I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1244 
To posthumously award a historic Congressional Gold Medal, collectively, 
to Africans and their descendants enslaved within our country from 
August 20, 1619, to December 6, 1865. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 28, 2023 
Mr. GREEN of Texas (for himself, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Ms. OCASIO- 
CORTEZ, Ms. ADAMS, Mr. CARSON, Ms. KUSTER, Ms. PRESSLEY, Ms. 
LEE of California, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. 
KEATING, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. BOYLE of Penn-
sylvania, Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois, Mr. ALLRED, Ms. BUSH, Mr. DAVIS of 
Illinois, Mr. SOTO, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. 
TRONE, Mrs. DINGELL, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Ms. ROSS, Mr. KIL-
MER, Ms. TITUS, Mr. DAVIS of North Carolina, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. RUP-
PERSBERGER, Mr. EVANS, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. NORTON, Mr. 
CLEAVER, Mr. PALLONE, Ms. WILSON of Florida, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. 
IVEY, Ms. MENG, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. CASAR, Mr. MEEKS, Ms. 
MOORE of Wisconsin, Ms. STEVENS, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. 
OMAR, Mr. BOWMAN, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. MOSKOWITZ, Ms. CROCK-
ETT, Mr. NADLER, Mr. CLYBURN, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. GOMEZ, Mr. 
CASTRO of Texas, Mr. NEGUSE, Mr. GARAMENDI, Mr. SARBANES, Mr. 
JACKSON of Illinois, Mr. GOTTHEIMER, Mrs. BEATTY, Mr. VARGAS, Ms. 
BROWNLEY, Ms. PORTER, Mr. MFUME, Ms. BLUNT ROCHESTER, Mrs. 
FLETCHER, Mr. DOGGETT, Ms. LOIS FRANKEL of Florida, Mrs. TRAHAN, 
Mrs. MCBATH, Ms. DEAN of Pennsylvania, Mr. VEASEY, Ms. STRICK-
LAND, Mr. POCAN, Mr. TAKANO, Ms. SCANLON, Ms. WATERS, Mr. 
FROST, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Ms. WILLIAMS of Georgia, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Mr. 
TONKO, Mr. AGUILAR, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI, Ms. TLAIB, 
Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. TORRES of New York, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, Mr. 
GALLEGO, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Ms. JACOBS, Mr. CASTEN, Mr. 
MOULTON, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Ms. BROWN, Mr. LYNCH, Mr. COHEN, 
Mr. HORSFORD, Ms. BONAMICI, Ms. KAMLAGER-DOVE, Ms. GARCIA of 
Texas, Mr. LIEU, Ms. SEWELL, Mr. CA´RDENAS, Mr. CARTER of Lou-
isiana, Mrs. FOUSHEE, Mr. VICENTE GONZALEZ of Texas, and Ms. 
CLARKE of New York) introduced the following bill; which was referred 
to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Commit-
tees on House Administration, and the Budget, for a period to be subse-
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quently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 
provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To posthumously award a historic Congressional Gold Medal, 
collectively, to Africans and their descendants enslaved 
within our country from August 20, 1619, to December 
6, 1865. 
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 ‘‘The original legislation 
awarding a historic Congressional Gold Medal, collectively, 
to Africans and their descendants enslaved within our 
country from August 20, 1619, to December 6, 1865’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) Human beings were systematically abducted 
from the continent of Africa and placed against their 
will onto ships that would cross the Atlantic Ocean. 
(2) These persons were chained within the 
holds of ships in horrendous conditions for the dura-
tion of the transatlantic journey, which lasted up to 
six months. 
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(3) Upon arrival in North America, they were 
forced into labor among the English and European 
colonies that would later become the United States. 
(4) Their enslavement was concentrated on 
farms and plantations that produced crops such as 
cotton, tobacco, and sugar cane. 
(5) The practice of slavery continued up to and 
past the eventual American Revolution against Eng-
land and the founding of the United States of Amer-
ica. 
(6) In the ensuing decades, slavery persisted 
primarily in States where the economy was based 
significantly on farming. 
(7) The treatment of enslaved people continued 
to be horrendous in nature, including exploitation, 
family separation, rape, torture, and degradation, 
among other cruelties. 
(8) Slave labor was essential to the functioning 
of many farms and plantations and therefore was es-
sential to the growth of the United States economy 
as a whole. 
(9) Slave labor was used to build notable build-
ings and monuments in the United States, including 
the United States Capitol Building, the White 
House, the Washington Monument, Mount Vernon, 
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which was the home of George Washington, and 
Monticello, which was the home of Thomas Jeffer-
son. 
(10) The profits from and involvement of slave 
labor were also essential to the construction of the 
Smithsonian Institution, Wall Street, Harvard Uni-
versity, Georgetown University, and Fort Sumter. 
(11) It has been estimated that the total eco-
nomic value of slave labor is between $5.9 trillion 
and $14.2 trillion in 2009 dollars. 
(12) The United States became increasingly di-
vided between slaveholding and non-slaveholding 
States and territories, including as to whether slav-
ery should be expanded to new States and territories 
or abolished altogether. 
(13) The secession of States from the United 
States began on December 20, 1860, and led to the 
formation of the Confederate States of America on 
February 4, 1861. 
(14) The American Civil War began on April 
12, 1861, with the attack on Fort Sumter by Con-
federate forces. 
(15) On January 1, 1863, President Abraham 
Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation de-
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claring that ‘‘all persons held as slaves’’ in Confed-
erate States ‘‘henceforward shall be free’’. 
(16) After four years of grueling battle and 
conflict, the Civil War concluded with the surrender 
of the commander of the Confederate forces on April 
9, 1865, although fighting continued until November 
6, 1865, and the Civil War was proclaimed to be 
over by President Andrew Johnson on August 20, 
1866. 
(17) The 13th Amendment to the United States 
Constitution abolishing slavery passed the Congress 
on January 31, 1865, and was ratified by the re-
quired number of States on December 6, 1865. 
(18) The text of the 13th Amendment states 
that, ‘‘Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, ex-
cept as a punishment for crime whereof the party 
shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the 
United States, or any place subject to their jurisdic-
tion.’’. 
(19) The use of slave labor over hundreds of 
years resulted in immense suffering and deprivation 
among the people who fell victim to these abhorrent 
practices. 
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