To award a congressional gold medal to Chief Phillip Martin of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians.

April 3, 2003

Mr. PICKERING introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services

To award a congressional gold medal to Chief Phillip Martin of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians.

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 `Chief Martin Congressional Gold Medal Act'.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

The Congress finds as follows:

(1) For more than 45 years, Chief Phillip Martin has provided extraordinary leadership to the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, a federally recognized Indian tribe located in the State of Mississippi, as the tribe has undertaken a long and courageous journey to preserve social and cultural identity while developing relative prosperity.

(2) The vision, guidance, and determination of Chief Martin has led to the emergence of a virtual economic miracle, the creation and development of a new government, and the revitalization of an ancient society: a claim few governmental leaders of our time are able to make.

(3) Chief Martin has led efforts designed to create a vibrant tribal economy that would first provide jobs, then dignity, and over time a higher quality of life for the Choctaw people as well as neighboring communities.

(4) Once described as `the worst poverty pocket in the poorest State of the Union', the Choctaws under Chief Martin's leadership have evolved from subsistence sharecroppers to become proprietors of a multi-enterprise, industrial and commercial powerhouse.

(5) With the creation of nearly 9,000 permanent, full-time jobs, the Choctaw tribe is now one of the five largest employers in the State of Mississippi.

(6) Chief Martin has been guided by a belief that self-reliance breeds opportunity.

(7) Early developments on the Choctaw reservation, while modest in retrospect, were nonetheless ambitious and challenging in their beginnings.

(8) Faced with active opposition from Federal authorities and expectations of failure from many others, Chief Martin tenaciously led the Choctaw tribe to establish a tribally-owned construction company, then a small industrial park which produced the first large scale reservation-based manufacturing jobs in the Nation.

(9) In addition to more usual government-operated enterprises, such as a transit authority, a utility commission, and a public works department, the Chief also created many fruitful partnerships with the private sector.

(10) These dynamic developments have now given the tribe a solid economic foundation.

(11) Recognizing that the most valuable asset of any community is its people, Chief Martin led the Choctaws to take over direct operation of its own education system from the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

(12) The tribe today operates the largest unified tribal school system in the Nation with 6 elementary schools, a middle school, and a high school.

(13) Chief Martin has continued toward the goal of producing a new generation of well-educated and well-trained tribal members through establishment of the Choctaw Indian Scholarships Program giving all Mississippi Choctaw students the opportunity to attend colleges and universities of their choice.

(14) With the passage of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act in 1975, the Congress established the concepts of self-determination, self-reliance, and tribal initiative as the basis for a new covenant between the Federal Government and the American Indian peoples.

(15) However, it has only been through the extraordinary commitment and ceaseless efforts of tribal leaders, such as Chief Martin, that these concepts were given life and put into practice.

(16) `Choctaw Self Determination' became Chief Martin's clarion call (and it remains the tribe's unofficial slogan) to motivate an impoverished reservation that institutionalized poverty and hopelessness to transform itself into the vibrant entity that today serves as a beacon of success for other tribal and non-tribal communities.

(17) Deeply devoted to tribal sovereignty, trust land, and economic development issues, Chief Martin has improved the lives of thousands in Mississippi and is perhaps the most recognized American Indian leader: he has been called `one of Indian Country's greatest leaders'.

(18) The outstanding example of Chief Phillip Martin deserves to be recognized and honored by the United States Congress.

SEC. 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 Chief Phillip Martin in recognition of his leadership of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians for over 45 years, and for his invaluable contributions nationally to the American Indian community and particularly to the native and non-native communities of Mississippi.

(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.

SEC. 4. 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. 5. 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 section 5134 of title 31, United States Code, all medals struck under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic items.

SEC. 6. AUTHORITY TO USE FUND AMOUNTS; PROCEEDS OF SALE.

(a) AUTHORITY TO USE FUND AMOUNTS- There is authorized to be charged against the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund such amounts as may be necessary to pay for the costs of the medals struck pursuant to this Act.

(b) PROCEEDS OF SALE- Amounts received from the sale of duplicate bronze medals authorized under section 4 shall be deposited into the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund.

END