I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3148
To award a congressional gold medal to Monsignor Ignatius McDermott 
in recognition of his contribution to the drug treatment community, 
and his accomplishments as a priest and humanitarian. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 23, 2003
Mr. DAVIS of Illinois (for himself, Mr. HASTERT, Mr. LAHOOD, and Mr. LI-
PINSKI) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Financial Services 
A BILL 
To award a congressional gold medal to Monsignor Ignatius 
McDermott in recognition of his contribution to the drug 
treatment community, and his accomplishments as a 
priest and humanitarian.
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: 
(1) Monsignor Ignatius McDermott is a man of 
unwavering faith, deep compassion, and tireless de-
votion to helping those who are among the most des-
perate and needy.
(2) In his own words, today’s world is over-
saturated with a surplus of starters and a famine of 
finishers: Monsignor McDermott is a finisher. 
(3) Monsignor McDermott, or ‘‘Father Mac’’ as 
he is affectionately referred to by everyone from the 
Governor of Illinois to the last wanderer from the 
street, grew up on Chicago’s South Side and was or-
dained in the priesthood in 1936. 
(4) From the start of his career, Father Mac 
found a calling in helping those plagued by depend-
ency on alcohol and drugs. 
(5) Inspired by experiences in his early work 
with children neglected due to alcohol abuse, and at 
a charity near a police ‘‘drunk tank’’, Father Mac 
sought not only to help those who could not help 
themselves, but to change the very system that had 
in many ways given up on them. 
(6) Working toward a solution, Father Mac 
founded the Addiction Counseling Education Serv-
ices in 1961, which provided counseling to alcoholics 
and other substance abusers who had no other 
means to get help. 
(7) Later, he would expand his work to the Chi-
cago schools system, where he developed an alcohol 
education curriculum and fostered Alternatives to
Expulsion, a program to help teachers salvage ad-
dicted teenagers who were willing to give up drink-
ing and drugs and resume their studies. 
(8) This program worked so well that it was in-
corporated into State of Illinois educational prac-
tices. 
(9) Father Mac’s work has had a lasting impact 
on the treatment community as a whole; in 1963, he 
founded the Central States Institute of Addiction, a 
nonprofit charitable organization providing instruc-
tion to social workers and counselors regarding ad-
diction and dependency. 
(10) This Institute is only one of numerous pro-
grams begun through his inspiration and dedication 
that continue to function to the benefit of many. 
(11) Father Mac’s lifelong concern for the 
homeless inebriate and for families split by alco-
holism has also met with matching public attitudes. 
(12) His work helped first bring to light the 
problems of drinking and driving, provide treatment 
services to pregnant mothers suffering from addic-
tion, and to decriminalize the public inebriate. 
(13) This latter breakthrough led to his cre-
ating the Chicago Clergy Association for the Home-
less Person, and the founding of Haymarket Center
at the age of 75, a time when most people are ready 
to retire. 
(14) Father Mac is now 94, and Haymarket 
Center is the largest drug abuse treatment center in 
the City of Chicago providing integrated treatment 
services for an average of 18,000 clients annually, 
and serving as a model for other treatment pro-
grams throughout the Nation. 
(15) As the Nation renews its commitment to 
addiction disorders, Father Mac continues what has 
become a lifelong pursuit of helping others raise 
themselves from the depths of their personal strug-
gles with addiction. 
SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 
(a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of 
the House of Representatives and the President Pro Tem-
pore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements 
for the presentation, on behalf of the Congress, of a gold 
medal of appropriate design, to Monsignor Ignatius 
McDermott, in recognition of his contribution to the drug 
treatment community, and his accomplishments as a 
priest and humanitarian. 
(b) DESIGN AND STRIKING.—For purposes of the 
presentation referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary 
of the Treasury (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Sec-
retary’’) shall strike a gold medal with suitable emblems, 
devices, and inscriptions to be determined by the Sec-
retary. 
SEC. 3. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 
The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 
bronze of the gold medal struck pursuant to section 2 
under such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, at 
a price sufficient to cover the cost thereof, including labor, 
materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses, 
and the cost of the gold medal. 
SEC. 4. STATUS OF MEDALS. 
(a) NATIONAL MEDALS.—The medals struck pursu-
ant to this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 
51 of title 31, United States Code. 
(b) NUMISMATIC ITEMS.—For purposes of section 
5134 of title 31, United States Code, all medals struck 
under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic items. 
SEC. 5. AUTHORITY TO USE FUND AMOUNTS; PROCEEDS OF 
SALE. 
(a) AUTHORITY TO USE FUND AMOUNTS.—There is 
authorized to be charged against the United States Mint 
Public Enterprise Fund such amounts as may be nec-
essary to pay for the costs of the medals struck pursuant 
to this Act.
(b) PROCEEDS OF SALE.—Amounts received from the 
sale of duplicate bronze medals authorized under section 
3 shall be deposited into the United States Mint Public 
Enterprise Fund.
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