(14) In 1968, Rev. Lawson chaired the strike 
committee for the Memphis Sanitation Workers, a 
campaign that advanced the slogan ‘‘I Am A Man’’ 
and was the first successful effort to organize Afri-
can-American municipal workers in the South. 
(15) Dr. King lauded Rev. Lawson as the 
‘‘leading theorist and strategist of nonviolence in the 
world’’ and civil rights leader Diane Nash stated 
that Rev. Lawson’s ‘‘impact was fundamental and 
tremendous. I think that he, more than anyone else 
really, is why the civil rights movement was non-
violent’’. 
(16) In 1974, Rev. Lawson became pastor of 
Holman United Methodist Church in Los Angeles, 
where he continued his nonviolent advocacy for ra-
cial equality and social justice, including through 
Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice, the 
Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the 
American Civil Liberties Union, Interfaith Commu-
nities United for Peace and Justice, the National 
Committee for Worker Justice, and many others. 
(17) Rev. Lawson received dozens of awards, 
honorary degrees, and lectureships, including the 
National Civil Rights Museum Freedom Award, 
Vanderbilt University’s Walter R. Murray Distin-
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guished Alumnus Award, Harvard University’s 
Henry Luce Lectureship, and recognition for his 
leadership and lifetime achievements from the Con-
gressional Black Caucus Foundation and the Amer-
ican Civil Liberties Union. 
(18) Rev. Lawson has played an invaluable role 
in the progress of the United States due to his tire-
less work to create what Dr. King called a ‘‘beloved 
community’’ where people treat each other with re-
spect and dignity and end all forms of violence in 
favor of a politics of love. 
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 Congress, of a gold 
medal of appropriate design to Reverend James Morris 
Lawson, Jr., in recognition of his contributions to the 
United States. 
(b) DESIGN AND STRIKING.—For purposes of the 
presentation referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary 
of the Treasury (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Sec-
retary’’) shall strike a gold medal with suitable emblems, 
devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the Sec-
retary. 
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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, at 
a price sufficient to cover the cost thereof, including labor, 
materials, dies, use of machinery, overhead expenses, and 
the cost of the gold medal. 
SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS. 
(a) NATIONAL MEDALS.—The medals struck pursu-
ant to this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 
51 of title 31, United States Code. 
(b) NUMISMATIC ITEMS.—For purposes of sections 
5134 and 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all medals 
struck under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic 
items. 
Æ 
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