Directs the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate to arrange for the presentation of a congressional gold medal to Monsignor Ignatius McDermott (founder of Haymarket Center, the largest drug abuse treatment center in Chicago) in recognition of his contribution to the drug treatment community and his accomplishments as a priest and humanitarian.
[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3148 Introduced in House (IH)]
108th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3148
To award a congressional gold medal to Monsignor Ignatius McDermott in
recognition of his contribution to the drug treatment community, and
his accomplishments as a priest and humanitarian.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 23, 2003
Mr. Davis of Illinois (for himself, Mr. Hastert, Mr. LaHood, and Mr.
Lipinski) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Financial Services
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To award a congressional gold medal to Monsignor Ignatius McDermott in
recognition of his contribution to the drug treatment community, and
his accomplishments as a priest and humanitarian.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) Monsignor Ignatius McDermott is a man of unwavering
faith, deep compassion, and tireless devotion to helping those
who are among the most desperate and needy.
(2) In his own words, today's world is over-saturated with
a surplus of starters and a famine of finishers: Monsignor
McDermott is a finisher.
(3) Monsignor McDermott, or ``Father Mac'' as he is
affectionately referred to by everyone from the Governor of
Illinois to the last wanderer from the street, grew up on
Chicago's South Side and was ordained in the priesthood in
1936.
(4) From the start of his career, Father Mac found a
calling in helping those plagued by dependency on alcohol and
drugs.
(5) Inspired by experiences in his early work with children
neglected due to alcohol abuse, and at a charity near a police
``drunk tank'', Father Mac sought not only to help those who
could not help themselves, but to change the very system that
had in many ways given up on them.
(6) Working toward a solution, Father Mac founded the
Addiction Counseling Education Services in 1961, which provided
counseling to alcoholics and other substance abusers who had no
other means to get help.
(7) Later, he would expand his work to the Chicago schools
system, where he developed an alcohol education curriculum and
fostered Alternatives to Expulsion, a program to help teachers
salvage addicted teenagers who were willing to give up drinking
and drugs and resume their studies.
(8) This program worked so well that it was incorporated
into State of Illinois educational practices.
(9) Father Mac's work has had a lasting impact on the
treatment community as a whole; in 1963, he founded the Central
States Institute of Addiction, a nonprofit charitable
organization providing instruction to social workers and
counselors regarding addiction and dependency.
(10) This Institute is only one of numerous programs begun
through his inspiration and dedication that continue to
function to the benefit of many.
(11) Father Mac's lifelong concern for the homeless
inebriate and for families split by alcoholism has also met
with matching public attitudes.
(12) His work helped first bring to light the problems of
drinking and driving, provide treatment services to pregnant
mothers suffering from addiction, and to decriminalize the
public inebriate.
(13) This latter breakthrough led to his creating the
Chicago Clergy Association for the Homeless Person, and the
founding of Haymarket Center at the age of 75, a time when most
people are ready to retire.
(14) Father Mac is now 94, and Haymarket Center is the
largest drug abuse treatment center in the City of Chicago
providing integrated treatment services for an average of
18,000 clients annually, and serving as a model for other
treatment programs throughout the Nation.
(15) As the Nation renews its commitment to addiction
disorders, Father Mac continues what has become a lifelong
pursuit of helping others raise themselves from the depths of
their personal struggles with addiction.
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 the
Congress, of a gold medal of appropriate design, to Monsignor Ignatius
McDermott, in recognition of his contribution to the drug treatment
community, and his accomplishments as a priest and humanitarian.
(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. 3. 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. 4. 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. 5. 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 3 shall be deposited into the
United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Domestic and International Monetary Policy, Trade, and Technology.
Llama 3.2 · runs locally in your browser
Ask anything about this bill. The AI reads the full text to answer.
Enter to send · Shift+Enter for new line