I 
113TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2939 
To award the Congressional Gold Medal to Shimon Peres. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
AUGUST 1, 2013 
Mr. KENNEDY (for himself and Mr. FRANKS of Arizona) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 
A BILL 
To award the Congressional Gold Medal to Shimon Peres. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 
Congress makes the following findings: 
(1) Shimon Peres was born in Poland in 1923. 
(2) The Peres family emigrated to Tel Aviv in 
1934, and all of the family members of Shimon 
Peres who remained in Poland were murdered dur-
ing the Holocaust. 
(3) Before Israel gained independence, Shimon 
Peres earned the respect of senior leaders in the 
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independence movement in Israel, most notably 
David Ben-Gurion. 
(4) The founding generation of Israel was cen-
tral to the development of Israel, and Shimon Peres 
is the only surviving member of that founding gen-
eration. 
(5) Shimon Peres has served in numerous high- 
level cabinet positions and ministerial posts in Israel, 
including head of the Israeli Navy, Minister of De-
fense, Foreign Minister, Prime Minister, and Presi-
dent, among many others. 
(6) Shimon Peres has honorably served Israel 
for over 70 years, during which he has significantly 
contributed to United States interests and has 
played a pivotal role in forging the strong and un-
breakable bond between the United States and 
Israel. 
(7) By presenting the Congressional Gold 
Medal to Shimon Peres, the first to be awarded to 
a sitting President of Israel, Congress proclaims its 
unbreakable bond with Israel and reaffirms its con-
tinual support for Israel as we commemorate the 
65th anniversary of the independence of Israel and 
the 90th birthday of Shimon Peres, which are both 
significant milestones in Israeli history. 
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(8) Maintaining strong bilateral relations be-
tween the United States and Israel has been a pri-
ority of Shimon Peres since he began working with 
the United States in the days of John F. Kennedy. 
The strong bond is exemplified by the following: 
(A) President Reagan said to Shimon 
Peres upon his visit to the United States, ‘‘Mr. 
Prime Minister, I thank you very much for your 
visit. It’s been an occasion to renew a friend-
ship and to review and enhance the strength of 
our unique bilateral relationship.’’. 
(B) At another point President Reagan 
said of Shimon Peres, ‘‘His vision, his states-
manship and his tenacity are greatly appre-
ciated here.’’. 
(C) While visiting with Shimon Peres at 
the Residence of the President in Jerusalem, 
President Obama described Shimon Peres as 
‘‘. . . a son of Israel who’s devoted his life to 
keeping Israel strong and sustaining the bonds 
between our two nations’’. 
(D) On March 20, 2013, Shimon Peres re-
affirmed his belief in the relationship between 
the United States and Israel, stating, ‘‘America 
stood by our side from the very beginning. You 
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support us as we rebuild our ancient homeland 
and as we defend our land. From Holocaust to 
redemption.’’. 
(E) On March 21, 2013, Shimon Peres 
stated, ‘‘. . . America is so great and we are so 
small. But I learned that you don’t measure us 
by size, but by values. When it comes to values, 
we are you and you are us . . . As I look back, 
I feel that the Israel of today has exceeded the 
vision we had 65 years ago. Reality has sur-
passed our dreams. The United States of Amer-
ica helped us to make this possible.’’. 
SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 
(a) AWARD AUTHORIZED.—The President pro tem-
pore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Rep-
resentatives shall make appropriate arrangements for the 
award, on behalf of Congress, of a single gold medal of 
appropriate design in honor of President Shimon Peres. 
(b) DESIGN AND STRIKING.—For the purpose of the 
award referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary of the 
Treasury shall strike a gold medal with suitable emblems, 
devices, and inscriptions to be determined by the Sec-
retary. 
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SEC. 3. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 
Under such regulations as the Secretary of the Treas-
ury may prescribe, the Secretary may strike duplicate 
medals in bronze of the gold medal struck pursuant to 
section 2 and sell such duplicate medals at a price suffi-
cient to cover the costs of the medals, including labor, ma-
terials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses. 
SEC. 4. NATIONAL MEDALS. 
Medals struck pursuant to this Act are national med-
als for purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United States 
Code. 
SEC. 5. AUTHORITY TO USE FUND AMOUNTS; PROCEEDS OF 
SALE. 
(a) AUTHORIZATION OF CHARGES.—There is author-
ized to be charged against the United States Mint Public 
Enterprise Fund, such amounts as may be necessary 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 under section 3 shall be 
deposited in the United States Mint Public Enterprise 
Fund. 
Æ 
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