Stewart Lee Udall Congressional Gold Medal Act - Directs the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate to make appropriate arrangements for the posthumous presentation, on behalf of Congress, of a gold medal of appropriate design in commemoration of Stewart Lee Udall, in recognition of his contributions to the nation.
[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6494 Introduced in House (IH)]
112th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 6494
To award posthumously a Congressional Gold Medal to Stewart Lee Udall,
in recognition of his contributions to the nation.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 21, 2012
Mr. Thompson of California (for himself, Mr. Carson of Indiana, Mr.
Clay, Mr. Rangel, Mr. Boswell, Mr. Van Hollen, Ms. Bordallo, Mr. Larsen
of Washington, Ms. Woolsey, Mr. Dingell, Mr. Rahall, Mr. Lujan, Mr.
George Miller of California, Ms. DeGette, Mr. Meeks, Ms. McCollum, Mrs.
Christensen, Ms. Chu, Ms. Linda T. Sanchez of California, Mr. Heinrich,
Mr. McGovern, Mr. King of New York, Mr. Blumenauer, Mr. Stark, Mr.
Matheson, Mr. Moran, Mr. Quigley, Mr. Kind, Mr. Kildee, Mr. Nadler, Mr.
Grijalva, Ms. Zoe Lofgren of California, Mr. Farr, Mr. Pascrell, Mr.
Faleomavaega, Mr. Perlmutter, Ms. Schakowsky, Mr. Garamendi, Ms.
Norton, Mr. DeFazio, Mr. Markey, Ms. Pingree of Maine, Ms. Eshoo, Ms.
Hirono, Mr. Kucinich, and Mr. Reichert) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To award posthumously a Congressional Gold Medal to Stewart Lee Udall,
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. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Stewart Lee Udall Congressional Gold
Medal Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) Stewart Lee Udall was born on January 31, 1920, in
Saint Johns, Arizona, the son of former Arizona Supreme Court
Justice Levi Stewart Udall and Louise Lee Udall.
(2) Stewart L. Udall began serving his country in 1942,
when he joined the United States Army Air Corps (predecessor of
the United States Air Force) in World War II, serving as an
enlisted B24 waist gunner in Italy. He flew more than 50
missions over Western Europe over four years, receiving the Air
Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters.
(3) After coming home from war, Stewart L. Udall returned
to the University of Arizona where he received a bachelors and
law degree and was admitted to the Arizona State Bar. After
graduating from law school, he began his own private practice
and eventually established the law firm of Udall and Udall with
his brother Morris K. Udall.
(4) Stewart L. Udall's first elected office was as a member
of the Amphitheater School Board (1951), where he participated
in desegregating the Amphitheater School District before the
United States Supreme Court ruling in Brown v. Board of
Education.
(5) Beginning in 1954, Stewart L. Udall was elected to
serve four terms as United States Representative from Arizona's
second district.
(6) Upon the 1960 Presidential election, President Kennedy
appointed Stewart L. Udall as Secretary of the Interior. He
maintained this position for eight years, where his
accomplishments under Presidents Kennedy and Johnson made him a
hero for the environmental and conservation communities.
(7) Among the legislative accomplishments during his
cabinet career, Stewart L. Udall helped guide numerous landmark
environmental measures through Congress, including the
Wilderness Act of 1964, the Land and Water Conservation Fund
Act of 1965, the Endangered Species Preservation Act of 1966,
the National Trail System Act of 1968, the Solid Waste Disposal
Act of 1965, the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968, and the
Clear Air, Water Quality and Clean Water Restoration Acts and
Amendments.
(8) Furthermore, Secretary Udall was a coauthor of the
Economic Opportunity Act of 1964. This legislation created
several new social programs that helped promote the health,
education, and general welfare of the impoverished. Some of the
programs remaining today include Head Start and the Job Corps.
(9) As Secretary of the Interior in the Kennedy and Johnson
administrations, Stewart L. Udall expanded the National Park
Service by presiding over the acquisition of 3.85 million acres
of new holdings, including 4 national parks (Canyonlands in
Utah, Redwood in California, North Cascades in Washington
State, and Guadalupe Mountains in Texas), 6 national monuments,
9 national recreation areas, 20 historic sites, 50 wildlife
refuges, and 8 national seashores.
(10) Furthermore, Stewart L. Udall established the Bureau
of Outdoor Recreation to coordinate all Federal outdoor
programs.
(11) In September 1966, Secretary Stewart Udall announced
the creation of Project EROS, which led the United States to
state of the art science and technology that includes Landsat,
the longest running acquisition of satellite imagery. Project
EROS began as a revolutionary program that utilized earth-
orbiting satellites that map the planet to gather data about
the Earth's natural resources along with changes in weather and
climate.
(12) During his tenure as Secretary of the Interior,
Stewart L. Udall also became a champion of the arts, convincing
President Kennedy to invite the renowned poet Robert Frost to
speak at his inauguration and setting in motion initiatives
that led to the creation of the Kennedy Center, Wolf Trap Farm
Park, the National Endowments for the Arts and the Humanities,
and the revived Ford's Theatre.
(13) Additionally, while Stewart L. Udall was Secretary of
the Interior, he continued to fight against segregation, when
he threatened to refuse the all-white Washington Redskins
access to the new DC stadium, of which he was the Federal
landlord.
(14) After he left government service, Stewart L. Udall
continued helping the American people by becoming a crusader
for victims of radiation exposure (particularly Native
Americans) resulting from the government's Cold War nuclear
programs. He helped to pass the Radiation Exposure Compensation
Act in 1990, which was signed by President George Bush.
(15) Moreover, Stewart L. Udall was a prolific writer,
penning countless articles, essays, and op-eds. He also co-
authored nine books, and wrote nine of his own, including the
seminal title in the conservation movement, ``The Quiet
Crisis''.
(16) Among his many honors, Stewart L. Udall was a
recipient of the Ansel Adams Award, the Wilderness Society's
highest conservation award, the Common Cause Public Service
Achievement Award for his lifelong protection of the
environment and the defense of American citizens who were
victims of nuclear weapons testing, and the United Nations Gold
Medal for Lifetime Achievement.
(17) Until his passing in 2010, Stewart L. Udall continued
his devotion to public service as an author, historian,
scholar, lecturer, environmental activist, lawyer, and citizen
of the outdoors.
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 posthumous presentation, on behalf of
the Congress, of a gold medal of appropriate design in commemoration of
Stewart Lee Udall, in recognition of his contributions to the nation.
(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. 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, 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 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. 6. 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 4 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 Monetary Policy and Technology.
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