I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2648 

To authorize the President to award a gold medal on behalf of Congress 

to Muhammad Ali in recognition of his contributions to the Nation. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 2, 2009 

Mr. CARSON of Indiana (for himself, Mr. PASCRELL, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. 

CUMMINGS, Mr. MEEKS of New York, Ms. NORTON, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. PAYNE, Ms. FUDGE, Mrs. CHRISTENSEN, Mr. FATTAH, Mr. AL

GREEN of Texas, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, 

Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, 

Ms. WATSON, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. DAVIS

of Alabama, Mr. HONDA, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Mr. BACA, Ms. 

CORRINE BROWN of Florida, Mr. MCGOVERN, and Ms. KILPATRICK of 

Michigan) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To authorize the President to award a gold medal on behalf 

of Congress to Muhammad Ali in recognition of his contributions 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. FINDINGS. 

4 Congress finds the following: 

5 (1) Born Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr., on Janu6 ary 17, 1942, in Louisville, Kentucky, Muhammad 


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1 Ali was the first child of Cassius, Sr. and Odessa 

2 Clay. 

3 (2) Muhammad Ali is one of the most cele4 brated athletes of the 20th century. He has pro5 duced some of America’s greatest sports memories, 

6 from winning a gold medal at the 1960 Summer 

7 Olympics to lighting the Olympic torch at the 1996 

8 Summer Olympics. 

9 (3) After an impressive amateur career, during 

10 which he recorded 131 wins and only 7 losses and 

11 won 2 National AAU light heavyweight titles, Mu12 hammad Ali became the first professional boxer in 

13 history to capture the heavyweight title 3 separate 

14 times. 

15 (4) Muhammad Ali defeated every challenger he 

16 faced in the ring. But on April 28, 1967, he was 

17 stripped of his boxing title and barred from com18 peting for being a conscientious objector to the war 

19 in Vietnam on religious and moral grounds. How20 ever, following a unanimous United States Supreme 

21 Court decision in 1971, Muhammad Ali’s conscien22 tious objector status was confirmed, his boxing li23 cense was reinstated, and he was cleared of any 

24 wrong doing. 


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1 (5) As an African-American and a Muslim liv2 ing in an era that continued to question his civil 

3 rights, Muhammad Ali battled issues of race and re4 ligion, and has received recognition as one of the 

5 champions of the Civil Rights Movement in the 

6 United States. 

7 (6) Muhammad Ali is the recipient of many 

8 awards for his sporting prowess and his support of 

9 racial harmony, including the Dr. Martin Luther 

10 King Memorial Award, the Spirit of America Award, 

11 the Amnesty International Lifetime Achievement 

12 Award, the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage, the Es13 sence Living Legend Award, the Rainbow Coalition 

14 Lifetime Achievement Award, the XNBA Human 

15 Spirit Award, the Presidential Citizens Medal, and 

16 the Presidential Medal of Freedom. 

17 (7) Muhammad Ali has been acknowledged by 

18 many organizations for his achievements both inside 

19 and outside the boxing ring, including being crowned 

20 ‘‘Sportsman of the Century’’ by Sports Illustrated, 

21 being named ‘‘Athlete of the Century’’ by GQ maga22 zine, being named ‘‘Sports Personality of the Cen23 tury’’ by the British Broadcasting Corporation, 

24 being named ‘‘Kentucky Athlete of the Century’’ by 

25 the Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame, being named 


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1 ‘‘Kentuckian of the Century’’ by the State of Ken2 tucky, being named ‘‘Louisvillian of the Century’’ by 

3 the Advertising Club of Louisville, being named 

4 ‘‘Boxer of the Century’’ by the World Sports Awards 

5 of the Century, being recognized by the Inter6 national Boxing Hall of Fame, and receiving hon7 orary doctorate degrees from Muhlenberg College 

8 and Western Kentucky University, as well as an 

9 honorary doctorate of humanities at Princeton Uni10 versity’s 260th graduation ceremony. 

11 (8) Muhammad Ali received the prestigious 

12 ‘‘Otto Hahn Peace Medal in Gold’’ from the United 

13 Nations Association of Germany for his work with 

14 the United Nations and the Civil Rights Movement 

15 in the United States. 

16 (9) Muhammad Ali was selected by the Cali17 fornia Bicentennial Foundation for the U.S. Con18 stitution to personify the vitality of the Bill of 

19 Rights in various high-profile activities. 

20 (10) Despite having been diagnosed with Par21 kinson’s Syndrome in the early 1980s, Muhammad 

22 Ali has dedicated his life to the cause of universal 

23 human rights and freedom. His commitment to 

24 equal justice and peace has touched the lives of hun25 dreds of thousands of people worldwide. 


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1 (11) President Jimmy Carter asked Muhammad 

2 Ali to meet with African leaders in Tanzania, Kenya, 

3 Nigeria, Liberia, and Senegal as part of President 

4 Carter’s diplomatic efforts on behalf of human rights 

5 in the 1980s. 

6 (12) In 1990, Muhammad Ali traveled to the 

7 Middle East to seek the release of American and 

8 British hostages that were being held as human 

9 shields in the first Gulf War. As a result of his 

10 intervention, 15 United States hostages were freed 

11 on December 2nd. 

12 (13) Muhammad Ali was chosen as the ‘‘U.N. 

13 Messenger of Peace’’ in 1998. 

14 (14) Several Presidents of the United States 

15 have recognized Muhammad Ali, including President 

16 George W. Bush who, on November 17, 2002, called 

17 him ‘‘a man of peace’’ and stated that ‘‘across the 

18 world, billions of people know Muhammad Ali as a 

19 brave, compassionate, and charming man, and the 

20 American people are proud to call Muhammad Ali 

21 one of our own’’, President Bill Clinton who stated 

22 that Muhammad Ali ‘‘captured the world’s imagina23 tion and its heart. Outside the ring, Muhammad Ali 

24 has dedicated his life to working for children, feed25 ing the hungry, supporting his faith, and standing 


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1 up for racial equality. He has always fought for a 

2 just and more humane world, breaking down bar3 riers here in America and around the world. There 

4 are no telling how many tens of millions of people 

5 had their hearts swell with pride and their eyes swell 

6 with tears in 1996 when Muhammad Ali lit the 

7 Olympic torch, because we know, now and forever, 

8 he is the greatest’’, President Jimmy Carter who 

9 cited Muhammad Ali as ‘‘Mr. International Friend10 ship’’, and President Barack Obama who, as a Sen11 ator, had a framed picture of Muhammad Ali hang12 ing in his office, and before announcing his inten13 tions to run for President, Obama visited with Mu14 hammad Ali at the Ali Center in Louisville, Ken15 tucky. 

16 (15) Muhammad Ali continues to encourage hu17 manity through his perseverance and the support of 

18 thousands of people. He has helped such organiza19 tions as the Chicago-based adoption agency, The 

20 Cradle; the Make-A-Wish Foundation; the Special 

21 Olympics’ organization, Best Buddies; and Herbert 

22 E. Birch Services, an organization that runs a 

23 school for handicapped children and young adults, in 

24 addition to a summer camp for children infected 

25 with AIDS. 


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1 (16) Muhammad Ali and his wife Lonnie are 

2 founding directors of the Muhammad Ali Parkinson 

3 Center in Phoenix, Arizona, and have helped raise 

4 over $50 million for Parkinson’s research. The Cen5 ter’s mission is to provide excellence in treatment, 

6 research, and education for patients and families af7 fected by Parkinson’s disease and other movement 

8 disorders, regardless of ability to pay. 

9 (17) Muhammad Ali is an inspiration to count10 less individuals with Parkinson’s disease, including 

11 members of the Rock Steady Boxing Foundation in 

12 Indianapolis, Indiana, which was founded to give 

13 people with Parkinson’s disease hope by improving 

14 their quality of life using boxing for fitness. 

15 (18) Muhammad Ali is one of the founding 

16 members of Athletes for Hope, an organization cre17 ated by a few very successful athletes of exemplary 

18 character who have a deep commitment to charitable 

19 and community causes. 

20 (19) Muhammad Ali also established the Mu21 hammad Ali Center in his hometown of Louisville, 

22 Kentucky, which promotes respect, hope, and under23 standing, and inspires people everywhere to be as 

24 great as they can be. A visitor of the Muhammad Ali 

25 Center experiences the ‘‘hows’’ of Ali’s life: how he 


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1 found the courage, the dedication, and the discipline 

2 to become who he is today; how he found the convic3 tion to stand up for what he believed; and how he 

4 turned his passion for excellence in the ring to a 

5 passion for peace on the world stage. 

6 (20) Like Muhammad Ali himself, the Muham7 mad Ali Center focuses on what brings individuals 

8 together, not what sets them apart, and is a ‘‘global 

9 gathering place’’ to which people can come, both on10 line and in person, to learn, share, and celebrate our 

11 commonalities as human beings and to formulate 

12 ways of advancing humanity. 

13 (21) Muhammad Ali has helped to provide more 

14 than 22,000,000 aid packets to assist people in 

15 need, and until recently traveled, on average, more 

16 than 200 days per year for humanitarian causes. 

17 (22) Muhammad Ali, known simply as ‘‘the 

18 greatest’’, has transcended the glamour and glory of 

19 being a sports champion to become not only one of 

20 the greatest sports figures, but one of the greatest 

21 role models of our time. 

22 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

23 (a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of 

24 the House of Representatives and the President Pro Tem25 pore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements 


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

2 medal of appropriate design, to Muhammad Ali in recogni3 tion of his contributions to the Nation. 

4 (b) DESIGN AND STRIKING.—For the purpose of the 

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

6 of the Treasury (hereinafter in this Act referred to as the 

7 ‘‘Secretary’’) shall strike a gold medal with suitable em8 blems, devices, and inscriptions to be determined by the 

9 Secretary. 

10 SEC. 3. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

11 Under such regulations as the Secretary may pre12 scribe, the Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 

13 bronze of the gold medal struck pursuant to section 2 at 

14 a price sufficient to cover the cost of the bronze medals 

15 (including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, and 

16 overhead expenses) and the cost of the gold medal. 

17 SEC. 4. NATIONAL MEDALS. 

18 The medals struck under this Act are national medals 

19 for purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United States Code. 

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

21 SALE. 

22 (a) AUTHORIZATION TO USE FUND AMOUNTS.— 

23 There is authorized to be charged against the United 

24 States Mint Public Enterprise Fund, such amounts as 


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1 may be necessary to pay for the cost of the medals struck 

2 pursuant to this Act. 

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

4 sale of duplicate bronze medals under section 3 shall be 

5 deposited in the United States Mint Public Enterprise 

6 Fund. 

Æ 


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