Timothy Nugent Congressional Gold Medal Act

Bill: 114-s-1863
Sponsor: full_name: Sen. Kirk, Mark Steven [R-IL]
Introduced: 2015-07-27
Policy area: Education
Subjects: Congressional tributes

Disability and health-based discrimination

Disability and paralysis

Veterans' education, employment, rehabilitation
Latest action: action_date: 2015-07-27
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. (Sponsor introductory remarks on measure: CR S5932)

Summaries:
action_date: 2015-07-27
action_desc: Introduced in Senate
text: <p><strong>Timothy Nugent Congressional Gold Medal Act</strong></p> <p>This bill directs the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate to make arrangements for the presentation, on behalf of the Congress, of a gold medal of appropriate design to Timothy Nugent, in recognition of his pioneering work on behalf of people with disabilities, including disabled veterans.</p>

tv_txt: II 114th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 1863 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES July 27, 2015 Mr. Kirk introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs A BILL To award a Congressional Gold Medal to Timothy Nugent, in recognition of his pioneering work on behalf of people with disabilities, including disabled veterans.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Timothy Nugent Congressional Gold Medal Act . 2. Findings Congress finds that— (1) Timothy Nugent is considered the Father of Accessibility and the Godfather of Rehabilitation Education on college campuses and has been a relentless innovator and advocate for disabled people in the United States; (2) Nugent fought for and secured the right to higher education and mainstream education integration for millions of people with disabilities in the United States; (3) many of the architectural accessibility standards and laws of the United States trace back directly to innovations created by Nugent; (4) while at the University of Illinois, Nugent oversaw the development of adaptive sports programs accommodating athletes in wheelchairs; (5) Nugent founded the first higher educational program for wounded and disabled soldiers in the world after World War II; (6) in the years after World War II, Nugent confronted the bias of the general public in his efforts to bring students with disabilities into the mainstream of college campuses and society; (7) Nugent disproved many people in the medical community who believed that rehabilitation and sporting activities were harmful to individuals with such severe disabilities or that education was not necessary because of their belief that the lifespan of persons with spinal cord injuries would be too short for them to benefit from college degrees; and (8) Nugent would be the first person awarded a Congressional Gold Medal for work on behalf of persons with disabilities. 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 the Congress, of a gold medal of appropriate design to Timothy Nugent, in recognition of his pioneering work on behalf of people with disabilities, including disabled veterans. (b) Design and striking For the purposes of the award referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury (referred to in this Act as the Secretary ) shall strike a gold medal with suitable emblems, devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the Secretary. 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, and overhead expenses, and the cost of the gold medal. 5. National medals Medals struck pursuant to this Act are national medals for the purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United States Code.