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108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2680
To authorize the President to award a gold medal on behalf of the Congress 
to Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr. (posthumously) and his 
widow Coretta Scott King in recognition of their contributions to the 
Nation on behalf of the civil rights movement. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 9, 2003
Mr. LEWIS of Georgia (for himself, Mr. HOUGHTON, Mr. SCOTT of Georgia, 
Ms. KILPATRICK, Mr. JEFFERSON, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. PAYNE, Ms. 
SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. SANDLIN, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Mr. SHAYS, Mr. 
SNYDER, Mr. REYES, Mr. KENNEDY of Rhode Island, Mr. LARSEN of 
Washington, Mrs. JONES of Ohio, Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida, Mr. 
CONYERS, Mr. DANNY DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. ACEVEDO-VILA´, Mr. BISHOP 
of Georgia, Mrs. CHRISTENSEN, Mr. CLYBURN, Mr. DINGELL, Mr. 
SERRANO, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mr. BECERRA, Mr. LAMPSON, Mr. 
MCGOVERN, Mr. FROST, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. WATT, Ms. 
WOOLSEY, Mr. GONZALES, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. WYNN, Mr. HASTINGS of 
Florida, Mr. MOORE, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. OWENS, Ms. MILLENDER-
MCDONALD, Mr. CUMMINGS, Ms. NORTON, Ms. CARSON of Indiana, Mr. 
BALLANCE, Mr. DELAHUNT, Mr. CLAY, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mr. DAVIS of 
Alabama, Mr. FATTAH, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Ms. MAJETTE, Ms. 
DELAURO, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. CASE, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Mr. 
FERGUSON, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. HONDA, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. FRANK of 
Massachusetts, Mr. SKELTON, Mr. RAHALL, Mr. GILCHREST, Mr. 
LEACH, Mr. PORTMAN, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Ms. 
EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. TERRY, Ms. LEE, Mr. FORD, 
Ms. WATSON, Mr. MEEKS of New York, Mr. RUSH, Ms. WATERS, Mr. 
MEEK of Florida, Mr. UPTON, and Mr. JACKSON of Illinois) introduced 
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Serv-
ices 
A BILL 
To authorize the President to award a gold medal on behalf
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of the Congress to Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, 
Jr. (posthumously) and his widow Coretta Scott King 
in recognition of their contributions to the Nation on 
behalf of the civil rights movement.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds the following: 
(1) Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr. 
and his widow Coretta Scott King, as the first fam-
ily of the civil rights movement, have distinguished 
records of public service to the American people and 
the international community. 
(2) Dr. King preached a doctrine of nonviolent 
civil disobedience to combat segregation, discrimina-
tion, and racial injustice. 
(3) Dr. King led the Montgomery bus boycott 
for 381 days to protest the arrest of Mrs. Rosa 
Parks and the segregation of the bus system of 
Montgomery, Alabama. 
(4) In 1963, Dr. King led the march on Wash-
ington, D.C., that was followed by his famous ad-
dress, the ‘‘I Have a Dream’’ speech. 
(5) Through his work and reliance on non-
violent protest, Dr. King was instrumental in the
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passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Vot-
ing Rights Act of 1965. 
(6) Despite efforts to derail his mission, Dr. 
King acted on his dream of America and succeeded 
in making the United States a better place. 
(7) Dr. King was assassinated for his beliefs on 
April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee. 
(8) Mrs. King stepped into the civil rights 
movement in 1955 during the Montgomery bus boy-
cott and played an important role as a leading par-
ticipant in the American civil rights movement. 
(9) While raising 4 children, Mrs. King devoted 
herself to working alongside her husband for non-
violent social change and full civil rights for African 
Americans. 
(10) With a strong educational background in 
music, Mrs. King established and performed several 
Freedom Concerts, which were well received and 
combined prose and poetry narration with musical 
selections to increase awareness and understanding 
of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (of 
which Dr. King served as the first president). 
(11) Mrs. King demonstrated composure in 
deep sorrow, as she led the Nation in mourning her 
husband after his brutal assassination.
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(12) After the assassination, Mrs. King devoted 
all of her time and energy to developing and building 
the Atlanta-based Martin Luther King Jr. Center 
for Nonviolent Social Change as an enduring memo-
rial to her husband’s life and his dream of non-
violent social change and full civil rights for all 
Americans. 
(13) Under Mrs. King’s guidance and direction, 
the Center has flourished. The Center was the first 
institution built in honor of an African-American 
leader. It provides local, national, and international 
programs that have trained tens of thousands of 
people in Dr. King’s philosophy and methods, and 
claims the largest archive of the civil rights move-
ment. 
(14) Mrs. King led the massive campaign to es-
tablish Dr. King’s birthday as a national holiday, 
and the holiday is now celebrated in more than 100 
countries. 
SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 
(a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The President is 
authorized to present, on behalf of the Congress, a gold 
medal of appropriate design to Reverend Doctor Martin 
Luther King, Jr. (posthumously) and his widow Coretta 
Scott King in recognition of their service to the Nation.
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(b) DESIGN AND STRIKING.—For the purpose of the 
presentation referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary 
of the Treasury shall strike a gold medal with suitable em-
blems, devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the 
Secretary. 
SEC. 3. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 
The Secretary of the Treasury shall strike and sell 
duplicates in bronze of the gold medal struck pursuant 
to section 2 under such regulations as the Secretary may 
prescribe, at a price sufficient to cover the costs of the 
duplicate medals and the gold medal (including labor, ma-
terials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses). 
SEC. 4. NATIONAL MEDALS. 
The medals struck under this Act are national medals 
for purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United States Code. 
SEC. 5. FUNDING AND PROCEEDS OF SALE. 
(a) AUTHORIZATION.—There is hereby authorized to 
be charged against the United States Mint Public Enter-
prise Fund an amount not to exceed $30,000 to pay for 
the cost of the medals authorized by 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.
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