I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1365 
To award a congressional gold medal on behalf of Cesar E. Chavez in 
recognition of his service to the Nation. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 17, 2005 
Mr. BACA (for himself, Mr. BECERRA, Mr. CARDOZA, Mr. COSTA, Mr. 
CUELLAR, Mr. GONZALEZ, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr. 
HINOJOSA, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. ORTIZ, Mr. PASTOR, 
Mr. REYES, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. SALAZAR, Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ 
of California, Ms. LINDA T. SA´NCHEZ of California, Mr. SERRANO, Ms. 
SOLIS, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Mr. HONDA, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. DOGGETT, Mr. 
LANTOS, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. AL GREEN of Texas, Ms. LEE, Ms. WATERS, 
Mr. SCHIFF, Ms. WATSON, Ms. MILLENDER-MCDONALD, Mr. CASE, Mr. 
SANDERS, Mr. FARR, Mr. UDALL of New Mexico, Ms. ESHOO, Ms. 
SLAUGHTER, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. KIND, Mr. GEORGE 
MILLER of California, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Ms. 
MCCOLLUM of Minnesota, Mr. INSLEE, Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas, Mr. 
BUTTERFIELD, Mr. WEINER, Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California, Ms. CAR-
SON, Mr. SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Mr. SNYDER, Mrs. 
CHRISTENSEN, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, Ms. KAPTUR, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, 
Ms. DELAURO, Mr. OWENS, Mr. KUCINICH, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. MOORE 
of Kansas, Ms. DEGETTE, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mrs. CAPPS, Mr. TOWNS, 
Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. JEFFER-
SON, Mr. WAXMAN, Mr. MEEKS of New York, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. 
MCDERMOTT, Mrs. MCCARTHY, Mr. KENNEDY of Rhode Island, Ms. 
PELOSI, Mr. NADLER, Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA, Mr. HINCHEY, Ms. HARMAN, 
Ms. BORDALLO, Mr. PASCRELL, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mr. WYNN, 
Mr. KILDEE, Mr. MEEHAN, Mr. NEAL of Massachusetts, Mr. FRANK of 
Massachusetts, and Mr. UDALL of Colorado) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services
A BILL 
To award a congressional gold medal on behalf of Cesar 
E. Chavez in recognition of his service 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 ‘‘Cesar E. Chavez Con-
gressional Gold Medal Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds the following: 
(1) Cesar E. Chavez was born March 31, 1927, 
on a small farm near Yuma, Arizona, and died on 
April 23, 1993. 
(2) Numerous holidays, schools, parks, libraries, 
and other structures and events have been named 
after Cesar E. Chavez, in the United States and 
internationally, with many more planned. 
(3) Cesar E. Chavez was a recipient of the 
Martin Luther King Jr. Peace Prize during his life-
time and was awarded the Presidential Medal of 
Freedom on August 8, 1994. 
(4) Cesar E. Chavez was the grandson of a 
Mexican immigrant and settler and grew up working 
with migrant farm workers, picking grapes, melons, 
beans, and other crops at low wages and for long
hours, during which time he developed a strong work 
ethic and respect for the farm workers his father 
called ‘‘the children of God’’. 
(5) At the age of 18, Cesar E. Chavez entered 
the United States Navy and served his country with 
distinction for 2 years. 
(6) As early as 1949, Cesar E. Chavez com-
mitted himself to organizing farm workers to cam-
paign for safe and fair working conditions, reason-
able wages, decent housing, and the outlawing of 
child labor. 
(7) In 1962, Cesar E. Chavez founded the Na-
tional Farm Workers Association, predecessor of the 
United Farm Workers of America, which brought 
hope to farm workers that they might one day real-
ize the basic protections and workers’ rights to 
which all Americans aspire. 
(8) Through his commitment to nonviolence, 
Cesar E. Chavez brought dignity and respect to the 
farm workers who organized themselves, and became 
an inspiration and a resource to other Americans 
and people engaged in human rights struggles 
throughout the world. 
(9) Cesar E. Chavez’s fasts and strikes gained 
national attention and made people aware of the
struggle of farm workers for better pay and safer 
working conditions. 
(10) Cesar E. Chavez was an advocate for non-
violence at a time when violence penetrated every 
level of our society; he used boycotts, pickets, 
strikes, and fasts to achieve his goals and went to 
jail for refusing to stop his boycott against lettuce 
growers. 
(11) Despite the killings and beatings of many 
workers, Chavez never wavered in his commitment to 
nonviolence. 
(12) Cesar E. Chavez and his family also dedi-
cated themselves to the education of farm workers’ 
children through migrant schools, and many of these 
children graduated and worked as teachers, doctors, 
or nurses or in other professional occupations. 
(13) The legacy of Cesar E. Chavez includes 
healthy 
working 
conditions 
that 
yield 
uncontaminated food for America’s tables. 
(14) Cesar E. Chavez’s influence extends far 
beyond agriculture and provides inspiration for those 
working to better human rights through his example 
of organizing voter registration drives in urban and 
farm areas, initiating complaints against mistreat-
ment by police and welfare officials, and empowering
workers to seek advancement in education and poli-
tics. 
(15) Cesar E. Chavez lived alongside his 
campesino brothers and sisters in humble sur-
roundings. 
(16) Upon his death in 1993, Cesar E. Chavez 
was laid to rest where he lived and worked for 23 
years on the grounds of the headquarters of the 
United Farm Workers of America, known as 
Nuestra Sen˜ora de La Paz (Our Lady of Peace), lo-
cated in the Tehachapi Mountains at Keene, Cali-
fornia. 
(17) With faith, discipline, soft-spoken humility, 
and amazing inner strength, Cesar E. Chavez led a 
very courageous life. 
(18) Cesar E. Chavez’ words will always ring 
true in our country: Si se puede! Yes, we can! 
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 the next of kin or other 
personal representative of Cesar E. Chavez in recognition 
of his service to the Nation.
(b) DESIGN AND STRIKING.—For the 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 
under such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, 
and at a price sufficient to cover the costs thereof, includ-
ing labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead 
expenses, and the cost of the gold medal. 
SEC. 5. STATUS AS NATIONAL MEDALS. 
The medals struck pursuant to this Act are national 
medals for purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United 
States Code. 
SEC. 6. FUNDING. 
(a) AUTHORITY TO USE FUND AMOUNTS.—There is 
authorized to be charged against the United States Mint 
Public Enterprise Fund such an amount as may be nec-
essary to pay for the costs of the medals authorized by 
this Act. 
(b) PROCEEDS OF SALE.—Amounts received from the 
sale of duplicate bronze medals under section 4 shall be
deposited in the United States Mint Public Enterprise 
Fund. 
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