I 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5955 
To posthumously award a Congressional gold medal to Muhammad Ali, in 
recognition of his contributions to the Nation. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 25, 2020 
Mr. CARSON of Indiana introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
the Committee on Financial Services 
A BILL 
To posthumously award a Congressional gold medal to Mu-
hammad Ali, in recognition of his contributions to the 
Nation. 
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 ‘‘Muhammad Ali Con-
gressional Gold Medal Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) Born Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr., on Janu-
ary 17, 1942, in Louisville, Kentucky, Muhammad 
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Ali was the first child of Cassius, Sr., and Odessa 
Clay. 
(2) Muhammad Ali was one of the most cele-
brated athletes of the 20th century. He produced 
some of America’s greatest sports memories, from 
winning a gold medal at the 1960 Summer Olympics 
to lighting the Olympic torch at the 1996 Summer 
Olympics. 
(3) After an impressive amateur career, during 
which he recorded 131 wins and only 7 losses and 
won 2 National AAU light heavyweight titles, Mu-
hammad Ali became the first professional boxer in 
history to capture the heavyweight title 3 separate 
times. 
(4) Muhammad Ali defeated every challenger he 
faced in the ring. But, on April 28, 1967, he was 
stripped of his boxing title and barred from com-
peting for being a conscientious objector to the war 
in Vietnam on religious and moral grounds. How-
ever, following a unanimous United States Supreme 
Court decision in 1971, Muhammad Ali’s conscien-
tious objector status was confirmed, his boxing li-
cense was reinstated, and he was cleared of any 
wrongdoing. 
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(5) As an African American and a Muslim who 
lived in an era that continued to question his civil 
rights, Muhammad Ali battled issues of race and re-
ligion, and received recognition as one of the cham-
pions of the Civil Rights Movement in the United 
States. 
(6) Muhammad Ali was the recipient of many 
awards for his sporting prowess and his support of 
racial harmony, including the Dr. Martin Luther 
King Memorial Award, the Spirit of America Award, 
the Amnesty International Lifetime Achievement 
Award, the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage, the Es-
sence Living Legend Award, the Rainbow Coalition 
Lifetime Achievement Award, the XNBA Human 
Spirit Award, the Presidential Citizens Medal, and 
the Presidential Medal of Freedom. 
(7) Muhammad Ali was acknowledged by many 
organizations for his achievements both inside and 
outside the boxing ring, including being crowned 
‘‘Sportsman of the Century’’ by Sports Illustrated, 
being named ‘‘Athlete of the Century’’ by GQ maga-
zine, being named ‘‘Sports Personality of the Cen-
tury’’ by the British Broadcasting Corporation, 
being named ‘‘Kentucky Athlete of the Century’’ by 
the Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame, being named 
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‘‘Kentuckian of the Century’’ by the State of Ken-
tucky, being named ‘‘Louisvillian of the Century’’ by 
the Advertising Club of Louisville, being named 
‘‘Boxer of the Century’’ by the World Sports Awards 
of the Century, being recognized by the Inter-
national Boxing Hall of Fame, and receiving hon-
orary doctorate degrees from Muhlenberg College 
and Western Kentucky University, as well as an 
honorary doctorate of humanities at Princeton Uni-
versity’s 260th graduation ceremony. 
(8) Muhammad Ali received the prestigious 
‘‘Otto Hahn Peace Medal in Gold’’ from the United 
Nations Association of Germany for his work with 
the United Nations and the Civil Rights Movement 
in the United States. 
(9) Muhammad Ali was selected by the Cali-
fornia Bicentennial Foundation for the U.S. Con-
stitution for personifying the vitality of the Bill of 
Rights in various high-profile activities. 
(10) Despite having been diagnosed with Par-
kinson’s Syndrome in the early 1980s, Muhammad 
Ali dedicated his life to the cause of universal 
human rights and freedom. His commitment to 
equal justice and peace touched the lives of hundreds 
of thousands of people worldwide. 
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(11) President Jimmy Carter asked Muhammad 
Ali to meet with African leaders in Tanzania, Kenya, 
Nigeria, Liberia, and Senegal as part of President 
Carter’s diplomatic efforts on behalf of human rights 
in the 1980s. 
(12) In 1990, Muhammad Ali traveled to the 
Middle East to seek the release of American and 
British hostages that were being held as human 
shields in the first Gulf War. As a result of his 
intervention, 15 United States hostages were freed 
on December 2nd of that year. 
(13) In 1998, Muhammad Ali was chosen as 
the ‘‘U.N. Messenger of Peace’’. 
(14) Several Presidents of the United States 
recognized Muhammad Ali, including President 
George W. Bush who, on November 17, 2002, called 
him ‘‘a man of peace’’ and stated that ‘‘across the 
world, billions of people know Muhammad Ali as a 
brave, compassionate, and charming man, and the 
American people are proud to call Muhammad Ali 
one of our own’’, President Bill Clinton who stated 
that Muhammad Ali ‘‘captured the world’s imagina-
tion and its heart. Outside the ring, Muhammad Ali 
has dedicated his life to working for children, feed-
ing the hungry, supporting his faith, and standing 
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up for racial equality. He always fought for a just 
and more humane world, breaking down barriers 
here in America and around the world. There is no 
telling how many tens of millions of people had their 
hearts swell with pride and their eyes swell with 
tears in 1996 when Muhammad Ali lit the Olympic 
torch, because we know, now and forever, he is the 
greatest’’, President Jimmy Carter who cited Mu-
hammad Ali as ‘‘Mr. International Friendship’’, and 
President Barack Obama who, as a Senator, had a 
framed picture of Muhammad Ali hanging in his of-
fice, and before announcing his intentions to run for 
President, Obama visited with Muhammad Ali at the 
Ali Center in Louisville, Kentucky. 
(15) Muhammad Ali encouraged humanity 
through his perseverance and the support of thou-
sands of people. He helped such organizations as the 
Chicago-based adoption agency, The Cradle; the 
Make-A-Wish Foundation; the Special Olympics’ or-
ganization, Best Buddies; and Herbert E. Birch 
Services, an organization that runs a school for 
handicapped children and young adults, in addition 
to a summer camp for children with AIDS. 
(16) Muhammad Ali and his wife Lonnie were 
the founding directors of the Muhammad Ali Par-
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kinson Center in Phoenix, Arizona, and helped raise 
over $50,000,000 for Parkinson’s research. The 
Center’s mission is to provide excellence in treat-
ment, research, and education for patients and fami-
lies affected by Parkinson’s disease and other move-
ment disorders, regardless of their ability to pay. 
(17) Muhammad Ali was an inspiration to 
countless individuals with Parkinson’s disease, in-
cluding members of the Rock Steady Boxing Foun-
dation in Indianapolis, Indiana, which was founded 
to give people with Parkinson’s disease hope by im-
proving their quality of life using boxing for fitness. 
(18) Muhammad Ali was one of the founding 
members of Athletes for Hope, an organization cre-
ated by a few very successful athletes of exemplary 
character who have a deep commitment to charitable 
and community causes. 
(19) Muhammad Ali also established the Mu-
hammad Ali Center in his hometown of Louisville, 
Kentucky, which promotes respect, hope, and under-
standing, and inspires people everywhere to be as 
great as they can be. A visitor of the Muhammad Ali 
Center experiences the ‘‘hows’’ of Ali’s life: How he 
found the courage, the dedication, and the discipline 
to become a world champion; how he found the con-
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viction to stand up for what he believed; and how he 
turned his passion for excellence in the ring to a 
passion for peace on the world stage. 
(20) Like Muhammad Ali himself, the Muham-
mad Ali Center focuses on what brings individuals 
together, not what sets them apart, and is a ‘‘global 
gathering place’’ to which people can come, both on-
line and in person, to learn, share, and celebrate our 
commonalities as human beings and to formulate 
ways of advancing humanity. 
(21) Muhammad Ali helped to provide more 
than 22,000,000 aid packets to assist people in 
need, and until the last years of his life, he traveled, 
on average, more than 200 days per year for human-
itarian causes. 
(22) Muhammad Ali, known simply as ‘‘the 
greatest,’’ transcended the glamour and glory of 
being a sports champion to become not only one of 
the greatest sports figures, but one of the greatest 
role models of our time. 
(23) On June 3, 2016, Muhammad Ali died at 
the age of 74. 
SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 
(a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of 
the House of Representatives and the President pro tem-
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pore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements 
for the presentation, on behalf of Congress, of a gold 
medal of appropriate design, to Muhammad Ali, in rec-
ognition of his contributions to the Nation. 
(b) DESIGN AND STRIKING.—For the purpose of the 
presentation referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary 
of the Treasury (hereinafter 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. 
(c) TRANSFER OF MEDAL AFTER PRESENTATION.— 
Following the presentation of the gold medal in honor of 
Muhammad Ali under subsection (a), the gold medal shall 
be given to his wife, Lonnie Ali. 
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 pursuant to section 3 at 
a price sufficient to cover the cost of the bronze medals 
(including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, and 
overhead expenses) and the cost of the gold medal. 
SEC. 5. NATIONAL MEDALS. 
The medals struck under this Act are national medals 
for purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United States Code. 
Æ 
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