I 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 8619 
To award posthumously the Congressional Gold Medal to Emmett Till and 
Mamie Till-Mobley. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 16, 2020 
Mr. RUSH (for himself and Mr. BACON) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to 
the Committee on House Administration, for a period to be subsequently 
determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provi-
sions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To award posthumously the Congressional Gold Medal to 
Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Emmett Till and 
Mamie Till-Mobley Congressional Gold Medal Act of 
2020’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
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(1) The brutal lynching of Emmett Till and the 
subsequent bravery and boldness of his mother, 
Mamie Till-Mobley, became a catalyst for the civil 
rights movement. 
(2) On August 28, 1955, 14 year old Emmett 
Till was kidnapped, beaten, and shot in Money, Mis-
sissippi, where he had traveled from Chicago to stay 
with his great uncle, Moses Wright. 
(3) The corpse of Emmett Till was discovered 
days later in the Tallahatchie River and his mur-
derers were acquitted despite Moses Wright pro-
viding an eyewitness testimony that the men on trial 
kidnapped Emmett Till. 
(4) Mamie Till-Mobley, the mother of Emmett 
Till, demonstrated her love for her son and her cour-
age and strength in suffering in the days that fol-
lowed as she brought the body of Emmett Till back 
to Chicago for burial and demanded an open casket 
funeral, which drew more than 50,000 attendees. 
(5) Mamie Till-Mobley further allowed a photo-
graph to be taken of Emmett Till in his casket, 
which was shown throughout the world. 
(6) The original casket of Emmett Till stands 
on display at the National Museum of African Amer-
ican History and Culture as an enduring reminder 
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of the racial violence that is a part of the history of 
the United States that the people of the United 
States must confront. 
(7) The heroic actions of Mamie Till-Mobley in 
the midst of evil, injustice, and grief became a cata-
lyst for the civil rights movement and continued in 
the years to come as she worked for justice and hon-
ored the legacy of Emmett Till. 
(8) Mamie Till-Mobley went on to create the 
Emmett Till Players, which was a significant na-
tional cultural contribution as teenagers traveled 
throughout the country presenting Martin Luther 
King Jr. speeches in the name of Emmett Till. 
(9) Mamie Till-Mobley also served as chair and 
co-founder of the Emmett Till Justice Campaign, 
which had the dual mission of reopening the murder 
of Emmett Till for a reinvestigation and a passage 
into law of Federal legislation to ensure that other 
racially motivated murders during the civil rights era 
were investigated and, when possible, prosecuted. 
(10) The efforts of the Emmett Till Justice 
Campaign led to the successful joint investigation by 
the State of Mississippi, the Federal Bureau of In-
vestigation, and the Department of Justice in 2004, 
the passage of the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil 
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Rights Crime Act of 2007 (Public Law 110–344; 
122 Stat. 3934), signed into law by President 
George W. Bush, and the Emmett Till Unsolved 
Civil Rights Crimes Reauthorization Act of 2016 
(Public Law 114–325; 130 Stat. 1965), signed into 
law by President Barack Obama. 
(11) The people of the United States honor the 
legacy of Emmett Till and the incredible suffering 
and equally incredible courage, resilience, and efforts 
of Mamie Till-Mobley that led to the civil rights 
movement that began in the 1950s. 
SEC. 3. 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 posthumous presentation, on behalf of Congress, 
of a gold medal of appropriate design in commemoration 
of Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley. 
(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. 
(c) AWARD OF MEDAL.— 
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(1) IN GENERAL.—After the award of the gold 
medal referred to in subsection (a), the gold medal 
shall be given to the National Museum of African 
American History and Culture, where it shall be dis-
played as appropriate. 
(2) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of 
Congress that the National Museum of African 
American History and Culture should make the gold 
medal received under paragraph (1) available for 
display elsewhere, particularly at other locations and 
events associated with Emmett Till and Mamie Till- 
Mobley. 
SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 
Under such regulations as the Secretary may pre-
scribe, the Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 
bronze of the gold medal struck under section 3, at a price 
sufficient to cover the costs of the medals, including labor, 
materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses. 
SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS. 
(a) NATIONAL MEDALS.—Medals struck under this 
Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 51 of title 
31, United States Code. 
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(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. 
Æ 
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