109th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 4924
To award a congressional gold medal to Dr. Norman E. Borlaug.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 9, 2006
Mr. LATHAM (for himself, Mr. LEACH, Mr. KING of Iowa, Mr. BOSWELL, Mr.
NUSSLE, Mr. SABO, Mr. KENNEDY of Minnesota, Mr. PETERSON of Minnesota, Mr.
GUTKNECHT, Mr. OBERSTAR, Mr. KLINE, and Mr. RAMSTAD) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services
A BILL
To award a congressional gold medal to Dr. Norman E. Borlaug.
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 `Congressional Tribute to Dr. Norman E. Borlaug
Act of 2006'.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds as follows:
(1) Dr. Norman E. Borlaug, was born in Iowa where he grew up on a family
farm, and received his primary and secondary education.
(2) Dr. Borlaug attended the University of Minnesota where he received
his B.A. and Ph.D. degrees and was also a star NCAA wrestler.
(3) For the past 20 years, Dr. Borlaug has lived in Texas where he is
a member of the faculty of Texas A&M University.
(4) Dr. Borlaug also serves as President of the Sasakawa Africa Association.
(5) Dr. Borlaug's accomplishments in terms of bringing radical change
to world agriculture and uplifting humanity are without parallel.
(6) In the immediate aftermath of World War II, Dr. Borlaug spent 20 years
working in the poorest areas of rural Mexico. It was there that Dr. Borlaug
made his breakthrough achievement in developing a strain of wheat that
could exponentially increase yields while actively resisting disease.
(7) With the active support of the governments involved, Dr. Borlaug's
`green revolution' uplifted hundreds of thousands of the rural poor in
Mexico and saved hundreds of millions from famine and outright starvation
in India and Pakistan.
(8) Dr. Borlaug's approach to wheat production next spread throughout
the Middle East. Soon thereafter his approach was adapted to rice growing,
increasing the number of lives Dr. Borlaug has saved to more than a billion
people.
(9) In 1970, Dr. Borlaug received the Nobel Prize, the only person working
in agriculture to ever be so honored. Since then he has received numerous
honors and awards including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Public
Service Medal, the National Academy of Sciences' highest honor, and the
Rotary International Award for World Understanding and Peace.
(10) At age 91, Dr. Borlaug continues to work to alleviate poverty and
malnutrition. He currently serves as president of Sasakawa Global 2000
Africa Project, which seeks to extend the benefits of agricultural development
to the 800,000,000 people still mired in poverty and malnutrition in sub-Saharan
Africa.
(11) Dr. Borlaug continues to serve as Chairman of the Council of Advisors
of the World Food Prize, an organization he created in 1986 to be the
`Nobel Prize for Food and Agriculture' and which presents a $250,000 prize
each October at a Ceremony in Des Moines, Iowa, to the Laureate who has
made an exceptional achievement similar to Dr. Borlaug's breakthrough
40 years ago. In the almost 20 years of its existence, the World Food
Prize has honored Laureates from Bangladesh, India, China, Mexico, Denmark,
Sierra Leone, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
(12) Dr. Borlaug has saved more lives than any other person who has ever
lived, and likely has saved more lives in the Islamic world than any other
human being in history.
(13) Due to a lifetime of work that has led to the saving and preservation
of an untold amount of lives, Dr. Norman E. Borlaug is deserving of America's
highest civilian award: the congressional gold medal.
SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL.
(a) Presentation Authorized- The President Pro Tempore of the Senate and
the Speaker of the House of Representatives are authorized to make appropriate
arrangements for the presentation, on behalf of Congress, of a gold medal
of appropriate design, to Dr. Norman E. Borlaug, in recognition of his enduring
contributions to the United States and the world.
(b) Design and Striking- For the purpose 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.
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 cost thereof, including labor, materials,
dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses, and the cost of the gold
medal.
SEC. 5. STATUS AS NATIONAL MEDALS.
(a) National Medal- The medal struck under this Act is a national medal
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 duplicate 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 are authorized to be charged against
the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund, such sums as may be necessary
to pay for the cost of the medals struck under this Act.
(b) Proceeds of Sale- Amounts received from the sale of duplicate bronze
medals under section 4 shall be deposited in the United States Mint Public
Enterprise Fund.
END
