I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4714 
To award a Congressional Gold Medal to Don and Deyon Stephens, Founders 
of Mercy Ships, in recognition of nearly 40 years of service as the 
leaders of a humanitarian relief organization that exemplifies the compas-
sionate character of America. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 21, 2017 
Mr. GOHMERT (for himself, Mr. BRADY of Texas, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHN-
SON of Texas, Mr. SMITH of Texas, Mr. BARTON, Mr. RATCLIFFE, Mr. 
CARTER of Texas, Mr. POE of Texas, Mr. BABIN, Mr. BURGESS, Mr. 
WEBER of Texas, Mr. MARCHANT, Mr. SESSIONS, Mr. FARENTHOLD, Mr. 
ARRINGTON, Mr. FLORES, Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas, Mr. AL GREEN 
of Texas, Mr. MCCAUL, Ms. GRANGER, Mr. WILLIAMS, Mr. CONAWAY, 
Mr. OLSON, Mr. HURD, Mr. THORNBERRY, Mr. CUELLAR, Ms. JACKSON 
LEE, Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas, and Mr. CULBERSON) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 
A BILL 
To award a Congressional Gold Medal to Don and Deyon 
Stephens, Founders of Mercy Ships, in recognition of 
nearly 40 years of service as the leaders of a humani-
tarian relief organization that exemplifies the compas-
sionate character of America. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds the following: 
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(1) Mercy Ships was founded in 1978 and has 
worked in more than 70 countries, providing services 
valued at more than $1.3 billion, treating more than 
2.56 million direct beneficiaries. 
(2) Mercy Ships owns and operates the world’s 
largest private hospital ship, the Africa Mercy that 
has five state-of-the-art operating rooms and ward 
bed space for 82 patients. 
(3) Mercy Ships vessels are staffed by profes-
sional volunteer crew including surgeons, nurses, 
doctors, dentists, cooks, engineers, agriculturalists, 
teachers, and others. 
(4) Mercy Ships has performed more than 
82,000 life-changing or life-saving operations such 
as cleft lip and palate repair, cataract removal, or-
thopedic procedures, facial reconstruction, obstetric 
fistula repair, and tumor removal. 
(5) Mercy Ships has treated over 147,000 den-
tal patients including over 390,000 dental proce-
dures. 
(6) Mercy Ships has trained more than 5,900 
local professionals (including surgeons) who have in 
turn trained many others. 
(7) Mercy Ships has trained over 38,100 local 
professionals in their area of expertise including an-
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esthesiology, midwifery, sterilization, orthopedic and 
reconstructive surgery, and leadership, thereby in-
creasing medical capacity in the host nation. 
(8) Mercy Ships has taught over 198,000 local 
people in basic health care. 
(9) Mercy Ships has completed over 1,100 in-
frastructure development projects focusing on water 
and sanitation education, agriculture and construc-
tion projects which improve local health care delivery 
systems. 
(10) Annually, Mercy Ships has over 1,600 vol-
unteers who help in locations around the world, 900 
of which serve in Africa. At any given time, there 
are more than 400 crew from 40 nations onboard 
the Africa Mercy. 
(11) The Africa Mercy alone has had over 
4,900 crew from 74 countries serve onboard since its 
inception in 2007. In addition, more than 950 local 
Day Workers from 12 different countries have 
served alongside since it first docked in Africa. 
(12) Mercy Ships has served some of the 
world’s poorest populations and completed over 589 
port visits in 55 developing nations and 18 developed 
nations for a total of 73 nations including: Aus-
tralia, Bahamas, Benin, Belgium, Belize, Brazil, 
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Canada, China, Congo Brazzaville, Columbia, Cuba, 
Denmark, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Esto-
nia, Faroe Islands, Fiji, France, Gabon, The Gam-
bia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, 
Guinea (West Africa), Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, 
Haiti, Honduras, Italy, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, 
Korea, Latvia, Liberia, Lithuania, Madagascar, 
Malta, Mexico, Montserrat, The Netherlands, New 
Caledonia, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Pan-
ama, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Poland, Rus-
sia, Samoa, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, 
South Africa, Spain, St. Eustatius (NL), St. Kitts, 
St. Thomas, St. Vincent, Sweden, Tahiti, Togo, 
Tonga, Trinidad, the United Kingdom, the United 
States, and Vanuatu. 
(13) Through the years, Mercy Ships has had 
four hospital ships that have served in some of the 
poorest ports in the world. Those include: 
(A) The 16,500-ton Africa Mercy is the 
world’s largest nongovernmental hospital ship 
and is dedicated to the continent of Africa. 
(B) The 522-foot Anastasis was the flag 
ship, and completed her first relief mission in 
1982 to Guatemala. Her crew of 400 worked in 
Africa until she was decommissioned in 2007. 
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(C) Acquired in 1994, the 265-foot Carib-
bean Mercy with her crew of 150 focused on the 
Caribbean basin and Central America with its 
Eye Surgery Unit. The ship was sold in 2006. 
(D) Donated in 1983, the 172-foot Good 
Samaritan served the Caribbean, Central and 
South America for 11 years with a crew of 60. 
Renamed the Island Mercy, she was redeployed 
to the South Pacific in 1994 and served there 
until sold in 2001. 
(E) Mercy Ships is currently building a 
new hospital ship to serve Africa’s most needy 
for the next 50 years with delivery expected in 
2018. The new vessel, larger than the Africa 
Mercy, will assume the title of world’s largest 
private hospital ship with increased capacity 
building and a focus on healthcare training. It 
will also further the commitment of Mercy 
Ships to provide and promote through teaching, 
safe surgery globally as demonstrated by their 
membership in the G4 Alliance. 
(14) Mercy Ships has hosted Presidents and 
other heads of state from many nations around the 
world onboard their hospital ships who commended 
the free health care provided to their people. 
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