I 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1484 
To award a Congressional Gold Medal to Rabbi Arthur Schneier in recognition 
of his pioneering role in promoting religious freedom and human rights 
throughout the world, for close to half a century. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 12, 2009 
Mrs. MALONEY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Financial Services 
A BILL 
To award a Congressional Gold Medal to Rabbi Arthur 
Schneier in recognition of his pioneering role in pro-
moting religious freedom and human rights throughout 
the world, for close to half a century. 
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 ‘‘Rabbi Arthur Schneier 
Congressional Gold Medal Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds as follows: 
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(1) Rabbi Arthur Schneier, Spiritual Leader of 
Park East Synagogue and Founder and President, 
Appeal of Conscience Foundation, has played a pio-
neering role in promoting religious freedom and 
human rights throughout the world, for close to half 
a century. 
(2) The President of the United States awarded 
him the Presidential Citizens Medal for ‘‘his service 
as an international envoy for four administrations’’ 
and as a Holocaust survivor, ‘‘devoting a lifetime to 
overcoming forces of hatred and intolerance’’. 
(3) He received the United States Department 
of State Special Recognition Award from Secretary 
Colin Powell for ‘‘. . . his ecumenical work in favor 
of mutual understanding, tolerance and peace . . .’’. 
(4) In China in 2004, he headed an interfaith 
Appeal of Conscience Foundation delegation which 
met with government officials on behalf of religious 
freedom and strengthened exchanges between reli-
gious communities in China and the United States. 
(5) He has regularly led delegations of religious 
leaders to China since the early 1980s. 
(6) In the Former Soviet Union, Rabbi 
Schneier was, in 2004, the keynote speaker at the 
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Interreligious Conference on Peace hosted by Patri-
arch Aleksey II. 
(7) In Armenia in 2002, he held meetings with 
the Catholics and government leaders to help ease 
tensions between Armenia and Turkey. 
(8) In Yugoslavia, he convened the Religious 
Summit on the Former Yugoslavia in Switzerland 
and the Conflict Resolution Conference in Vienna, 
mobilizing religious leaders to halt the bloodshed in 
former Yugoslavia (1992, 1995). 
(9) In the Balkans, Caucasus, and Central 
Asia, he initiated the Peace and Tolerance Con-
ference in Istanbul, Turkey, in cooperation with the 
Turkish Government and the Ecumenical Patriarch 
Bartholomew I (1994). 
(10) In Bosnia-Herzegovina, he met with top 
government and religious leaders in Sarajevo to pro-
mote healing and conciliation between the Serbian 
Orthodox, Muslim, Catholic, and Jewish commu-
nities (1997). 
(11) Rabbi Schneier initiated the interfaith ap-
peal to the United Nations for the worldwide protec-
tion of holy sites, which was adopted by the United 
Nations General Assembly in May 2001 as the reso-
lution for the ‘‘Protection of Religious Sites’’. 
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(12) In 1980, he initiated the Annual Seminar 
on Religious Life to educate Foreign Service officers 
in the religious traditions of the countries of their 
assignment. 
(13) The Foreign Service Institute honored him 
in 2001 for ‘‘20 years of excellent cooperation in 
furthering the objective of religious freedom’’. 
(14) He has been very active in humanitarian 
missions, such as mobilizing the American religious 
community in support for the victims of the Arme-
nian and Turkish earthquakes. 
(15) A United States Alternate Representative 
to the United Nations General Assembly and Chair-
man of the United States Commission for the Pres-
ervation of America’s Heritage Abroad, he was one 
of 3 American religious leaders appointed by the 
President of the United States to start the first dia-
logue on religious freedom with President Jiang 
Zemin and other top Chinese leaders (1998). 
(16) He was a United States delegate to the 
Stockholm International Forum for the Prevention 
of Genocide (2004). 
(17) Born in Vienna, Austria, in 1930, Rabbi 
Schneier lived under Nazi occupation in Budapest 
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during World War II and arrived in the United 
States in 1947. 
(18) He holds the Ordination and Doctor of Di-
vinity Degree from Yeshiva University. 
(19) In 2004, Yeshiva University honored him 
by establishing the Rabbi Arthur Schneier Center 
for International Affairs. 
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 presentation, on behalf of the Congress, of a gold 
medal of appropriate design to Rabbi Arthur Schneier in 
recognition of his pioneering role in promoting religious 
freedom and human rights throughout the world, for close 
to half a century. 
(b) DESIGN AND STRIKING.—For purposes of the 
presentation referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary 
of the Treasury (hereafter in this Act referred to as the 
‘‘Secretary’’) shall strike a gold medal with suitable em-
blems, devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the 
Secretary. 
SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 
The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 
bronze of the gold medal struck pursuant to section 3 
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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. 5. 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. 6. 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 medal struck pursuant 
to this Act. 
(b) PROCEEDS OF SALE.—Amounts received from the 
sale of duplicate bronze medals authorized under section 
4 shall be deposited into the United States Mint Public 
Enterprise Fund. 
Æ 
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