An act to award the Congressional Gold Medal to Anwar Sadat in recognition of his heroic achievements and courageous contributions to peace in the Middle East
PL 115-310 (H.R.754), enacted 12/13/2018

132 STAT. 4424 
PUBLIC LAW 115–310—DEC. 13, 2018 
Public Law 115–310 
115th Congress 
An Act 
To award the Congressional Gold Medal to Anwar Sadat in recognition of his 
heroic achievements and courageous contributions to peace in the Middle East. 
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 ‘‘Anwar Sadat Centennial Celebra-
tion Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) Anwar Sadat was born on December 25, 1918, in Mit 
Abu al-Kum, al-Minufiyah, Egypt, as 1 of 13 children in a 
poor Egyptian family. 
(2) In 1938, Sadat graduated from the Royal Military 
Academy in Cairo and was appointed to the Signal Corps. 
(3) Sadat entered the Army as a second lieutenant and 
was posted to Sudan where he met Gamal Abdel Nasser and 
fellow junior officers who became the ‘‘Free Officers’’ who led 
the Egyptian revolution of 1952. 
(4) Sadat held various high positions during Nasser’s presi-
dency, assuming the role of President of the National Assembly 
in 1960 and Vice President in 1964. 
(5) President Nasser died of a heart attack on September 
28, 1970, at which point Sadat became acting President. Sadat 
was subsequently elected as the third President of Egypt. 
(6) On October 6, 1973, President Sadat, along with his 
Syrian counterparts, launched an offensive against Israel. A 
permanent cease-fire was reached on October 25, 1973. 
(7) In 1974, after talks facilitated by Secretary of State 
Henry Kissinger, Egypt and Israel signed an agreement 
allowing Egypt to formally retrieve land in the Sinai. President 
Sadat later wrote in his memoirs that his meetings with Kis-
singer ‘‘marked the beginning of a relationship of mutual under-
standing with the United States culminating and crystallizing 
in what we came to describe as a ‘peace process’. Together 
we started that process and the United States still supports 
our joint efforts to this day’’. 
(8) Months of diplomacy between Egypt and Israel followed 
the signing of this initial agreement and a second disengage-
ment agreement, the Sinai Interim Agreement, was signed 
in September of 1975. 
(9) President Sadat addressed a joint session of Congress 
on November 5, 1975, during which he underscored the shared 
Anwar Sadat 
Centennial 
Celebration Act. 
31 USC 5111 
note. 
Dec. 13, 2018 
[H.R. 754] 
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132 STAT. 4425 
PUBLIC LAW 115–310—DEC. 13, 2018 
values between the United States and Egypt. In this speech, 
President Sadat addressed the path to peace, saying, ‘‘We are 
faced, together with other nations, with one of the greatest 
challenges of our time, namely the task of convincing this 
generation, and those to follow, that we can finally build a 
viable international system capable of meeting the demands 
of tomorrow and solving the problems of the coming age’’. 
(10) On November 19, 1977, President Sadat became the 
first Arab leader to visit Israel, meeting with the Israeli Prime 
Minister, Menachem Begin. President Sadat spoke before the 
Israeli Knesset in Jerusalem about his views on how to achieve 
comprehensive peace in the Arab-Israeli conflict. 
(11) Before commencing negotiations, President Sadat 
courageously announced to the Knesset, ‘‘I have come to you 
so that together we might build a durable peace based on 
justice, to avoid the shedding of 1 single drop of blood from 
an Arab or an Israeli. It is for this reason that I have proclaimed 
my readiness to go to the farthest corner of the world’’. Presi-
dent Sadat further poignantly stated that ‘‘any life lost in 
war is a human life, irrespective of its being that of an Israeli 
or an Arab. * * * When the bells of peace ring, there will 
be no hands to beat the drums of war’’. 
(12) On September 17, 1978, President Jimmy Carter 
hosted President Sadat and Prime Minister Begin at Camp 
David where the 3 leaders engaged in 13 days of negotiations 
that resulted in the ‘‘Framework for Peace in the Middle East’’ 
(commonly known as the ‘‘Camp David Accords’’). 
(13) Following negotiations, President Sadat and Prime 
Minister Begin signed the Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty (in this 
section referred to as the ‘‘Peace Treaty’’) at the White House 
on March 26, 1979. Addressing President Sadat at the signing 
of the Peace Treaty, which remains an important anchor for 
peace in the region today, Prime Minister Begin commended 
President Sadat by saying, ‘‘In the face of adversity and hos-
tility, you have demonstrated the human value that can change 
history—civil courage’’. 
(14) The Peace Treaty featured mutual recognition of each 
country by the other and ultimately the cessation of the state 
of war that had existed between Israel and Egypt since the 
1948 Arab-Israeli War. Israel completely withdrew its armed 
forces and civilians from the rest of the Sinai. 
(15) In 1978, both President Sadat and Prime Minister 
Begin were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for signing the 
Peace Treaty, which made Egypt the first Arab country to 
officially recognize Israel. 
(16) While presenting the Nobel Peace Prize to President 
Sadat, Aase Lionaes, Chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Com-
mittee, said, ‘‘During the 30 preceding years, the peoples of 
the Middle East have, on 4 separate occasions, been the victims 
of warfare and there seemed no prospect of peace. President 
Sadat’s great contribution to peace was that he had sufficient 
courage and foresight to break away from this vicious circle. 
His decision to accept Prime Minister Menachem Begin’s invita-
tion of November 17, 1977, to attend a meeting of the Israeli 
parliament on November 19 was an act of great courage, both 
from a personal and from a political point of view. This was 
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132 STAT. 4426 
PUBLIC LAW 115–310—DEC. 13, 2018 
a dramatic break with the past and a courageous step forward 
into a new age’’. 
(17) During his Nobel lecture, President Sadat remarked, 
‘‘I made my trip because I am convinced that we owe it to 
this generation and the generations to come not to leave a 
stone unturned in our pursuit of peace’’. 
(18) In remarks to the People’s Assembly in Cairo on March 
10, 1979, President Carter praised President Sadat, telling 
the Assembly, ‘‘Your President has demonstrated the power 
of human courage and human vision to create hope where 
there had been only despair.’’. President Carter also said that 
the Peace Treaty would ‘‘strengthen cooperation between Egypt 
and the United States’’ and underscored the support of the 
United States for the agreement, saying, ‘‘I fully share and 
will support President Sadat’s belief that stability must be 
maintained in this part of the world * * * He and I recognize 
that the security of this vital region is being challenged. I 
applaud his determination to meet that challenge, and my 
Government will stand with him’’. 
(19) The signing of the Peace Treaty enraged many individ-
uals who opposed normalized relations with Israel. President 
Sadat was assassinated on October 6, 1981, by Khalid 
Islambouli, a member of Egyptian Islamic Jihad. President 
Sadat was well aware of the controversy to which his actions 
would lead, but pushed for peace anyway. 
(20) Upon the death of President Sadat, President Ronald 
Reagan proclaimed, ‘‘President Sadat was a courageous man 
whose vision and wisdom brought nations and people together. 
In a world filled with hatred, he was a man of hope. In a 
world trapped in the animosities of the past, he was a man 
of foresight, a man who sought to improve a world tormented 
by malice and pettiness’’. 
(21) President Sadat is recognized in the United States 
and throughout the world as a respected leader and champion 
of peace whose vision provided a roadmap for the peaceful 
resolution of conflict that endures nearly 40 years after its 
inception. 
(22) President Sadat bravely reached out to Israel and 
dedicated himself to peace, furthering the national security 
of Egypt and the stability of the Middle East. 
(23) On the 30th anniversary of the Peace Treaty, President 
Barack Obama praised the enduring legacy of the Camp David 
Accords and the ‘‘courage and foresight of these leaders, who 
stood together in unity to change the course of our shared 
history’’. President Obama closed by saying, ‘‘Today, as we 
seek to expand the circle of peace among Arabs and Israelis, 
we take inspiration from what Israel and Egypt achieved 3 
decades ago, knowing that the destination is worthy of the 
struggle’’. 
(24) The Camp David Accords and the Peace Treaty con-
tinue to serve the interests of the United States by preserving 
peace and serving as a foundation for partnership and dialogue 
in a region fraught with conflict and division. 
SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 
(a) AWARD AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of the House of Rep-
resentatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate shall 
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132 STAT. 4427 
PUBLIC LAW 115–310—DEC. 13, 2018 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY—H.R. 754 (S. 266): 
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 164 (2018): 
Sept. 26, considered and passed House. 
Dec. 4, considered and passed Senate. 
make appropriate arrangements for the posthumous award, on 
behalf of Congress, of a gold medal of appropriate design to Anwar 
Sadat in recognition of his achievements and heroic actions to 
attain comprehensive peace in the Middle East. 
(b) DESIGN
AND STRIKING.—For the purpose 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. 
(c) PRESENTATION.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The gold medal referred to in subsection 
(a) shall be presented to— 
(A)(i) the widow of Anwar Sadat, Jehan Sadat; or 
(ii) if Jehan Sadat is unavailable, the next of kin of 
Jehan Sadat; and 
(B) a representative of the Government of Egypt. 
(2) 
AWARD
OF
MEDAL.—Following 
the 
presentation 
described in paragraph (1), the gold medal shall be given to— 
(A) Jehan Sadat; or 
(B) if Jehan Sadat is unavailable, the next of kin 
of Jehan Sadat. 
SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 
The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in bronze of the 
gold medal struck under 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. 
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 sections 5134 and 
5136 of title 31, United States Code, all medals struck under 
this Act shall be considered to be numismatic items. 
Approved December 13, 2018. 
Jehan Sadat. 
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