H.R. 754 — Anwar Sadat Centennial Celebration Act

[115th Congress Public Law 310]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



[[Page 4423]]

                         ANWAR SADAT CENTENNIAL 
                             CELEBRATION ACT

[[Page 132 STAT. 4424]]

Public Law 115-310
115th Congress

                                 An Act


 
 To award the Congressional Gold Medal to Anwar Sadat in recognition of 
  his heroic achievements and courageous contributions to peace in the 
           Middle East. <<NOTE: Dec. 13, 2018 -  [H.R. 754]>> 

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled, <<NOTE: Anwar Sadat 
Centennial Celebration Act. 31 USC 5111 note.>> 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Anwar Sadat Centennial Celebration 
Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Anwar Sadat was born on December 25, 1918, in Mit Abu 
        al-Kum, al-Minufiyah, Egypt, as 1 of 13 children in a poor 
        Egyptian family.
            (2) In 1938, Sadat graduated from the Royal Military Academy 
        in Cairo and was appointed to the Signal Corps.
            (3) Sadat entered the Army as a second lieutenant and was 
        posted to Sudan where he met Gamal Abdel Nasser and fellow 
        junior officers who became the ``Free Officers'' who led the 
        Egyptian revolution of 1952.
            (4) Sadat held various high positions during Nasser's 
        presidency, assuming the role of President of the National 
        Assembly in 1960 and Vice President in 1964.
            (5) President Nasser died of a heart attack on September 28, 
        1970, at which point Sadat became acting President. Sadat was 
        subsequently elected as the third President of Egypt.
            (6) On October 6, 1973, President Sadat, along with his 
        Syrian counterparts, launched an offensive against Israel. A 
        permanent cease-fire was reached on October 25, 1973.
            (7) In 1974, after talks facilitated by Secretary of State 
        Henry Kissinger, Egypt and Israel signed an agreement allowing 
        Egypt to formally retrieve land in the Sinai. President Sadat 
        later wrote in his memoirs that his meetings with Kissinger 
        ``marked the beginning of a relationship of mutual understanding 
        with the United States culminating and crystallizing in what we 
        came to describe as a `peace process'. Together we started that 
        process and the United States still supports our joint efforts 
        to this day''.
            (8) Months of diplomacy between Egypt and Israel followed 
        the signing of this initial agreement and a second disengagement 
        agreement, the Sinai Interim Agreement, was signed in September 
        of 1975.
            (9) President Sadat addressed a joint session of Congress on 
        November 5, 1975, during which he underscored the shared

[[Page 132 STAT. 4425]]

        values between the United States and Egypt. In this speech, 
        President Sadat addressed the path to peace, saying, ``We are 
        faced, together with other nations, with one of the greatest 
        challenges of our time, namely the task of convincing this 
        generation, and those to follow, that we can finally build a 
        viable international system capable of meeting the demands of 
        tomorrow and solving the problems of the coming age''.
            (10) On November 19, 1977, President Sadat became the first 
        Arab leader to visit Israel, meeting with the Israeli Prime 
        Minister, Menachem Begin. President Sadat spoke before the 
        Israeli Knesset in Jerusalem about his views on how to achieve 
        comprehensive peace in the Arab-Israeli conflict.
            (11) Before commencing negotiations, President Sadat 
        courageously announced to the Knesset, ``I have come to you so 
        that together we might build a durable peace based on justice, 
        to avoid the shedding of 1 single drop of blood from an Arab or 
        an Israeli. It is for this reason that I have proclaimed my 
        readiness to go to the farthest corner of the world''. President 
        Sadat further poignantly stated that ``any life lost in war is a 
        human life, irrespective of its being that of an Israeli or an 
        Arab. * * * When the bells of peace ring, there will be no hands 
        to beat the drums of war''.
            (12) On September 17, 1978, President Jimmy Carter hosted 
        President Sadat and Prime Minister Begin at Camp David where the 
        3 leaders engaged in 13 days of negotiations that resulted in 
        the ``Framework for Peace in the Middle East'' (commonly known 
        as the ``Camp David Accords'').
            (13) Following negotiations, President Sadat and Prime 
        Minister Begin signed the Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty (in this 
        section referred to as the ``Peace Treaty'') at the White House 
        on March 26, 1979. Addressing President Sadat at the signing of 
        the Peace Treaty, which remains an important anchor for peace in 
        the region today, Prime Minister Begin commended President Sadat 
        by saying, ``In the face of adversity and hostility, you have 
        demonstrated the human value that can change history--civil 
        courage''.
            (14) The Peace Treaty featured mutual recognition of each 
        country by the other and ultimately the cessation of the state 
        of war that had existed between Israel and Egypt since the 1948 
        Arab-Israeli War. Israel completely withdrew its armed forces 
        and civilians from the rest of the Sinai.
            (15) In 1978, both President Sadat and Prime Minister Begin 
        were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for signing the Peace Treaty, 
        which made Egypt the first Arab country to officially recognize 
        Israel.
            (16) While presenting the Nobel Peace Prize to President 
        Sadat, Aase Lionaes, Chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, 
        said, ``During the 30 preceding years, the peoples of the Middle 
        East have, on 4 separate occasions, been the victims of warfare 
        and there seemed no prospect of peace. President Sadat's great 
        contribution to peace was that he had sufficient courage and 
        foresight to break away from this vicious circle. His decision 
        to accept Prime Minister Menachem Begin's invitation of November 
        17, 1977, to attend a meeting of the Israeli parliament on 
        November 19 was an act of great courage, both from a personal 
        and from a political point of view. This was

[[Page 132 STAT. 4426]]

        a dramatic break with the past and a courageous step forward 
        into a new age''.
            (17) During his Nobel lecture, President Sadat remarked, ``I 
        made my trip because I am convinced that we owe it to this 
        generation and the generations to come not to leave a stone 
        unturned in our pursuit of peace''.
            (18) In remarks to the People's Assembly in Cairo on March 
        10, 1979, President Carter praised President Sadat, telling the 
        Assembly, ``Your President has demonstrated the power of human 
        courage and human vision to create hope where there had been 
        only despair.''. President Carter also said that the Peace 
        Treaty would ``strengthen cooperation between Egypt and the 
        United States'' and underscored the support of the United States 
        for the agreement, saying, ``I fully share and will support 
        President Sadat's belief that stability must be maintained in 
        this part of the world * * * He and I recognize that the 
        security of this vital region is being challenged. I applaud his 
        determination to meet that challenge, and my Government will 
        stand with him''.
            (19) The signing of the Peace Treaty enraged many 
        individuals who opposed normalized relations with Israel. 
        President Sadat was assassinated on October 6, 1981, by Khalid 
        Islambouli, a member of Egyptian Islamic Jihad. President Sadat 
        was well aware of the controversy to which his actions would 
        lead, but pushed for peace anyway.
            (20) Upon the death of President Sadat, President Ronald 
        Reagan proclaimed, ``President Sadat was a courageous man whose 
        vision and wisdom brought nations and people together. In a 
        world filled with hatred, he was a man of hope. In a world 
        trapped in the animosities of the past, he was a man of 
        foresight, a man who sought to improve a world tormented by 
        malice and pettiness''.
            (21) President Sadat is recognized in the United States and 
        throughout the world as a respected leader and champion of peace 
        whose vision provided a roadmap for the peaceful resolution of 
        conflict that endures nearly 40 years after its inception.
            (22) President Sadat bravely reached out to Israel and 
        dedicated himself to peace, furthering the national security of 
        Egypt and the stability of the Middle East.
            (23) On the 30th anniversary of the Peace Treaty, President 
        Barack Obama praised the enduring legacy of the Camp David 
        Accords and the ``courage and foresight of these leaders, who 
        stood together in unity to change the course of our shared 
        history''. President Obama closed by saying, ``Today, as we seek 
        to expand the circle of peace among Arabs and Israelis, we take 
        inspiration from what Israel and Egypt achieved 3 decades ago, 
        knowing that the destination is worthy of the struggle''.
            (24) The Camp David Accords and the Peace Treaty continue to 
        serve the interests of the United States by preserving peace and 
        serving as a foundation for partnership and dialogue in a region 
        fraught with conflict and division.
SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL.

    (a) Award Authorized.--The Speaker of the House of Representatives 
and the President pro tempore of the Senate shall

[[Page 132 STAT. 4427]]

make appropriate arrangements for the posthumous award, on behalf of 
Congress, of a gold medal of appropriate design to Anwar Sadat in 
recognition of his achievements and heroic actions to attain 
comprehensive peace in the Middle East.
    (b) Design and Striking.--For the purpose of the award 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.
    (c) <<NOTE: Jehan Sadat.>>  Presentation.--
            (1) In general.--The gold medal referred to in subsection 
        (a) shall be presented to--
                    (A)(i) the widow of Anwar Sadat, Jehan Sadat; or
                    (ii) if Jehan Sadat is unavailable, the next of kin 
                of Jehan Sadat; and
                    (B) a representative of the Government of Egypt.
            (2) Award of medal.--Following the presentation described in 
        paragraph (1), the gold medal shall be given to--
                    (A) Jehan Sadat; or
                    (B) if Jehan Sadat is unavailable, the next of kin 
                of Jehan Sadat.
SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS.

    The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in bronze of the gold 
medal struck under 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 under this Act are national 
medals for purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United States Code.
    (b) Numismatic Items.--For purposes of sections 5134 and 5136 of 
title 31, United States Code, all medals struck under this Act shall be 
considered to be numismatic items.

    Approved December 13, 2018.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY--H.R. 754 (S. 266):
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 164 (2018):
            Sept. 26, considered and passed House.
            Dec. 4, considered and passed Senate.

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Anwar Sadat Centennial Celebration Act

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