I 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3990 
To grant the Congressional Gold Medal to John H. Johnson in recognition 
of his outstanding contributions to the United States. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 3, 2009 
Mr. RUSH introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Financial Services 
A BILL 
To grant the Congressional Gold Medal to John H. Johnson 
in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the 
United States. 
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) John H. Johnson published the first edition 
of the Negro Digest in 1942, having conceived of the 
idea while working at the Supreme Life Insurance 
Company. 
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(2) This publication covered African-American 
history, literature, arts, and cultural issues and 
reached a circulation of 50,000 within six months. 
(3) Renamed to Black World, the publication 
reached a circulation of more than 100,000 sub-
scribers at its peak. 
(4) Johnson’s later creation, Ebony magazine, 
supplanted this record in selling out its initial run 
of 25,000 printed copies and at its height had 
2,300,000 subscribers. 
(5) Through Ebony magazine, Johnson pro-
vided insight into the African-American community 
by reporting on issues such as ‘‘the white problem 
in America’’, African-American militancy, crimes by 
African-Americans against African-Americans, civil 
rights legislation, freedom rides and marches, and 
other aspects of segregation and discrimination. 
(6) Johnson worked to ensure that the con-
tributions of African-Americans to the United States 
were documented by trained historians who were 
brought on to the magazine’s staff. 
(7) Striving to show positive images of African- 
Americans, 
Johnson 
featured 
African-American 
models in the magazine’s advertisements, and a con-
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certed effort was made to show positive aspects of 
African-American life and culture. 
(8) Johnson’s quest to serve African-American 
readers continued in subsequent years by launching 
four other magazines entitled Tan, Jet, African 
American Stars, and Ebony Jr., a children’s maga-
zine. 
(9) Johnson later expanded his enterprise when 
becoming chairman and chief executive officer of the 
Supreme Life Insurance Company, developing a line 
of cosmetics, owning three radio stations, starting a 
book publishing company, and a television produc-
tion company. 
(10) Invited by the United States Government 
to participate in several international missions, 
Johnson accompanied the Vice President of the 
United States on a mission to Russia and Poland in 
1959, and was appointed to be a Special Ambas-
sador to represent the United States at the inde-
pendence ceremonies in the Ivory Coast in 1961 and 
Kenya in 1963. 
(11) In 1966, Johnson was honored with the 
National Association for the Advancement of Col-
ored People’s Spingarn Medal for his contributions 
to improving race relations in the United States. 
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(12) In 1966, The Horatio Alger Association of 
Distinguished Americans awarded Johnson the Ho-
ratio Alger Award in recognition of his outstanding 
work as a dedicated community leader. 
(13) In 1972, Johnson was named Publisher of 
the Year by the Magazine Publishers Association, an 
industry association for consumer magazines. 
(14) In 1993, the Wall Street Journal awarded 
Johnson with the Dow Jones Entrepreneurial Excel-
lence Award. 
(15) In 1994, Johnson was awarded the Center 
for Communication’s Communication Award, on the 
occasion of Ebony’s 50th anniversary. 
(16) In 1996, President William Clinton award-
ed Johnson the Presidential Medal of Freedom 
which was followed in 1997 by Johnson’s induction 
into the Junior Achievement National Business Hall 
of Fame. 
(17) In 2001, Johnson was inducted into the 
Arkansas Business Hall of Fame. 
(18) Among his numerous awards and honors, 
Johnson has been awarded honorary doctorates by 
the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, Harvard 
University, the University of Southern California, 
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Carnegie Mellon University, Eastern Michigan Uni-
versity, and Wayne State University. 
SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 
(a) AWARD
AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of the 
House of Representatives and the President pro tempore 
of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements for the 
award, on behalf of the Congress, of a single gold medal 
of appropriate design to John H. Johnson in recognition 
of his outstanding work, leadership, and service. 
(b) DESIGN AND STRIKING.—For the purposes of the 
award referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary of the 
Treasury (hereafter in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Sec-
retary’’) shall strike the gold medal with suitable emblems, 
devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the Sec-
retary. 
SEC. 3. 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 2, at a price 
sufficient to cover the costs of the medals, including labor, 
materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses. 
SEC. 4. STATUS OF MEDALS. 
The medals struck pursuant to this Act are national 
medals for purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United 
States Code. 
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SEC. 5. 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 medals struck pursuant 
to this Act. 
(b) PROCEEDS OF SALE.—Amounts received from the 
sale of duplicate bronze medals authorized under section 
3 shall be deposited into the United States Mint Public 
Enterprise Fund. 
Æ 
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