II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 693 

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 

MARCH 10, 2015 

Mr. NELSON (for himself, Ms. COLLINS, Mr. SCHUMER, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, 

Mr. SCOTT, Mr. FRANKEN, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mrs. 

BOXER, and Mr. PETERS) 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: 


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1 (1) Lena Mary Calhoun Horne was born on 

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

3 of 16, Lena Horne was hired as a dancer in the cho4 rus of Harlem’s famous Cotton Club, where she was 

5 introduced to such legendary jazz performers as 

6 Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, Count Basie, Ethel 

7 Waters, and Billie Holiday. 

8 (2) In 1940, she became one of the first Afri9 can-American women to perform with an all-White 

10 band when she toured with Charlie Barnet’s jazz 

11 band as its featured singer. 

12 (3) She was discovered by a Metro-Goldwyn13 Mayer (MGM) talent scout and became the first Af14 rican-American artist to sign a long-term contract 

15 with a major film studio. 

16 (4) Despite her extraordinary beauty and tal17 ent, Lena Horne was often limited to minor acting 

18 roles because of her race. 

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

20 when they were sent to local distributors in the 

21 South and studio executives cast another actress as 

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

23 Lena Horne because they did not want the show to 

24 star an African-American actress. 


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1 (6) However, Lena Horne dazzled audiences 

2 and critics in a number of films, including ‘‘Cabin 

3 in the Sky’’ and ‘‘Stormy Weather’’ before ulti4 mately turning back to a more lucrative, inclusive 

5 career in show business, performing across the Na6 tion in nightclubs and on Broadway. 

7 (7) A strong supporter of American troops, dur8 ing World War II, Lena Horne toured extensively 

9 with the United Service Organizations (USO) on the 

10 West Coast and in the South. She expressed outrage 

11 about the way African-American soldiers were treat12 ed, firmly opposing segregation and discrimination. 

13 She was appalled to find that the military was im14 plementing such strong measures of separation 

15 based on race, and actively protested performing 

16 when she saw that German Prisoners of War 

17 (POWs) were seated ahead of Black servicemen. 

18 (8) In general, Lena refused to sing for seg19 regated audiences and made it a point to speak out 

20 on the issue when performing before her large 

21 crowds of mixed races. 

22 (9) During the period of McCarthyism in the 

23 1950s, Lena Horne was blacklisted as a Communist 

24 for 7 years because of her civil rights activism and 

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


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1 (10) In 1957, Lena Horne recorded Lena 

2 Horne at the Waldorf-Astoria, which reached the 

3 U.S. Billboard Top 10 and became the best-selling 

4 album by a female singer, regardless of race, in RCA 

5 Victor’s history. 

6 (11) Lena Horne rose to international stardom 

7 and toured the world, sharing the stage with such 

8 names as Count Basie, Tony Bennett, Billy 

9 Eckstine, Vic Damone, and Harry Belafonte, and 

10 also starred in musical and television specials with 

11 such giants as Judy Garland, Bing Crosby, and 

12 Frank Sinatra. 

13 (12) Throughout her life, Lena Horne used her 

14 fame to become a powerful voice for civil rights and 

15 equality. 

16 (13) In 1963, she participated in the historic 

17 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, at 

18 which Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., delivered his im19 mortal ‘‘I Have a Dream’’ speech. Lena had gained 

20 renown respect for her courage in maintaining a 

21 firm stake in the Civil Rights movement, and met 

22 President John F. Kennedy days before his death 

23 later that year. 

24 (14) Lena Horne also performed at rallies 

25 throughout the country for the National Council for 


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1 Negro Women and worked with the National Asso2 ciation for the Advancement of Colored People 

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

4 of 2, as well as the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. 

5 and National Urban League. 

6 (15) She would go on to play herself on such 

7 staple American shows as The Muppet Show, Ses8 ame Street, and Sanford and Son. 

9 (16) Through the end of the 20th century, 

10 Lena Horne continued to entertain large audiences 

11 of all ages, races, ethnicities and backgrounds. In 

12 1981, she captivated audiences with her one-woman 

13 Broadway show, ‘‘Lena Horne: The Lady and Her 

14 Music’’, which enjoyed a 14-month run before going 

15 on tour, and earned her a special Tony Award and 

16 two Grammy Awards. In the 1950s, Lena actually 

17 became the first woman to have been nominated for 

18 a Tony Award. 

19 (17) In 2002, 73 years after the Academy 

20 Awards were first awarded, Halle Berry became the 

21 first African-American woman to win an Oscar for 

22 Best Actress and recognized in her acceptance 

23 speech how Lena Horne paved the way for her and 

24 other African-American actresses. 


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1 (18) Lena Horne passed away in New York 

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

3 (19) 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 (20) 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 3, 

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. 

Æ 


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