109th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 2235
To posthumously award a congressional gold medal to Constance Baker
Motley.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
February 1, 2006
Mr. SCHUMER (for himself, Mrs. CLINTON, Mr. BAYH, Ms. MIKULSKI, Mr. OBAMA,
Mr. WYDEN, Mr. SALAZAR, Mr. DURBIN, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. DEWINE, Ms. STABENOW,
Mr. KERRY, Mr. PRYOR, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. LIEBERMAN, Mrs. LINCOLN, and Mr. DAYTON)
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
A BILL
To posthumously award a congressional gold medal to Constance Baker
Motley.
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 Constance Baker Motley
Act of 2006'.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds as follows:
(1) Constance Baker Motley was born in 1921, in New Haven, Connecticut,
the daughter of immigrants from the Caribbean island of Nevis.
(2) In 1943, Constance Baker Motley graduated from New York University
with a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics.
(3) Upon receiving a law degree from Columbia University in 1946, Constance
Baker Motley became a staff attorney at the National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc.,
and fought tirelessly for 2 decades alongside Thurgood Marshall and other
leading civil rights lawyers to dismantle segregation throughout the country.
(4) Constance Baker Motley was the only female attorney on the legal team
that won the landmark desegregation case, Brown v. Board of Education.
(5) Constance Baker Motley argued 10 major civil rights cases before the
Supreme Court, winning all but one, including the case brought on behalf
of James Meredith challenging the University of Mississippi's refusal
to admit him.
(6) Constance Baker Motley's only loss before the United States Supreme
Court was in Swain v. Alabama, a case in which the Court refused to proscribe
race-based peremptory challenges in cases involving African-American defendants,
and which was later reversed in Batson v. Kentucky on grounds that had
been largely asserted by Constance Baker Motley in the Swain case.
(7) In 1964, Constance Baker Motley became the first African-American
woman elected to the New York State Senate.
(8) In 1965, Constance Baker Motley became the first African-American
woman, and the first woman, to serve as president of the Borough of Manhattan.
(9) Constance Baker Motley, in her capacity as an elected public official
in New York, continued to fight for civil rights, dedicating herself to
the revitalization of the inner city and improvement of urban public schools
and housing.
(10) In 1966, Constance Baker Motley was appointed by President Johnson
as a United States District Court Judge for the Southern District of New
York.
(11) The appointment of Constance Baker Motley made her the first African-American
woman, and only the fifth woman, appointed and confirmed for a Federal
judgeship.
(12) In 1982, Constance Baker Motley was elevated to Chief Judge of the
United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, the
largest Federal trial court in the United States.
(13) Constance Baker Motley assumed senior status in 1986, and continued
serving with distinction for nearly 2 decades.
(14) Constance Baker Motley passed away on September 28, 2005, and is
survived by her husband Joel Wilson Motley Jr., their son, Joel Motley
III, her 3 grandchildren, her brother, Edmund Baker of Florida, and her
sisters Edna Carnegie, Eunice Royster, and Marian Green, of New Haven,
Connecticut.
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 posthumous presentation, on behalf of Congress, of
a gold medal of appropriate design in commemoration of Constance Baker Motley,
in recognition of her enduring contributions and service to the United States.
(b) Design and Striking- For the purpose of the presentation referred to
in subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury (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
