COVID–19 Vaccine Developers Gold Medal Act
Bill: H.R.5287 | Sponsor: Rep. Rush, Bobby L. (D-IL)
Policy area: Health

Summary:
COVID-19 Vaccine Developers Gold Medal Act
This bill provides for the award of a Congressional Gold Medal to recognize all those whose efforts led to the development of COVID-19 vaccines that received emergency use authorizations.

To award a Congressional Gold Medal to honor the contributions of all 
of those whose efforts led to the successful development of life saving 
               vaccines to combat the novel coronavirus.

    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 ``COVID-19 Vaccine Developers Gold 
Medal Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The public-private partnership, Operation Warp Speed, 
        sought to develop, manufacture, and ship 300,000,000 doses of 
        COVID-19 vaccines around the United States.
            (2) This effort would not have been possible without 
        researchers, scientists, doctors, epidemiologists, and others 
        around the world who have worked tirelessly and collaboratively 
        to develop lifesaving vaccines to combat the coronavirus by 
        reducing the likelihood of transmission, building immune 
        resiliency, avoiding hospitalizations, and reducing the 
        likelihood of death.
            (3) Through the academic, research, and analytic expertise 
        of universities and their faculty, researchers, and students, 
        their efforts contributed to providing valuable information to 
        the public on the severity of the coronavirus worldwide and, in 
        some cases, contributed to vaccine development.
            (4) Several of the resulting vaccines represent historic 
        breakthroughs in biopharmaceutical technology, which are 
        predicated on years of leading research conducted in 
        laboratories and hospitals that benefit from the significant 
        financial investment of United States taxpayers through the 
        Department of Health and Human Services, the National 
        Institutes of Health, including the National Institute of 
        Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and the Biomedical Advanced 
        Research and Development Authority.
            (5) As a response to COVID-19, Congress provided 
        $47,600,000,000 for the effort to support the private sector's 
        research and development into effective technologies, the 
        scale-up of manufacturing capacity for promising vaccine 
        candidates, and the distribution of vaccines that received 
        emergency use authorization by the Food and Drug 
        Administration.
            (6) These professionals worked under record timelines to 
        develop safe, effective vaccines demonstrated in trials and 
        granted emergency use authorization by the Food and Drug 
        Administration. It shattered the typical timeline for vaccine 
        development and production from over a decade to less than 12 
        months.
            (7) The first vaccine trial volunteers who lined up to have 
        shots administered in their arms paved the way for emergency 
        use authorization by the Food and Drug Administration and the 
        hundreds of millions of people of the United States that have 
        since been vaccinated.
            (8) These remarkable achievements in medical science will 
        have positive implications for future vaccine development, 
        helping to combat new viruses, leading to improvements in 
        health and well-being.
            (9) The tremendous efforts in vaccine development can be 
        celebrated and attributed to building diverse teams, including 
        the notable efforts of many individuals across the planet.
            (10) Vaccines authorized for emergency use in the United 
        States benefitted greatly from global cooperation, strategic 
        partnerships, and collaboration with publicly funded agencies 
        and research capabilities of the academic community.
            (11) As a result of the collaborative efforts, people 
        around the world are benefitting from the administration of 
        vaccines, although work remains to support governments around 
        the world in ensuring vaccines are equitably distributed.
            (12) The United States, including through cooperation with 
        bilateral and multilateral partnerships, can help scale up 
        manufacturing and distribution to all corners of the globe.
            (13) Operation Warp Speed successfully laid the groundwork 
        for reopening the United States economy, contributing to the 
        safety of the people of the United States, the reunion of 
        families, and is the greatest medical achievement in modern 
        times.

SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL.

    (a) Presentation Authorized.--The Speaker of the House of 
Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate shall make 
appropriate arrangements for the presentation, on behalf of Congress, 
of a single gold medal of appropriate design in recognition of all 
those whose efforts led to the successful development of vaccines that 
received emergency use authorizations to respond to the coronavirus.
    (b) Design and Striking.--For the purpose of the award under 
subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury (referred to in this Act 
as the ``Secretary'') shall strike a gold medal described in that 
subsection with suitable emblems, devices, and inscriptions, to be 
determined by the Secretary.
    (c) Smithsonian Institution.--
            (1) In general.--After the award of the gold medal under 
        subsection (a), the medal shall be given to the Smithsonian 
        Institution where the medal shall be--
                    (A) available for display, as appropriate; and
                    (B) made available for research.
            (2) Sense of congress.--It is the sense of Congress that 
        the Smithsonian Institution should make the gold medal received 
        under this Act available for--
                    (A) the purpose of education, research, and the 
                encouragement of science, technology, engineering, and 
                math professions through the Smithsonian Science 
                Education Center; and
                    (B) display elsewhere, particularly at other 
                locations or events associated with Operation Warp 
                Speed or COVID-19 vaccine development.

SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS.

    (a) In General.--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 of the medals, including labor, materials, dies, use 
of machinery, and overhead expenses.
    (b) Proceeds of Sale.--Amounts received from the sale of duplicate 
bronze medals authorized under section 4 shall be deposited in the 
United States Mint Public Enterprise 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 necessary to pay for the costs of the medals struck 
under this Act.

SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS.

    (a) National Medals.--The 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.

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, provided that 
such statement has been submitted prior to the vote on passage.
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