To award a Congressional Gold Medal to the Foot Soldiers who participated in Bloody Sunday, Turnaround Tuesday, or the final Selma to Montgomery Voting Rights March in March of 1965, which served as a catalyst for the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
PL 114-5 (H.R.431), enacted 03/07/2015

129 STAT. 78 
PUBLIC LAW 114–5—MAR. 7, 2015 
Public Law 114–5 
114th Congress 
An Act 
To award a Congressional Gold Medal to the Foot Soldiers who participated in 
Bloody Sunday, Turnaround Tuesday, or the final Selma to Montgomery Voting 
Rights March in March of 1965, which served as a catalyst for the Voting Rights 
Act of 1965. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds the following: 
(1) March 7, 2015, will mark 50 years since the brave 
Foot Soldiers of the Voting Rights Movement first attempted 
to march from Selma to Montgomery on ‘‘Bloody Sunday’’ in 
protest against the denial of their right to vote, and were 
brutally assaulted by Alabama state troopers. 
(2) Beginning in 1964, members of the Student Nonviolent 
Coordinating Committee attempted to register African-Ameri-
cans to vote throughout the state of Alabama. 
(3) These efforts were designed to ensure that every Amer-
ican citizen would be able to exercise their constitutional right 
to vote and have their voices heard. 
(4) By December of 1964, many of these efforts remained 
unsuccessful. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., working with leaders 
from the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and the 
Southern Christian Leadership Conference, began to organize 
protests throughout Alabama. 
(5) On March 7, 1965, over 500 voting rights marchers 
known as ‘‘Foot Soldiers’’ gathered on the Edmund Pettus 
Bridge in Selma, Alabama in peaceful protest of the denial 
of their most sacred and constitutionally protected right—the 
right to vote. 
(6) Led by John Lewis of the Student Nonviolent Coordi-
nating Committee and Rev. Hosea Williams of the Southern 
Christian Leadership Conference, these Foot Soldiers began 
the march towards the Alabama State Capitol in Montgomery, 
Alabama. 
(7) As the Foot Soldiers crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge, 
they were confronted by a wall of Alabama state troopers 
who brutally attacked and beat them. 
(8) Americans across the country witnessed this tragic turn 
of events as news stations broadcasted the brutality on a day 
that would be later known as ‘‘Bloody Sunday’’. 
(9) Two days later on Tuesday, March 9, 1965, nearly 
2,500 Foot Soldiers led by Dr. Martin Luther King risked 
their lives once more and attempted a second peaceful march 
John Lewis. 
Hosea Williams. 
Martin Luther 
King, Jr. 
31 USC 5111 
note. 
Mar. 7, 2015 
[H.R. 431] 
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129 STAT. 79 
PUBLIC LAW 114–5—MAR. 7, 2015 
starting at the Edmund Pettus Bridge. This second attempted 
march was later known as ‘‘Turnaround Tuesday’’. 
(10) Fearing for the safety of these Foot Soldiers who 
received no protection from federal or state authorities during 
this second march, Dr. King led the marchers to the base 
of the Edmund Pettus Bridge and stopped. Dr. King kneeled 
and offered a prayer of solidarity and walked back to the 
church. 
(11) President Lyndon B. Johnson, inspired by the bravery 
and determination of these Foot Soldiers and the atrocities 
they endured, announced his plan for a voting rights bill aimed 
at securing the precious right to vote for all citizens during 
an address to Congress on March 15, 1965. 
(12) On March 17, 1965, one week after ‘‘Turnaround Tues-
day’’, U.S. District Judge Frank M. Johnson ruled the Foot 
Soldiers had a First Amendment right to petition the govern-
ment through peaceful protest, and ordered federal agents to 
provide full protection to the Foot Soldiers during the Selma 
to Montgomery Voting Rights March. 
(13) Judge Johnson’s decision overturned Alabama Gov-
ernor George Wallace’s prohibition on the protest due to public 
safety concerns. 
(14) On March 21, 1965, under the court order, the U.S. 
Army, the federalized Alabama National Guard, and countless 
federal agents and marshals escorted nearly 8,000 Foot Soldiers 
from the start of their heroic journey in Selma, Alabama to 
their safe arrival on the steps of the Alabama State Capitol 
Building on March 25, 1965. 
(15) The extraordinary bravery and sacrifice these Foot 
Soldiers displayed in pursuit of a peaceful march from Selma 
to Montgomery brought national attention to the struggle for 
equal voting rights, and served as the catalyst for Congress 
to pass the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which President Johnson 
signed into law on August 6, 1965. 
(16) To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Voting 
Rights Movement and the passage of the Voting Rights Act 
of 1965, it is befitting that Congress bestow the highest civilian 
honor, the Congressional Gold Medal, in 2015, to the Foot 
Soldiers who participated in Bloody Sunday, Turnaround Tues-
day or the final Selma to Montgomery Voting Rights March 
during March of 1965, which served as a catalyst for the Voting 
Rights Act of 1965. 
SEC. 2. 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 gold medal of appropriate design to the 
Foot Soldiers who participated in Bloody Sunday, Turnaround Tues-
day, or the final Selma to Montgomery Voting Rights March during 
March of 1965, which served as a catalyst for the Voting Rights 
Act of 1965. 
(b) DESIGN AND STRIKING.—For purposes of the presentation 
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. 
Frank M. 
Johnson. 
Lyndon B. 
Johnson. 
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129 STAT. 80 
PUBLIC LAW 114–5—MAR. 7, 2015 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY—H.R. 431 (S. 527): 
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 161 (2015): 
Feb. 11, considered and passed House. 
Mar. 2, considered and passed Senate. 
(c) AWARD OF MEDAL.—Following the award of the gold medal 
described in subsection (a), the medal shall be given to the Selma 
Interpretative Center in Selma, Alabama, where it shall be available 
for display or temporary loan to be displayed elsewhere, as appro-
priate. 
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. STATUS OF MEDALS. 
(a) NATIONAL MEDALS.—The medals struck pursuant to 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 March 7, 2015. 
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