Cesar E. Chavez Congressional Gold Medal Act - Directs the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate to arrange for the presentation, on behalf of Congress, of a gold medal to the next of kin or other personal representative of Cesar E. Chavez in recognition of his service to the Nation. (Chavez organized farm workers to campaign for safe and fair working conditions, founded the National Farm Workers Association-- predecessor of the United Farm Workers of America-- and was a recipient of the Martin Luther King Jr. Peace Prize and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.)
[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4082 Introduced in House (IH)]
108th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 4082
To award a congressional gold medal on behalf of Cesar E. Chavez in
recognition of his service to the Nation.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 31, 2004
Mr. Baca (for himself, Mr. Abercrombie, Mr. Acevedo-Vila, Mr.
Alexander, Mr. Ballance, Mr. Becerra, Mr. Bell, Ms. Berkley, Mr.
Berman, Mr. Blumenauer, Mr. Brady of Pennsylvania, Mr. Brown of Ohio,
Mrs. Capps, Mr. Capuano, Mr. Cardoza, Ms. Carson of Indiana, Mrs.
Christensen, Mr. Clay, Mr. Clyburn, Mr. Conyers, Mr. Cummings, Mr.
Davis of Illinois, Mr. Davis of Tennessee, Ms. DeGette, Ms. DeLauro,
Mr. Doggett, Mr. Dooley of California, Mr. Doyle, Mr. Emanuel, Mr.
Engel, Ms. Eshoo, Mr. Evans, Mr. Farr, Mr. Filner, Mr. Ford, Mr. Frank
of Massachusetts, Mr. Frost, Mr. Gephardt, Mr. Gonzalez, Mr. Green of
Texas, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. Gutierrez, Ms. Harman, Mr. Hastings of
Florida, Mr. Hinojosa, Mr. Honda, Mr. Hoyer, Mr. Inslee, Mr. Jackson of
Illinois, Ms. Jackson-Lee of Texas, Mr. Jefferson, Ms. Eddie Bernice
Johnson of Texas, Mr. Kanjorski, Ms. Kaptur, Mr. Kennedy of Rhode
Island, Mr. Kildee, Mr. Kind, Mr. Kucinich, Mr. Lampson, Mr. Lantos,
Ms. Lee, Mr. Lewis of Georgia, Ms. Lofgren, Mr. Marshall, Mr. Matsui,
Ms. McCarthy of Missouri, Ms. McCollum, Mr. Meeks of New York, Mr.
Menendez, Ms. Millender-McDonald, Mr. George Miller of California, Mr.
Moore, Mr. Moran of Virginia, Mrs. Napolitano, Ms. Norton, Mr. Ortiz,
Mr. Owens, Mr. Pallone, Mr. Pascrell, Mr. Pastor, Mr. Payne, Ms.
Pelosi, Mr. Pomeroy, Mr. Rahall, Mr. Rangel, Mr. Reyes, Mr. Rodriguez,
Ms. Roybal-Allard, Mr. Ryan of Ohio, Mr. Sabo, Ms. Linda T. Sanchez of
California, Ms. Loretta Sanchez of California, Mr. Sandlin, Ms.
Schakowsky, Mr. Schiff, Mr. Scott of Virginia, Mr. Scott of Georgia,
Mr. Serrano, Mr. Sherman, Ms. Slaughter, Ms. Solis, Mrs. Tauscher, Mr.
Thompson of California, Mr. Tierney, Mrs. Jones of Ohio, Mr. Udall of
Colorado, Mr. Udall of New Mexico, Ms. Velazquez, Ms. Waters, Ms.
Watson, Mr. Waxman, Mr. Weiner, Mr. Wu, Mrs. Wilson of New Mexico, Mrs.
Davis of California, and Mr. Fattah) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To award a congressional gold medal on behalf of Cesar E. Chavez in
recognition of his service to the 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 ``Cesar E. Chavez Congressional Gold
Medal Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) Cesar E. Chavez was born March 31, 1927, on a small
farm near Yuma, Arizona, and died on April 23, 1993.
(2) Numerous holidays, schools, parks, libraries, and other
structures and events have been named after Cesar E. Chavez, in
the United States and internationally, with many more planned.
(3) Cesar E. Chavez was a recipient of the Martin Luther
King Jr. Peace Prize during his lifetime and was awarded the
Presidential Medal of Freedom on August 8, 1994.
(4) Cesar E. Chavez was the grandson of a Mexican immigrant
and settler and grew up working with migrant farm workers,
picking grapes, melons, beans, and other crops at low wages and
for long hours, during which time he developed a strong work
ethic and respect for the farm workers his father called ``the
children of God''.
(5) At the age of 18, Cesar E. Chavez entered the United
States Navy and served his country with distinction for 2
years.
(6) As early as 1949, Cesar E. Chavez committed himself to
organizing farm workers to campaign for safe and fair working
conditions, reasonable wages, decent housing, and the outlawing
of child labor.
(7) In 1962, Cesar E. Chavez founded the National Farm
Workers Association, predecessor of the United Farm Workers of
America, which brought hope to farm workers that they might one
day realize the basic protections and workers' rights to which
all Americans aspire.
(8) Through his commitment to nonviolence, Cesar E. Chavez
brought dignity and respect to the farm workers who organized
themselves, and became an inspiration and a resource to other
Americans and people engaged in human rights struggles
throughout the world.
(9) Cesar E. Chavez's fasts and strikes gained national
attention and made people aware of the struggle of farm workers
for better pay and safer working conditions.
(10) Cesar E. Chavez was an advocate for nonviolence at a
time when violence penetrated every level of our society; he
used boycotts, pickets, strikes, and fasts to achieve his goals
and went to jail for refusing to stop his boycott against
lettuce growers.
(11) Despite the killings and beatings of many workers,
Chavez never wavered in his commitment to nonviolence.
(12) Cesar E. Chavez and his family also dedicated
themselves to the education of farm workers' children through
migrant schools, and many of these children graduated and
worked as teachers, doctors, or nurses or in other professional
occupations.
(13) The legacy of Cesar E. Chavez includes healthy working
conditions that yield uncontaminated food for America's tables.
(14) Cesar E. Chavez's influence extends far beyond
agriculture and provides inspiration for those working to
better human rights through his example of organizing voter
registration drives in urban and farm areas, initiating
complaints against mistreatment by police and welfare
officials, and empowering workers to seek advancement in
education and politics.
(15) Cesar E. Chavez lived alongside his campesino brothers
and sisters in humble surroundings.
(16) Upon his death in 1993, Cesar E. Chavez was laid to
rest where he lived and worked for 23 years on the grounds of
the headquarters of the United Farm Workers of America, known
as Nuestra Senora de La Paz (Our Lady of Peace), located in the
Tehachapi Mountains at Keene, California.
(17) With faith, discipline, soft-spoken humility, and
amazing inner strength, Cesar E. Chavez led a very courageous
life.
(18) Cesar E. Chavez' words will always ring true in our
country: Si se puede! Yes, we can!
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 the next of kin or
other personal representative of Cesar E. Chavez in recognition of his
service to the Nation.
(b) Design and Striking.--For the 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, and at a price sufficient to cover the costs
thereof, including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, and
overhead expenses, and the cost of the gold medal.
SEC. 5. STATUS AS NATIONAL MEDALS.
The medals struck pursuant to this Act are national medals for
purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United States Code.
SEC. 6. FUNDING.
(a) Authority to Use Fund Amounts.--There is authorized to be
charged against the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund such an
amount as may be necessary to pay for the costs of the medals
authorized by 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.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR E496)
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