[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1514 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
112th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1514
To authorize the President to award a gold medal on behalf of the
Congress to Elouise Pepion Cobell, in recognition of her outstanding
and enduring contributions to American Indians, Alaska Natives, and the
Nation through her tireless pursuit of justice.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
September 6, 2011
Mr. Tester (for himself, Mr. Baucus, Mr. Akaka, and Mr. Inouye)
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To authorize the President to award a gold medal on behalf of the
Congress to Elouise Pepion Cobell, in recognition of her outstanding
and enduring contributions to American Indians, Alaska Natives, and the
Nation through her tireless pursuit of justice.
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) Elouise Pepion Cobell was born on the Blackfeet
Reservation on November 5, 1945, with the Indian name ``Little
Bird Woman''.
(2) Elouise Cobell is a citizen of the Blackfeet Nation and
the great-granddaughter of Mountain Chief, a legendary Indian
leader.
(3) In 1996, Elouise Cobell filed an historic lawsuit
against the Federal Government, seeking justice for the
Government's failure to account for billions of dollars
received in trust by the United States for the benefit of
500,000 individual Indians.
(4) Throughout the prosecution of the suit that bears her
name, Elouise Cobell led the charge against governmental
malfeasance, and displayed unyielding resilience in her pursuit
of justice for this Nation's most vulnerable population.
(5) After a more than 15-year, tenacious fight with the
Government, Elouise Cobell agreed to settle the lawsuit in
December 2009 for $3,400,000,000, making it the largest
settlement with the Government in American History.
(6) Education of young people has long been a priority for
Elouise Cobell. To provide educational opportunities for Indian
children, Elouise Cobell created, as part of the lawsuit
settlement, a scholarship fund that will help Indian youth to
access higher education, academic as well as vocational.
(7) Elouise Cobell is the recipient of many awards and
honors. In 1997, she received a ``Genius Grant'' from the John
D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation's Fellows program, a
portion of which was used to fund her lawsuit. Elouise Cobell
received the 2002 International Women's Forum award for ``Women
Who Make a Difference'' in Mexico City. In 2004, the National
Center for American Indian Enterprise Development presented her
with the Jay Silverheels Achievement Award. A year later, she
received a Cultural Freedom Fellowship from the Lannan
Foundation, an award that cited her persistence in bringing to
light the ``more than a century of Government malfeasance and
dishonesty'' in the Government's mismanagement of the
Individual Indian Trust. In 2007, she received an AARP Impact
Award, and in 2011 Elouise Cobell was named ``Montana Citizen
of the Year'' by the Montana Trial Lawyers Association. She has
received honorary degrees from Montana State University,
Rollins College, and Dartmouth College.
(8) Elouise Cobell is a respected leader in Indian Country
for civic and economic development. For 13 years, she served
her own tribal community as treasurer for the Blackfeet Nation,
and has served on a number of Native American organizational
boards, including the board of trustees for the National Museum
of the American Indian. Her contributions to economic
development in Indian Country are substantial, not the least of
which is her role in the establishment and management of the
Native American Bank.
(9) As a Montanan, Elouise Cobell has stayed invested in
issues affecting the Montana community by serving as a trustee
for the Nature Conservancy of Montana, while also working her
own ranch that produces cattle and crops.
(10) Elouise Cobell has changed immeasurably the lives of
individual Indians and women in the United States, North
America, and around the world through her advocacy efforts to
obtain justice for the often overlooked population of
indigenous peoples.
(11) Elouise Cobell's life and work has shined light on the
barriers confronted by individual Indians in the United States,
and her actions not only raise the national awareness of these
issues, they resolve them.
(12) Elouise Cobell is an inspiration to women, individual
American Indians and Alaska Natives, and advocates who seek to
give voice to the voiceless and most vulnerable across the
globe.
SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL.
(a) Presentation Authorized.--The President is authorized to
present, on behalf of the Congress, a gold medal of appropriate design
to Elouise Pepion Cobell in recognition of her outstanding and enduring
contributions to the welfare of individual Indians in the United States
and her inspiration to indigenous peoples across the globe.
(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. 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, and at a price sufficient to cover the cost
thereof, including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, overhead
expenses, and the cost of the gold medal.
SEC. 4. NATIONAL MEDALS.
The medals struck pursuant to this Act are national medals for
purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United States Code.
SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS; PROCEEDS OF SALE.
(a) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be
charged against the Numismatic Public Enterprise Fund an amount not to
exceed $30,000 to pay for the cost of the medal authorized by this Act.
(b) Proceeds of Sale.--Amounts received from the sale of duplicate
bronze medals under section 3 shall be deposited in the Numismatic
Public Enterprise Fund.
<all>
Introduced in Senate
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
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