deposited into the United States Mint Public 

14 Enterprise Fund. 

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