An act to award a Congressional Gold Medal to Stephen Michael Gleason
PL 115-415 (S.2652), enacted 01/03/2019

132 STAT. 5433 
PUBLIC LAW 115–415—JAN. 3, 2019 
Public Law 115–415 
115th Congress 
An Act 
To award a Congressional Gold Medal to Stephen Michael Gleason. 
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 ‘‘Stephen Michael Gleason 
Congressional Gold Medal Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds the following: 
(1) Stephen ‘‘Steve’’ Gleason was born March 19, 1977, 
in Spokane, Washington to Mike and Gail Gleason. 
(2) Steve attended Gonzaga Preparatory School for high 
school where he excelled as both a football and baseball player. 
(3) In 1995, Steve enrolled at Washington State University 
where he was a 2-sport athlete for the baseball and football 
teams and helped the Cougars football team advance to the 
1997 Rose Bowl. 
(4) In 2000, Steve signed a professional football contract 
with the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League 
as an undrafted free agent but later joined the New Orleans 
Saints in November of that same season. 
(5) Steve would go on to play 7 more seasons as a member 
of the New Orleans Saints. 
(6) Steve will always be remembered for his blocked punt 
on September 25, 2006, against the Atlanta Falcons, the night 
the Louisiana Superdome reopened for the first time after 
Hurricane Katrina in a game the Saints would win 23 to 
3. 
(7) In January, 2011 Steve was diagnosed with amyotrophic 
lateral sclerosis or ALS, considered a terminal neuro-muscular 
disease. 
(8) Following his diagnosis, Steve, with the loving support 
of his wife, Michel, began a mission to show that patients 
can not only live but thrive after a diagnosis of ALS and 
established The Gleason Initiative Foundation also known 
simply as ‘‘Team Gleason’’. 
(9) At the time of his diagnosis, however, Steve said there 
will be ‘‘No White Flags’’, which has become the mantra of 
Team Gleason. 
(10) The Gleason Initiative Foundation helps provide 
individuals with neuromuscular diseases or injuries with 
leading edge technology, equipment and services, raises global 
awareness about ALS to find solutions and an end to the 
Stephen Michael 
Gleason 
Congressional 
Gold Medal Act. 
31 USC 5111 
note. 
Jan. 3, 2019 
[S. 2652] 
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132 STAT. 5434 
PUBLIC LAW 115–415—JAN. 3, 2019 
disease, and has helped hundreds of people with ALS experience 
life adventures they never thought possible after their diag-
nosis. 
(11) Steve’s story and mission have been told by the NFL 
Network, ESPN, HBO, ABC, CBS, CNN, and many local media 
outlets, as well as in a 2016 documentary titled ‘‘Gleason’’, 
which was heralded at the Sundance Film Festival and 
premiered across the country with Variety calling the produc-
tion ‘‘an emotional powerhouse’’. The documentary won several 
awards, including the 2016 Washington, D.C. Area Film Critics 
Association Award for Best Documentary. 
(12) Steve was named one of two Sports Illustrated’s 
Inspirations of the Year in 2014, has been a keynote speaker 
for Microsoft and at two United Nations sponsored Social 
Innovation Summits, and received the 2015 George S. Halas 
Courage Award, given to a NFL player, coach or staff member 
who overcomes the most adversity to succeed. 
(13) Steve helped advocate for the Steve Gleason Act of 
2015 (Public Law 114–40; 129 Stat. 441), and the Steve Gleason 
Enduring Voices Act of 2017, H.R. 2465, 115th Congress (2017), 
which permanently ensures people living with diseases such 
ALS have access to speech generating devices regardless of 
their setting, whether at home or a healthcare institution. 
(14) In 2014, Steve and Team Gleason hosted a global 
summit to bring together researchers, patients, caregivers, and 
all ALS stakeholders to create a plan to ultimately end ALS. 
That summit resulted in the single largest coordinated and 
collaborative ALS research project in the world, Answer ALS, 
which brings together nearly two dozen research institutions, 
1,000 patients and 20,000,000,000,000 data points that are 
important to the project and that will define the unknown 
pathways that will lead to treatments or finally a cure. 
(15) In 2015, Steve and Microsoft worked together to create 
a method for people who are completely paralyzed to navigate 
their power wheelchairs with their eyes. Today, Steve, Microsoft 
and all wheelchair manufacturers are working collaboratively 
to make it widely available to all who need this technology. 
In addition, Microsoft has also made eye tracking technology 
part of all Windows 10 products across the globe. 
(16) In 2011, 10 months after his diagnosis, Steve and 
Michel made their most significant accomplishment, becoming 
parents to their son Rivers. 
(17) Steve and Michel Gleason continue to fight to find 
a solution for ALS so they can share many years together 
and as parents to Rivers. 
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 
make appropriate arrangements for the award, on behalf of the 
Congress, of a single gold medal of appropriate design to Stephen 
Michael Gleason. 
(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 the gold 
medal with suitable emblems, devices, and inscriptions, to be deter-
mined by the Secretary. 
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132 STAT. 5435 
PUBLIC LAW 115–415—JAN. 3, 2019 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY—S. 2652: 
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 164 (2018): 
June 14, considered and passed Senate. 
Dec. 20, considered and passed House. 
SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 
Under such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, the 
Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in bronze of the gold 
medal struck under section 3, at a price sufficient to cover the 
costs of the medals, including labor, materials, dies, use of 
machinery, and overhead expenses. 
SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS. 
Medals struck pursuant to this Act are national medals for 
purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United States Code. 
Approved January 3, 2019. 
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