I 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4082 

To award a congressional gold medal on behalf of Cesar E. Chavez in 

recognition of his service to the Nation. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 31, 2004 

Mr. BACA (for himself, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mr. ACEVEDO-VILA ́, Mr. ALEXANDER, Mr. BALLANCE, Mr. BECERRA, Mr. BELL, Ms. BERKLEY, Mr. 

BERMAN, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania, Mr. BROWN

of Ohio, Mrs. CAPPS, Mr. CAPUANO, Mr. CARDOZA, Ms. CARSON of Indiana, Mrs. CHRISTENSEN, Mr. CLAY, Mr. CLYBURN, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. 

CUMMINGS, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. DAVIS of Tennessee, Ms. 

DEGETTE, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. DOGGETT, Mr. DOOLEY of California, Mr. 

DOYLE, Mr. EMANUEL, Mr. ENGEL, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. EVANS, Mr. FARR, 

Mr. FILNER, Mr. FORD, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. FROST, Mr. 

GEPHARDT, Mr. GONZALEZ, Mr. GREEN of Texas, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. 

GUTIERREZ, Ms. HARMAN, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. HINOJOSA, Mr. 

HONDA, Mr. HOYER, Mr. INSLEE, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. JEFFERSON, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of 

Texas, Mr. KANJORSKI, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. KENNEDY of Rhode Island, 

Mr. KILDEE, Mr. KIND, Mr. KUCINICH, Mr. LAMPSON, Mr. LANTOS, Ms. 

LEE, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. MARSHALL, Mr. MATSUI, Ms. MCCARTHY of Missouri, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. MEEKS of New 

York, Mr. MENENDEZ, Ms. MILLENDER-MCDONALD, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, Mr. MOORE, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Mrs. 

NAPOLITANO, Ms. NORTON, Mr. ORTIZ, Mr. OWENS, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. 

PASCRELL, Mr. PASTOR, Mr. PAYNE, Ms. PELOSI, Mr. POMEROY, Mr. 

RAHALL, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. REYES, Mr. RODRIGUEZ, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. RYAN of Ohio, Mr. SABO, Ms. LINDA T. SA ́NCHEZ of California, Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California, Mr. SANDLIN, Ms. 

SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Mr. SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. SHERMAN, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Ms. SOLIS, Mrs. 

TAUSCHER, Mr. THOMPSON of California, Mr. TIERNEY, Mrs. JONES of 

Ohio, Mr. UDALL of Colorado, Mr. UDALL of New Mexico, Ms. 

VELA ́ZQUEZ, Ms. WATERS, Ms. WATSON, Mr. WAXMAN, Mr. WEINER, 

Mr. WU, Mrs. WILSON of New Mexico, Mrs. DAVIS of California, and Mr. 

FATTAH) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 
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•HR 4082 IH 

A BILL 

To award a congressional gold medal on behalf of Cesar 

E. Chavez in recognition of his service to the Nation. 

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 ‘‘Cesar E. Chavez Con5 gressional Gold Medal Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) Cesar E. Chavez was born March 31, 1927, 

9 on a small farm near Yuma, Arizona, and died on 

10 April 23, 1993. 

11 (2) Numerous holidays, schools, parks, libraries, 

12 and other structures and events have been named 

13 after Cesar E. Chavez, in the United States and 

14 internationally, with many more planned. 

15 (3) Cesar E. Chavez was a recipient of the 

16 Martin Luther King Jr. Peace Prize during his life17 time and was awarded the Presidential Medal of 

18 Freedom on August 8, 1994. 

19 (4) Cesar E. Chavez was the grandson of a 

20 Mexican immigrant and settler and grew up working 

21 with migrant farm workers, picking grapes, melons, 

22 beans, and other crops at low wages and for long 
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•HR 4082 IH 

1 hours, during which time he developed a strong work 

2 ethic and respect for the farm workers his father 

3 called ‘‘the children of God’’. 

4 (5) At the age of 18, Cesar E. Chavez entered 

5 the United States Navy and served his country with 

6 distinction for 2 years. 

7 (6) As early as 1949, Cesar E. Chavez com8 mitted himself to organizing farm workers to cam9 paign for safe and fair working conditions, reason10 able wages, decent housing, and the outlawing of 

11 child labor. 

12 (7) In 1962, Cesar E. Chavez founded the Na13 tional Farm Workers Association, predecessor of the 

14 United Farm Workers of America, which brought 

15 hope to farm workers that they might one day real16 ize the basic protections and workers’ rights to 

17 which all Americans aspire. 

18 (8) Through his commitment to nonviolence, 

19 Cesar E. Chavez brought dignity and respect to the 

20 farm workers who organized themselves, and became 

21 an inspiration and a resource to other Americans 

22 and people engaged in human rights struggles 

23 throughout the world. 

24 (9) Cesar E. Chavez’s fasts and strikes gained 

25 national attention and made people aware of the 
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1 struggle of farm workers for better pay and safer 

2 working conditions. 

3 (10) Cesar E. Chavez was an advocate for non4 violence at a time when violence penetrated every 

5 level of our society; he used boycotts, pickets, 

6 strikes, and fasts to achieve his goals and went to 

7 jail for refusing to stop his boycott against lettuce 

8 growers. 

9 (11) Despite the killings and beatings of many 

10 workers, Chavez never wavered in his commitment to 

11 nonviolence. 

12 (12) Cesar E. Chavez and his family also dedi13 cated themselves to the education of farm workers’ 

14 children through migrant schools, and many of these 

15 children graduated and worked as teachers, doctors, 

16 or nurses or in other professional occupations. 

17 (13) The legacy of Cesar E. Chavez includes 

18 healthy working conditions that yield 

19 uncontaminated food for America’s tables. 

20 (14) Cesar E. Chavez’s influence extends far 

21 beyond agriculture and provides inspiration for those 

22 working to better human rights through his example 

23 of organizing voter registration drives in urban and 

24 farm areas, initiating complaints against mistreat25 ment by police and welfare officials, and empowering 
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1 workers to seek advancement in education and poli2 tics. 

3 (15) Cesar E. Chavez lived alongside his 

4 campesino brothers and sisters in humble sur5 roundings. 

6 (16) Upon his death in 1993, Cesar E. Chavez 

7 was laid to rest where he lived and worked for 23 

8 years on the grounds of the headquarters of the 

9 United Farm Workers of America, known as 

10 Nuestra Sen ̃ora de La Paz (Our Lady of Peace), lo11 cated in the Tehachapi Mountains at Keene, Cali12 fornia. 

13 (17) With faith, discipline, soft-spoken humility, 

14 and amazing inner strength, Cesar E. Chavez led a 

15 very courageous life. 

16 (18) Cesar E. Chavez’ words will always ring 

17 true in our country: Si se puede! Yes, we can! 

18 SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

19 (a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of 

20 the House of Representatives and the President Pro Tem21 pore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements 

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

23 medal of appropriate design to the next of kin or other 

24 personal representative of Cesar E. Chavez in recognition 

25 of his service to the Nation. 
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1 (b) DESIGN AND STRIKING.—For the purposes of the 

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

3 of the Treasury (hereafter in this Act referred to as the 

4 ‘‘Secretary’’) shall strike a gold medal with suitable em5 blems, devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the 

6 Secretary. 

7 SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

8 The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 

9 bronze of the gold medal struck pursuant to section 3 

10 under such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, 

11 and at a price sufficient to cover the costs thereof, includ12 ing labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead 

13 expenses, and the cost of the gold medal. 

14 SEC. 5. STATUS AS NATIONAL MEDALS. 

15 The medals struck pursuant to this Act are national 

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

17 States Code. 

18 SEC. 6. FUNDING. 

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

20 authorized to be charged against the United States Mint 

21 Public Enterprise Fund such an amount as may be nec22 essary to pay for the costs of the medals authorized by 

23 this Act. 

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

25 sale of duplicate bronze medals under section 4 shall be 
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1 deposited in the United States Mint Public Enterprise 

2 Fund. 

Æ