To award a Congressional Gold Medal to Carrie Beatrice "Mudear" Sager, in recognition of her service to her community and nation, for peace, racial justice, and human rights.
Bill: H.R.323 | Sponsor: Rep. Bass, Karen (D-CA)
Policy area: Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues

Summary:
This bill provides for a Congressional Gold Medal to be awarded posthumously to Carrie Beatrice "Mudear" Sager in recognition of her service to her community and nation for peace, racial justice, and human rights.
Following the award the medal shall be given to the Smithsonian Institution and be available for display at the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

To award a Congressional Gold Medal to Carrie Beatrice ``Mudear'' 
 Sager, in recognition of her service to her community and nation, for 
                peace, racial justice, and human rights.

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

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Carrie Beatrice ``Mudear'' Sager was born on September 
        5, 1913 in Autauga County, Alabama to the late Mr. James Hardy 
        and Mrs. Laura Hardy.
            (2) She was a foot soldier who marched with Dr. Martin 
        Luther King Jr. in Selma, Alabama in 1963. Ms. Sager was 
        dedicated to fighting for racial and social justice, she risked 
        her own life countless times being a voice for others. Her 
        commitment is demonstrated through her years of bravery and 
        activism.
            (3) Ms. Sager was known for organizing the well-known 
        Children's March of May 2, 1963 led by Dr. Martin Luther King 
        Jr. This protest led to hundreds of students being arrested and 
        taken to jail in paddy wagons and school buses.
            (4) She was a victim of police brutality and experienced 
        the brute force of hoses and dogs as law enforcement used them 
        as weapons against her and peaceful protestors during the 
        Southern Christian Leadership Conference's Birmingham Campaign.
            (5) She was a fearless woman who stood up to the KKK by 
        picketing and boycotting white businesses in Bessemer and 
        Birmingham Alabama, demanding equal treatment of Black people 
        across this nation.
            (6) She demonstrated heroism as she marched the infamous 
        Edmund Pettus Bridge on Bloody Sunday, March 7th, 1965. This 
        was a day in which police attacked Civil Rights activists with 
        tear gas, billy clubs, and horses as demonstrators were headed 
        to the State Capitol in Montgomery, Alabama.
            (7) Ms. Sager was a woman of God and an active member of 
        Starlight Missionary Baptist Church, where she was named 
        ``Mother of the Church''.
            (8) Carrie Beatrice ``Mudear'' Sager passed away November 
        20, 2014 at the age of 101. She will be remembered for her 
        tenacity and unwavering dedication to fighting for human rights 
        and ensuring equality and peace across this nation.
            (9) She was loved and cherished by many and her legacy will 
        live on through her family. She left this earth with five 
        children: Sam Sager, Jr., Will Sager, Lurlean Sager Burnette, 
        Florabell Sager McQueen, and Mary Sager Davis. Mudear's ten 
        grandchildren are as follows: Cora Jean Douglass, Martha Jean 
        McQueen, Will Sager Jr., Valerie Sager Seals, Veronica Sager 
        Seals, Vernon T. Sager Sr., Vayonna L. Sager, Loretta Lusane 
        Philips, Clarence Lusane, and Tanya Davis McCullough.

SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL.

    (a) Presentation Authorization.--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 the 
Congress, of a gold medal of appropriate design to the Carrie Beatrice 
``Mudear'' Sager, in recognition of her service to her community and 
nation, for peace, racial justice, and human rights.
    (b) Design and Striking.--For the purposes of the award referred to 
in subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury (hereafter 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.
    (c) Smithsonian Institution.--Following the award of the gold medal 
under subsection (a), the gold medal shall be given to the Smithsonian 
Institution and the medal will be available for display at the National 
Museum of African American History and Culture.

SEC. 3. DUPLICATE MEDALS.

    The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in bronze of the gold 
medal struck pursuant to section 2 under such regulations as the 
Secretary may prescribe, at a price sufficient to cover the cost 
thereof, including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, and 
overhead expenses, and the cost of the gold medal.

SEC. 4. NATIONAL MEDALS.

     Medals struck pursuant to this Act are national medals for the 
purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United States Code.
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