I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4885 
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 
AUGUST 5, 2025 
Mr. GREEN of Texas introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committees on 
House Administration, and the Budget, for a period to be subsequently 
determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provi-
sions 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’’. 
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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. 
(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. 
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(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, 
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 
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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-
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 
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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. 
(20) At the same time, the extensive, long-term 
use of unpaid labor advantaged the United States 
economy immeasurably. 
SEC. 3. 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 gold medal of ap-
propriate design dedicated to the enslaved persons collec-
tively in recognition of their service as the greatest con-
tributors to the foundation of America’s economic great-
ness. 
(b) DESIGN AND STRIKING.—For the purposes of the 
award referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary of the 
Treasury shall strike the gold medal with suitable em-
blems, devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the 
Secretary. 
(c) SMITHSONIAN
INSTITUTION.—Following the 
award of the gold medal described in subsection (a), the 
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gold medal shall be given to the Smithsonian Institution, 
where it will be displayed at the National Museum of Afri-
can-American History & Culture and made available for 
research. 
SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may strike and sell 
duplicates in bronze of the gold medal struck under sec-
tion 3, at a price sufficient to cover the costs of the bronze 
medals, including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, 
and overhead expenses. 
(b) PROCEEDS OF SALES.—The amounts received 
from the sale of duplicate medals under subsection (a) 
shall be deposited in the United States Mint Public Enter-
prise Fund. 
(c) 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 under 
this Act. 
SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS. 
The gold medal struck pursuant to this Act is a na-
tional medal for purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United 
States Code. 
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SEC. 6. DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS. 
The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of 
complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, 
shall be determined by reference to the latest statement 
titled ‘‘Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation’’ for this 
Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional Record 
by the Chairman of the House Budget Committee, pro-
vided that such statement has been submitted prior to the 
vote on passage. 
Æ 
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