Congressional Tribute to Constance Baker Motley Act of 2022
Bill: H.R.6766 | Sponsor: Rep. DeLauro, Rosa L. (D-CT)
Policy area: Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues

Summary:
Congressional Tribute to Constance Baker Motley Act of 2022
This bill provides for the award of a Congressional Gold Medal posthumously to Constance Baker Motley in recognition of her contributions and service to the United States in advancing civil rights as an attorney, elected official, and judge.

To posthumously award a congressional gold medal to Constance Baker 
Motley, in recognition of her enduring contributions and service to the 
                             United States.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Congressional Tribute to Constance 
Baker Motley Act of 2022''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Constance Baker Motley was born in 1921, in New Haven, 
        Connecticut, the daughter of immigrants from the Caribbean 
        island of Nevis.
            (2) In 1943, Constance Baker Motley graduated from New York 
        University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics.
            (3) Upon receiving a law degree from Columbia University in 
        1946, Constance Baker Motley became a staff attorney at the 
        National Association for the Advancement of Colored People 
        Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (in this Act referred 
        to as the ``LDF''), and fought tirelessly for 2 decades 
        alongside Thurgood Marshall and other leading civil rights 
        lawyers to dismantle segregation throughout the United States.
            (4) Constance Baker Motley was the only female attorney on 
        the LDF legal team that won the landmark desegregation case, 
        Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954).
            (5) Constance Baker Motley argued 10 major civil rights 
        cases before the Supreme Court, winning all but one, including 
        the case brought on behalf of James Meredith challenging the 
        refusal of the University of Mississippi to admit him.
            (6) Constance Baker Motley's only loss before the United 
        States Supreme Court was in Swain v. Alabama, 380 U.S. 202 
        (1965), a case in which the Supreme Court refused to proscribe 
        race-based peremptory challenges in cases involving African-
        American defendants, and which was later reversed in Batson v. 
        Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79 (1986), on grounds that were largely 
        asserted by Constance Baker Motley in the Swain case.
            (7) In 1964, Constance Baker Motley became the first 
        African-American woman elected to the New York State Senate.
            (8) In 1965, Constance Baker Motley became the first 
        African-American woman, and the first woman, to serve as 
        president of the Borough of Manhattan.
            (9) Constance Baker Motley, in her capacity as an elected 
        public official in New York, continued to fight for civil 
        rights, dedicating herself to the revitalization of the inner 
        city and improvement of urban public schools and housing.
            (10) In 1966, Constance Baker Motley was appointed by 
        President Lyndon B. Johnson as a judge on the United States 
        District Court for the Southern District of New York.
            (11) The appointment of Constance Baker Motley made her the 
        first African-American woman, and only the fifth woman, 
        appointed and confirmed for a Federal judgeship.
            (12) In 1982, Constance Baker Motley was elevated to Chief 
        Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern 
        District of New York, the largest Federal trial court in the 
        United States.
            (13) Constance Baker Motley assumed senior status in 1986, 
        and continued serving on the United States District Court for 
        the Southern District of New York with distinction for nearly 2 
        decades.
            (14) Constance Baker Motley passed away on September 28, 
        2005, and is survived by her son, Joel W. Motley III, 3 
        grandchildren, and nieces and nephews in Connecticut and in 
        other States.
            (15) September 14, 2021, was the 100th anniversary of the 
        birth of Constance Baker Motley.

SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL.

    (a) Presentation Authorized.--The President pro tempore of the 
Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives are authorized 
to make appropriate arrangements for the posthumous award, on behalf of 
Congress, of a gold medal of appropriate design in commemoration of 
Constance Baker Motley, in recognition of her enduring contributions 
and service to the United States.
    (b) Design and Striking.--
            (1) In general.--For the purpose of the award referred to 
        in subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury (in this Act 
        referred to as the ``Secretary'') shall strike a gold medal 
        with suitable emblems, devices, and inscriptions, to be 
        determined by the Secretary.
            (2) Image.--The emblems, devices, and inscriptions 
        determined by the Secretary shall include an image of Constance 
        Baker Motley and an inscription of the name of Constance Baker 
        Motley.
    (c) Presentation.--With respect to the award described under 
subsection (a), the award shall be presented to Constance Baker 
Motley's son, Joel Motley III, and her niece, Constance Royster.
    (d) Disposition of Medal.--Following the award of the gold medal 
under subsection (a), the gold medal shall be given to Joel Motley III.

SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS.

    The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in bronze of the gold 
medal struck under section 3, at a price sufficient to cover the cost 
thereof, including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, and 
overhead expenses.

SEC. 5. NATIONAL MEDALS.

    (a) National Medal.--All medals struck under this Act are national 
medals for purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United States Code.
    (b) Numismatic Items.--For purposes of section 5134 of title 31, 
United States Code, all medals struck under this Act shall be 
considered to be numismatic items.
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