Dr. R. Adams Cowley Congressional Gold Medal Act

[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2782 Introduced in House (IH)]

113th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2782

   To award posthumously a Congressional Gold Medal to Dr. R. Adams 
Cowley, in recognition of his lifelong commitment to the advancement of 
                              trauma care.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 22, 2013

Mr. Ruppersberger (for himself, Mr. Harris, Mr. Sarbanes, Ms. Edwards, 
 Mr. Hoyer, Mr. Van Hollen, Mr. Cummings, and Mr. Delaney) introduced 
 the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial 
                                Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To award posthumously a Congressional Gold Medal to Dr. R. Adams 
Cowley, in recognition of his lifelong commitment to the advancement of 
                              trauma care.

    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 ``Dr. R. Adams Cowley Congressional 
Gold Medal Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds as follows:
            (1) Dr. Cowley was a pioneer in the practice of open-heart 
        surgery, trauma mitigation and emergency medical services. His 
        goal through vigorous research into the impacts of trauma was 
        to reduce the instances of death due to shock and was awarded a 
        $100,000 contract from the Army to study the effects of shock 
        in soldiers.
            (2) Dr. Cowley established the first clinical shock trauma 
        unit in the Nation in 1960. Dr. Cowley's realization of the 
        importance of the first 60 minutes of treatment after critical 
        injury led to an idea called the ``Golden Hour Theory''.
            (3) Dr. Cowley's advocacy of the Golden Hour theory led to 
        the first medevac transport system in 1969 after the opening of 
        the new 5-story, 32-bed Center for the Study of Trauma in 
        Baltimore, Maryland.
            (4) Dr. Cowley's work continued to produce new advances in 
        shock trauma treatment. In 1979, former Maryland Governor 
        Marvin Mandel issued an Executive order establishing the Center 
        for the Study of Trauma at the Maryland Institute for Emergency 
        Medicine and Dr. Cowley was appointed Director of the Division 
        of Emergency Medical Services.
            (5) Dr. Cowley was a tireless advocate for the Shock Trauma 
        Center throughout his entire career testifying before Maryland 
        legislators and fighting for funding for equipment, helicopters 
        and anything else he needed to build the EMS System in 
        Maryland.
            (6) Dr. Cowley's hard work laid the foundation for 
        emergency medicine to become a discipline of its own. Hundreds 
        of medical personnel have trained at the Shock Trauma Center 
        including members of the United States Military in preparation 
        for deployment to Afghanistan and Iraq.

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 
Dr. R. Adams Cowley, in recognition of his lifelong commitment to the 
advancement of trauma care.
    (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.
                                 <all>