HR 401
112th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 401
To authorize the President to award a gold medal on behalf of Congress
to Muhammad Ali in recognition of his contributions to the Nation.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 24, 2011
Mr. CARSON of Indiana introduced the following bill; which was referred to
the Committee on Financial Services
A BILL
To authorize the President to award a gold medal on behalf of Congress
to Muhammad Ali in recognition of his contributions to the Nation.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Born Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr., on January 17, 1942, in Louisville,
Kentucky, Muhammad Ali was the first child of Cassius, Sr. and Odessa Clay.
(2) Muhammad Ali is one of the most celebrated athletes of the 20th century.
He has produced some of America's greatest sports memories, from winning
a gold medal at the 1960 Summer Olympics to lighting the Olympic torch at
the 1996 Summer Olympics.
(3) After an impressive amateur career, during which he recorded 131 wins
and only 7 losses and won 2 National AAU light heavyweight titles, Muhammad
Ali became the first professional boxer in history to capture the heavyweight
title 3 separate times.
(4) Muhammad Ali defeated every challenger he faced in the ring. But on
April 28, 1967, he was stripped of his boxing title and barred from competing
for being a conscientious objector to the war in Vietnam on religious and
moral grounds. However, following a unanimous United States Supreme Court
decision in 1971, Muhammad Ali's conscientious objector status was confirmed,
his boxing license was reinstated, and he was cleared of any wrong doing.
(5) As an African-American and a Muslim living in an era that continued
to question his civil rights, Muhammad Ali battled issues of race and religion,
and has received recognition as one of the champions of the Civil Rights
Movement in the United States.
(6) Muhammad Ali is the recipient of many awards for his sporting prowess
and his support of racial harmony, including the Dr. Martin Luther King
Memorial Award, the Spirit of America Award, the Amnesty International Lifetime
Achievement Award, the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage, the Essence Living
Legend Award, the Rainbow Coalition Lifetime Achievement Award, the XNBA
Human Spirit Award, the Presidential Citizens Medal, and the Presidential
Medal of Freedom.
(7) Muhammad Ali has been acknowledged by many organizations for his achievements
both inside and outside the boxing ring, including being crowned `Sportsman
of the Century' by Sports Illustrated, being named `Athlete of the Century'
by GQ magazine, being named `Sports Personality of the Century' by the British
Broadcasting Corporation, being named `Kentucky Athlete of the Century'
by the Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame, being named `Kentuckian of the Century'
by the State of Kentucky, being named `Louisvillian of the Century' by the
Advertising Club of Louisville, being named `Boxer of the Century' by the
World Sports Awards of the Century, being recognized by the International
Boxing Hall of Fame, and receiving honorary doctorate degrees from Muhlenberg
College and Western Kentucky University, as well as an honorary doctorate
of humanities at Princeton University's 260th graduation ceremony.
(8) Muhammad Ali received the prestigious `Otto Hahn Peace Medal in Gold'
from the United Nations Association of Germany for his work with the United
Nations and the Civil Rights Movement in the United States.
(9) Muhammad Ali was selected by the California Bicentennial Foundation
for the U.S. Constitution to personify the vitality of the Bill of Rights
in various high-profile activities.
(10) Despite having been diagnosed with Parkinson's Syndrome in the early
1980s, Muhammad Ali has dedicated his life to the cause of universal human
rights and freedom. His commitment to equal justice and peace has touched
the lives of hundreds of thousands of people worldwide.
(11) President Jimmy Carter asked Muhammad Ali to meet with African leaders
in Tanzania, Kenya, Nigeria, Liberia, and Senegal as part of President Carter's
diplomatic efforts on behalf of human rights in the 1980s.
(12) In 1990, Muhammad Ali traveled to the Middle East to seek the release
of American and British hostages that were being held as human shields in
the first Gulf War. As a result of his intervention, 15 United States hostages
were freed on December 2nd of that year.
(13) In 1998, Muhammad Ali was chosen as the `U.N. Messenger of Peace'.
(14) Several Presidents of the United States have recognized Muhammad Ali,
including President George W. Bush who, on November 17, 2002, called him
`a man of peace' and stated that `across the world, billions of people know
Muhammad Ali as a brave, compassionate, and charming man, and the American
people are proud to call Muhammad Ali one of our own,' President Bill Clinton
who stated that Muhammad Ali `captured the world's imagination and its heart.
Outside the ring, Muhammad Ali has dedicated his life to working for children,
feeding the hungry, supporting his faith, and standing up for racial equality.
He has always fought for a just and more humane world, breaking down barriers
here in America and around the world. There are no telling how many tens
of millions of people had their hearts swell with pride and their eyes swell
with tears in 1996 when Muhammad Ali lit the Olympic torch, because we know,
now and forever, he is the greatest,' President Jimmy Carter who cited Muhammad
Ali as `Mr. International Friendship,' and President Barack Obama who, as
a Senator, had a framed picture of Muhammad Ali hanging in his office, and
before announcing his intentions to run for President, Obama visited with
Muhammad Ali at the Ali Center in Louisville, Kentucky.
(15) Muhammad Ali continues to encourage humanity through his perseverance
and the support of thousands of people. He has helped such organizations
as the Chicago-based adoption agency, The Cradle; the Make-A-Wish Foundation;
the Special Olympics' organization, Best Buddies; and Herbert E. Birch Services,
an organization that runs a school for handicapped children and young adults,
in addition to a summer camp for children infected with AIDS.
(16) Muhammad Ali and his wife Lonnie are founding directors of the Muhammad
Ali Parkinson Center in Phoenix, Arizona, and have helped raise over $50
million for Parkinson's research. The Center's mission is to provide excellence
in treatment, research, and education for patients and families affected
by Parkinson's disease and other movement disorders, regardless of ability
to pay.
(17) Muhammad Ali is an inspiration to countless individuals with Parkinson's
disease, including members of the Rock Steady Boxing Foundation in Indianapolis,
Indiana, which was founded to give people with Parkinson's disease hope
by improving their quality of life using boxing for fitness.
(18) Muhammad Ali is one of the founding members of Athletes for Hope, an
organization created by a few very successful athletes of exemplary character
who have a deep commitment to charitable and community causes.
(19) Muhammad Ali also established the Muhammad Ali Center in his hometown
of Louisville, Kentucky, which promotes respect, hope, and understanding,
and inspires people everywhere to be as great as they can be. A visitor
of the Muhammad Ali Center experiences the `hows' of Ali's life: how he
found the courage, the dedication, and the discipline to become who he is
today; how he found the conviction to stand up for what he believed; and
how he turned his passion for excellence in the ring to a passion for peace
on the world stage.
(20) Like Muhammad Ali himself, the Muhammad Ali Center focuses on what
brings individuals together, not what sets them apart, and is a `global
gathering place' to which people can come, both online and in person, to
learn, share, and celebrate our commonalities as human beings and to formulate
ways of advancing humanity.
(21) Muhammad Ali has helped to provide more than 22,000,000 aid packets
to assist people in need, and until recently traveled, on average, more
than 200 days per year for humanitarian causes.
(22) Muhammad Ali, known simply as `the greatest,' has transcended the glamour
and glory of being a sports champion to become not only one of the greatest
sports figures, but one of the greatest role models of our time.
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 Muhammad Ali in recognition of his contributions to the Nation.
(b) Design and Striking- For the purpose of the presentation referred to in
subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury (hereinafter 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. 3. DUPLICATE MEDALS.
Under such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, the Secretary may strike
and sell duplicates in bronze of the gold medal struck pursuant to section
2 at a price sufficient to cover the cost of the bronze medals (including
labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses) and the cost
of the gold medal.
SEC. 4. NATIONAL MEDALS.
The medals struck under this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter
51 of title 31, United States Code.
SEC. 5. AUTHORITY TO USE FUND AMOUNTS; PROCEEDS OF SALE.
(a) Authorization 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 cost of the medals struck pursuant to this Act.
(b) Proceeds of Sale- Amounts received from the sale of duplicate bronze medals
under section 3 shall be deposited in the United States Mint Public Enterprise
Fund.
END
