IIB 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 431 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
FEBRUARY 12, 2015 
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 
Urban Affairs 
AN ACT 
To award a Congressional Gold Medal to the Foot Soldiers 
who participated in Bloody Sunday, Turnaround Tues-
day, or the final Selma to Montgomery Voting Rights 
March in March of 1965, which served as a catalyst 
for the Voting Rights Act of 1965. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds the following: 
(1) March 7, 2015, will mark 50 years since the 
brave Foot Soldiers of the Voting Rights Movement 
first attempted to march from Selma to Montgomery 
on ‘‘Bloody Sunday’’ in protest against the denial of 
their right to vote, and were brutally assaulted by 
Alabama state troopers. 
(2) Beginning in 1964, members of the Student 
Nonviolent Coordinating Committee attempted to 
register African-Americans to vote throughout the 
state of Alabama. 
(3) These efforts were designed to ensure that 
every American citizen would be able to exercise 
their constitutional right to vote and have their 
voices heard. 
(4) By December of 1964, many of these efforts 
remained unsuccessful. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., 
working with leaders from the Student Nonviolent 
Coordinating Committee and the Southern Christian 
Leadership Conference, began to organize protests 
throughout Alabama. 
(5) On March 7, 1965, over 500 voting rights 
marchers known as ‘‘Foot Soldiers’’ gathered on the 
Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama in peace-
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ful protest of the denial of their most sacred and 
constitutionally protected right—the right to vote. 
(6) Led by John Lewis of the Student Non-
violent Coordinating Committee and Rev. Hosea 
Williams of the Southern Christian Leadership Con-
ference, these Foot Soldiers began the march to-
wards the Alabama State Capitol in Montgomery, 
Alabama. 
(7) As the Foot Soldiers crossed the Edmund 
Pettus Bridge, they were confronted by a wall of 
Alabama state troopers who brutally attacked and 
beat them. 
(8) Americans across the country witnessed this 
tragic turn of events as news stations broadcasted 
the brutality on a day that would be later known as 
‘‘Bloody Sunday’’. 
(9) Two days later on Tuesday, March 9, 1965, 
nearly 2,500 Foot Soldiers led by Dr. Martin Luther 
King risked their lives once more and attempted a 
second peaceful march starting at the Edmund 
Pettus Bridge. This second attempted march was 
later known as ‘‘Turnaround Tuesday’’. 
(10) Fearing for the safety of these Foot Sol-
diers who received no protection from federal or 
state authorities during this second march, Dr. King 
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led the marchers to the base of the Edmund Pettus 
Bridge and stopped. Dr. King kneeled and offered a 
prayer of solidarity and walked back to the church. 
(11) President Lyndon B. Johnson, inspired by 
the bravery and determination of these Foot Soldiers 
and the atrocities they endured, announced his plan 
for a voting rights bill aimed at securing the pre-
cious right to vote for all citizens during an address 
to Congress on March 15, 1965. 
(12) On March 17, 1965, one week after 
‘‘Turnaround Tuesday’’, U.S. District Judge Frank 
M. Johnson ruled the Foot Soldiers had a First 
Amendment right to petition the government 
through peaceful protest, and ordered federal agents 
to provide full protection to the Foot Soldiers during 
the Selma to Montgomery Voting Rights March. 
(13) Judge Johnson’s decision overturned Ala-
bama Governor George Wallace’s prohibition on the 
protest due to public safety concerns. 
(14) On March 21, 1965, under the court 
order, the U.S. Army, the federalized Alabama Na-
tional Guard, and countless federal agents and mar-
shals escorted nearly 8,000 Foot Soldiers from the 
start of their heroic journey in Selma, Alabama to 
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their safe arrival on the steps of the Alabama State 
Capitol Building on March 25, 1965. 
(15) The extraordinary bravery and sacrifice 
these Foot Soldiers displayed in pursuit of a peace-
ful march from Selma to Montgomery brought na-
tional attention to the struggle for equal voting 
rights, and served as the catalyst for Congress to 
pass the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which President 
Johnson signed into law on August 6, 1965. 
(16) To commemorate the 50th anniversary of 
the Voting Rights Movement and the passage of the 
Voting Rights Act of 1965, it is befitting that Con-
gress bestow the highest civilian honor, the Congres-
sional Gold Medal, in 2015, to the Foot Soldiers 
who participated in Bloody Sunday, Turnaround 
Tuesday or the final Selma to Montgomery Voting 
Rights March during March of 1965, which served 
as a catalyst for the Voting Rights Act of 1965. 
SEC. 2. 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 the Foot Soldiers who par-
ticipated in Bloody Sunday, Turnaround Tuesday, or the 
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