II 

Calendar No. 24 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 527 

To award a Congressional Gold Medal to the Foot Soldiers who participated 

in Bloody Sunday, Turnaround Tuesday, or the final Selma to Montgomery Voting Rights March in March of 1965, which served as a 

catalyst for the Voting Rights Act of 1965. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 12, 2015 

Mr. SESSIONS (for himself, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. SHELBY, Mr. SCHUMER, Mr. 

BLUNT, Ms. BALDWIN, Ms. COLLINS, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. DAINES, 

Mrs. BOXER, Mr. BURR, Mr. DONNELLY, Mr. DURBIN, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. FRANKEN, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. KAINE, Mr. 

LEAHY, Mr. MENENDEZ, Ms. MIKULSKI, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. NELSON, 

Mr. PETERS, Mr. SANDERS, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Ms. WARREN, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. ISAKSON, Mr. PORTMAN, Mr. CORKER, Mr. RUBIO, Mr. 

SASSE, Mr. JOHNSON, Mr. COTTON, Ms. MURKOWSKI, Mr. ALEXANDER, 

Mr. CRUZ, Mr. RISCH, Mr. WICKER, Ms. AYOTTE, Mr. BARRASSO, Mr. 

SCOTT, Mr. COATS, Mr. PERDUE, Mr. COCHRAN, Mr. HATCH, Mrs. CAPITO, Mr. HOEVEN, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. MURPHY, Mr. 

WYDEN, Mr. REID, Mr. CORNYN, Mr. THUNE, Mr. HEINRICH, Mr. 

SCHATZ, Mr. MCCONNELL, Mr. REED, Mr. INHOFE, Mr. COONS, Ms. 

STABENOW, Mr. BROWN, Mr. BENNET, Mr. CARDIN, Mrs. MCCASKILL, 

Mr. CASEY, Ms. HEITKAMP, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. WARNER, Mr. ROUNDS, 

Mr. HELLER, and Mrs. FISCHER) introduced the following bill; which was 

read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 

Urban Affairs 

FEBRUARY 24, 2015 

Reported by Mr. SHELBY, without amendment 


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•S 527 RS

A BILL 

To award a Congressional Gold Medal to the Foot Soldiers 

who participated in Bloody Sunday, Turnaround Tuesday, or the final Selma to Montgomery Voting Rights 

March in March of 1965, which served as a catalyst 

for the Voting Rights Act of 1965. 

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 The Congress finds the following: 

5 (1) March 7, 2015, will mark 50 years since the 

6 brave Foot Soldiers of the Voting Rights Movement 

7 first attempted to march from Selma to Montgomery 

8 on ‘‘Bloody Sunday’’ in protest against the denial of 

9 their right to vote, and were brutally assaulted by 

10 Alabama state troopers. 

11 (2) Beginning in 1964, members of the Student 

12 Nonviolent Coordinating Committee attempted to 

13 register African-Americans to vote throughout the 

14 state of Alabama. 

15 (3) These efforts were designed to ensure that 

16 every American citizen would be able to exercise 

17 their constitutional right to vote and have their 

18 voices heard. 

19 (4) By December of 1964, many of these efforts 

20 remained unsuccessful. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., 


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1 working with leaders from the Student Nonviolent 

2 Coordinating Committee and the Southern Christian 

3 Leadership Conference, began to organize protests 

4 throughout Alabama. 

5 (5) On March 7, 1965, over 500 voting rights 

6 marchers known as ‘‘Foot Soldiers’’ gathered on the 

7 Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama in peace8 ful protest of the denial of their most sacred and 

9 constitutionally protected right—the right to vote. 

10 (6) Led by John Lewis of the Student Non11 violent Coordinating Committee and Rev. Hosea 

12 Williams of the Southern Christian Leadership Con13 ference, these Foot Soldiers began the march to14 wards the Alabama State Capitol in Montgomery, 

15 Alabama. 

16 (7) As the Foot Soldiers crossed the Edmund 

17 Pettus Bridge, they were confronted by a wall of 

18 Alabama state troopers who brutally attacked and 

19 beat them. 

20 (8) Americans across the country witnessed this 

21 tragic turn of events as news stations broadcasted 

22 the brutality on a day that would be later known as 

23 ‘‘Bloody Sunday.’’ 

24 (9) Two days later on Tuesday, March 9, 1965, 

25 nearly 2,500 Foot Soldiers led by Dr. Martin Luther 


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1 King risked their lives once more and attempted a 

2 second peaceful march starting at the Edmund 

3 Pettus Bridge. This second attempted march was 

4 later known as ‘‘Turnaround Tuesday.’’ 

5 (10) Fearing for the safety of these Foot Sol6 diers who received no protection from federal or 

7 state authorities during this second march, Dr. King 

8 led the marchers to the base of the Edmund Pettus 

9 Bridge and stopped. Dr. King kneeled and offered a 

10 prayer of solidarity and walked back to the church. 

11 (11) President Lyndon B. Johnson, inspired by 

12 the bravery and determination of these Foot Soldiers 

13 and the atrocities they endured, announced his plan 

14 for a voting rights bill aimed at securing the pre15 cious right to vote for all citizens during an address 

16 to Congress on March 15, 1965. 

17 (12) On March 17, 1965, one week after 

18 ‘‘Turnaround Tuesday’’, U.S. District Judge Frank 

19 M. Johnson ruled the Foot Soldiers had a First 

20 Amendment right to petition the government 

21 through peaceful protest, and ordered federal agents 

22 to provide full protection to the Foot Soldiers during 

23 the Selma to Montgomery Voting Rights March. 


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1 (13) Judge Johnson’s decision overturned Ala2 bama Governor George Wallace’s prohibition on the 

3 protest due to public safety concerns. 

4 (14) On March 21, 1965, under the court 

5 order, the U.S. Army, the federalized Alabama Na6 tional Guard, and countless federal agents and mar7 shals escorted nearly 8,000 Foot Soldiers from the 

8 start of their heroic journey in Selma, Alabama to 

9 their safe arrival on the steps of the Alabama State 

10 Capitol Building on March 25, 1965. 

11 (15) The extraordinary bravery and sacrifice 

12 these Foot Soldiers displayed in pursuit of a peace13 ful march from Selma to Montgomery brought na14 tional attention to the struggle for equal voting 

15 rights, and served as the catalyst for Congress to 

16 pass the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which President 

17 Johnson signed into law on August 6, 1965. 

18 (16) To commemorate the 50th anniversary of 

19 the Voting Rights Movement and the passage of the 

20 Voting Rights Act of 1965, it is befitting that Con21 gress bestow the highest civilian honor, the Congres22 sional Gold Medal, in 2015, to the Foot Soldiers 

23 who participated in Bloody Sunday, Turnaround 

24 Tuesday or the final Selma to Montgomery Voting 


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1 Rights March during March of 1965, which served 

2 as a catalyst for the Voting Rights Act of 1965. 

3 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

4 (a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of 

5 the House of Representatives and the President Pro Tem6 pore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements 

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

8 medal of appropriate design to the Foot Soldiers who par9 ticipated in Bloody Sunday, Turnaround Tuesday, or the 

10 final Selma to Montgomery Voting Rights March during 

11 March of 1965, which served as a catalyst for the Voting 

12 Rights Act of 1965. 

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

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

15 of the Treasury (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Sec16 retary’’) shall strike a gold medal with suitable emblems, 

17 devices, and inscriptions to be determined by the Sec18 retary. 

19 (c) AWARD OF MEDAL.—Following the award of the 

20 gold medal described in subsection (a), the medal shall be 

21 given to the Selma Interpretative Center in Selma, Ala22 bama, where it shall be available for display or temporary 

23 loan to be displayed elsewhere, as appropriate. 


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1 SEC. 3. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

2 The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 

3 bronze of the gold medal struck pursuant to section 2 

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. 4. 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 sections 

13 5134 and 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all medals 

14 struck under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic 

15 items. 


asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
Calendar No. 24 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 527 

A BILL 

To award a Congressional Gold Medal to the Foot 

Rights Act of 1965. 1965, which served as a catalyst for the Voting Montgomery Voting Rights March in March of Turnaround Tuesday, or the final Selma to Soldiers who participated in Bloody Sunday, 

FEBRUARY 24, 2015 

Reported without amendment 


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