110th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1000
To award a Congressional Gold Medal to Edward William Brooke III
in recognition of his unprecedented and enduring service to our Nation.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 12, 2007
Ms. NORTON (for herself, Ms. KILPATRICK, Mr. LYNCH, Mr. DELAHUNT, Mr. MARKEY,
Mr. MEEHAN, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. OLVER, Mr. CAPUANO,
Mr. TIERNEY, and Mr. NEAL of Massachusetts) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services
A BILL
To award a Congressional Gold Medal to Edward William Brooke III
in recognition of his unprecedented and enduring service to our Nation.
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 `Edward William Brooke III Congressional Gold
Medal Act'.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds as follows:
(1) Edward William Brooke III was the first African American elected by
popular vote to the United States Senate and served with distinction for
2 terms from January 3, 1967, to January 3, 1979.
(2) In 1960, Senator Brooke began his public career when Governor John
Volpe appointed him chairman of the Boston Finance Commission, where the
young lawyer established an outstanding record of confronting and eliminating
graft and corruption and proposed groundbreaking legislation for consumer
protection and against housing discrimination and air pollution.
(3) At a time when few African Americans held State or Federal office,
Senator Brooke became an exceptional pioneer, beginning in 1962, when
he made national and State history by being elected Attorney General of
Massachusetts, the first African American in the Nation to serve as a
State Attorney General, the second highest office in the State, and the
only Republican to win statewide in the election that year, at a time
when there were fewer than 1,000 African American officials in our Nation.
(4) He won office as a Republican in a state that was strongly Democratic.
(5) As Massachusetts Attorney General, Senator Brooke became known for
his fearless and honest execution of the laws of his State and for his
vigorous prosecution of organized crime.
(6) The pioneering accomplishments of Edward William Brooke III in public
service were achieved although he was raised in Washington, DC at a time
when the Nation's capital was a city where schools, public accommodations,
and other institutions were segregated, and when the District of Columbia
did not have its own self-governing institutions or elected officials.
(7) Senator Brooke graduated from Paul Laurence Dunbar High School and
went on to graduate from Howard University in 1941.
(8) Senator Brooke's enduring advocacy for self-government and congressional
voting rights for the citizens of Washington, DC has roots in his life
and personal experience as a native Washingtonian.
(9) Senator Brooke served for 5 years in the United States Army in the
segregated 366th Infantry Regiment during World War II in the European
theater of operations, attaining the rank of captain and receiving a Bronze
Star Medal for `heroic or meritorious achievement or service' and the
Distinguished Service Award.
(10) After the war, Senator Brooke attended Boston University School of
Law, where he served as editor of the school's Law Review, graduating
with an LL.B. in 1948 and an LL.M. in 1949, and made Massachusetts his
home.
(11) During his career in Congress, Senator Brooke was a leader on some
of the most critical issues of his time, including the war in Vietnam,
the struggle for civil rights, the shameful system of apartheid in South
Africa, the Cold War, and United States' relations with the People's Republic
of China.
(12) President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed Senator Brooke to the President's
Commission on Civil Disorders in 1967, where his work on discrimination
in housing would serve as the basis for the 1968 Civil Rights Act.
(13) Senator Brooke continued to champion open housing when he left the
Senate and became the head of the National Low-Income Housing Coalition.
(14) Senator Brooke has been recognized with many high honors, among them
the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2004, an honor that recognizes `an
especially meritorious contribution to the security or national interests
of the United States, world peace, cultural or other significant public
or private endeavors'; the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit from the
Government of Italy; a State courthouse dedicated in his honor by the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts, making him the first African American to
have a State courthouse named in his honor; the NAACP Spingarn Medal;
and the Charles Evans Hughes award from the National Conference of Christians
and Jews.
(15) Senator Brooke's biography, Bridging The Divide: My Life, was published
in 2006, and he is the author of The Challenge of Change: Crisis in Our
Two-Party System, published in 1966.
(16) Senator Brooke became a racial pioneer, but race was never at the
center of his political campaigns.
(17) He demonstrated to all that with commitment, determination, and strength
of character, even the barriers once thought insurmountable can be overcome.
(18) He has devoted his life to the service of others, and made enormous
contributions to our society today.
(19) The life and accomplishments of Senator Brooke is inspiring proof,
as he says, that `people can be elected on the basis of their qualifications
and not their race'.
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 Edward William Brooke III in recognition of his unprecedented
and enduring service to our Nation.
(b) Design and Striking- For purposes of the presentation referred to in
subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury (hereafter in this Act referred
to 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 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 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
