I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2970 

To award a Congressional Gold Medal in recognition of Alice Paul’s role 

in the women’s suffrage movement and in advancing equal rights for women. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 20, 2011 

Mr. BACA (for himself, Mr. ISRAEL, Mr. SERRANO, Ms. NORTON, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. BORDALLO, Mr. CONYERS, Ms. LEE of California, Ms. 

EDWARDS, Mr. ACKERMAN, Mrs. MCCARTHY of New York, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania, and Mr. RUNYAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To award a Congressional Gold Medal in recognition of Alice 

Paul’s role in the women’s suffrage movement and in 

advancing equal rights for women. 

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 ‘‘Alice Paul Women’s 

5 Suffrage Congressional Gold Medal Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds as follows: 


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1 (1) Alice Paul was born on January, 11, 1885, 

2 in Moorestown, New Jersey, and died on July 9, 

3 1977. 

4 (2) Alice Paul dedicated her life to securing suf5 frage and equal rights for all women and, as founder 

6 of the National Woman’s Party, she was instru7 mental in the passage of the 19th Amendment to the 

8 United States Constitution. 

9 (3) Alice Paul and the National Woman’s Party 

10 were the first group ever to picket the White House. 

11 (4) While President Woodrow Wilson trumpeted 

12 America’s values of democracy abroad during World 

13 War I, Alice Paul was dedicated to reminding the 

14 President that not all Americans enjoyed democracy 

15 at home. 

16 (5) Alice Paul used nonviolent civil disobedience 

17 to bring national attention to the women’s suffrage 

18 movement, such as the 3-week hunger strike she un19 dertook when she was sentenced to jail in October, 

20 1917, for her demonstrations. 

21 (6) Alice Paul’s courage inspired thousands of 

22 women to join the women’s suffrage movement. 

23 (7) Instead of patiently waiting for States to 

24 grant women suffrage, Alice Paul mobilized an en25 tire generation of women to pressure the United 


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1 States Congress and the President to give all women 

2 in America the right to vote. 

3 (8) Alice Paul did not stop her fight after the 

4 19th Amendment was ratified; she drafted the Equal 

5 Rights Amendment to the United States Constitu6 tion in 1923 and fought tirelessly for its passage 

7 until her death 54 years later. 

8 (9) Alice Paul lobbied Congress to include gen9 der in civil rights bills and was successful in includ10 ing sex discrimination in Title VII of the Civil 

11 Rights Act of 1964. 

12 (10) Alice Paul sought equal rights for women 

13 all over the world, not just Americans and, as a 

14 means of pursuing this goal, founded the World 

15 Party for Equal Rights for Women in the 1930s. 

16 (11) Alice Paul was instrumental in the place17 ment of a passage on gender equality in the pre18 amble of the United Nations Charter. 

19 (12) Few people have played a greater role in 

20 shaping the history of the United States than Alice 

21 Paul. 

22 (13) Alice Paul is an example to all Americans 

23 of what one person can do to make a difference for 

24 millions of people. 


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1 SEC. 3. 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 the Congress, of a gold 

6 medal of appropriate design in commemoration of Alice 

7 Paul, in recognition of her role in the women’s suffrage 

8 movement and in advancing equal rights for women. 

9 (b) PRESENTATION AND DISPLAY.—The medal re10 ferred to in subsection (a) shall be presented jointly to 

11 representatives of the Alice Paul Institute and the Sewall12 Belmont House, to be shared equally and displayed as ap13 propriate. 

14 (c) DESIGN AND STRIKING.—For purposes of the 

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

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

17 ‘‘Secretary’’) shall strike a gold medal with suitable em18 blems, devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the 

19 Secretary. 

20 SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

21 The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 

22 bronze of the gold medal struck pursuant to section 3 

23 under such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, at 

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

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

26 and the cost of the gold medal. 


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1 SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS. 

2 (a) NATIONAL MEDALS.—The medals struck pursu3 ant to this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 

4 51 of title 31, United States Code. 

5 (b) NUMISMATIC ITEMS.—For purposes of section 

6 5134 of title 31, United States Code, all medals struck 

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

8 SEC. 6. AUTHORITY TO USE FUND AMOUNTS; PROCEEDS OF 

9 SALE. 

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

11 authorized to be charged against the United States Mint 

12 Public Enterprise Fund, such amounts as may be nec13 essary to pay for the costs of the medals struck pursuant 

14 to this Act. 

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

16 sale of duplicate bronze medals authorized under section 

17 4 shall be deposited into the United States Mint Public 

18 Enterprise Fund. 

Æ 


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