Muhammad Ali Congressional Gold Medal Act
This bill provides for the posthumous award of a Congressional Gold Medal to Muhammad Ali.
There is authorized to be charged against the U.S. Mint Public Enterprise Fund such amounts as may be necessary to pay for the costs of the medals struck under this bill.
Sums received from the sale of duplicate bronze medals authorized by this bill shall be deposited into that fund.
[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 485 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 485
To posthumously award a Congressional Gold Medal to Muhammad Ali, in
recognition of his contributions to the United States.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 16, 2025
Mr. Carson (for himself, Ms. Adams, Mr. Bishop, Ms. Brownley, Mr.
Carter of Louisiana, Ms. Clarke of New York, Mr. Cleaver, Mr. Cohen,
Mr. Costa, Ms. Davids of Kansas, Mr. Davis of Illinois, Mrs. Dingell,
Mr. Doggett, Mr. Evans of Pennsylvania, Mr. Frost, Mr. Green of Texas,
Mrs. Hayes, Ms. Norton, Mr. Jackson of Illinois, Mr. Johnson of
Georgia, Ms. Kamlager-Dove, Mr. Keating, Ms. Kelly of Illinois, Mr.
Krishnamoorthi, Mr. Larson of Connecticut, Ms. Lee of Pennsylvania, Mr.
Lynch, Mr. McGarvey, Mr. McGovern, Mrs. McIver, Mr. Meeks, Ms. Moore of
Wisconsin, Mr. Mrvan, Mr. Mullin, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, Ms. Pressley, Ms.
Schakowsky, Ms. Strickland, Mr. Thanedar, Mr. Thompson of Mississippi,
Ms. Tlaib, Mr. Torres of New York, and Mr. Vargas) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial
Services
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To posthumously award a Congressional Gold Medal to Muhammad Ali, in
recognition of his contributions to the United States.
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 ``Muhammad Ali Congressional Gold
Medal Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Born Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr., on January 17, 1942,
in Louisville, Kentucky, Muhammad Ali was the first child of
Cassius, Sr., and Odessa Clay.
(2) Muhammad Ali was one of the most celebrated athletes of
the 20th century. He produced some of the greatest sports
memories in the United States, from winning a gold medal at the
1960 Summer Olympics to lighting the Olympic torch at the 1996
Summer Olympics.
(3) After an impressive amateur career, during which he won
2 National AAU light heavyweight titles, Muhammad Ali became
the first professional boxer in history to capture the
heavyweight title 3 separate times.
(4) On April 28, 1967, he was stripped of his boxing title
and barred from competing for being a conscientious objector to
the war in Vietnam on religious and moral grounds. However,
following a unanimous decision by the Supreme Court of the
United States in 1971, Muhammad Ali's conscientious objector
status was confirmed, his boxing license was reinstated, and he
was cleared of any wrongdoing.
(5) As an African American and a Muslim who lived in an era
that continued to question his civil rights, Muhammad Ali
battled issues of race and religion, and received recognition
as one of the champions of the Civil Rights Movement in the
United States.
(6) Muhammad Ali was the recipient of many awards for his
sporting prowess and his support of racial harmony, including
the Dr. Martin Luther King Memorial Award, the Spirit of
America Award, the Amnesty International Lifetime Achievement
Award, the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage, the Essence Living
Legend Award, the Rainbow Coalition Lifetime Achievement Award,
the XNBA Human Spirit Award, the Presidential Citizens Medal,
and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
(7) Muhammad Ali was acknowledged by many organizations for
his achievements both inside and outside the boxing ring,
including being crowned ``Sportsman of the Century'' by Sports
Illustrated, being named ``Athlete of the Century'' by GQ
magazine, being named ``Sports Personality of the Century'' by
the British Broadcasting Corporation, being named ``Kentucky
Athlete of the Century'' by the Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame,
being named ``Kentuckian of the Century'' by the State of
Kentucky, being named ``Louisvillian of the Century'' by the
Advertising Club of Louisville, being named ``Boxer of the
Century'' by the World Sports Awards of the Century, being
recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame, and
receiving honorary doctorate degrees from Muhlenberg College
and Princeton University.
(8) Muhammad Ali received the prestigious Otto Hahn Peace
Medal in Gold from the United Nations Association of Germany
for his work with the United Nations and the Civil Rights
Movement in the United States.
(9) Muhammad Ali was selected by the California
Bicentennial Foundation for the U.S. Constitution for
personifying the vitality of the Bill of Rights in various
high-profile activities.
(10) Despite having been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease
in the early 1980s, Muhammad Ali dedicated his life to the
cause of universal human rights and freedom. His commitment to
equal justice and peace touched the lives of hundreds of
thousands of people worldwide.
(11) President Jimmy Carter asked Muhammad Ali to meet with
African leaders in Tanzania, Kenya, Nigeria, Liberia, and
Senegal as part of the diplomatic efforts of President Carter
to promote human rights in the 1980s.
(12) In 1990, Muhammad Ali traveled to the Middle East to
seek the release of United States and British hostages that
were being held as human shields in the first Gulf War. As a
result of his intervention, 15 United States hostages were
freed on December 2nd of that year.
(13) In 1998, Muhammad Ali was chosen as the ``U.N.
Messenger of Peace''.
(14) Several Presidents of the United States recognized
Muhammad Ali, including President George W. Bush who, on
November 17, 2002, called him ``a man of peace'' and stated
that ``across the world, billions of people know Muhammad Ali
as a brave, compassionate, and charming man, and the American
people are proud to call Muhammad Ali one of our own'',
President Bill Clinton who stated that Muhammad Ali ``captured
the world's imagination and its heart. Outside the ring,
Muhammad Ali has dedicated his life to working for children,
feeding the hungry, supporting his faith, and standing up for
racial equality. He always fought for a just and more humane
world, breaking down barriers here in America and around the
world. There is no telling how many tens of millions of people
had their hearts swell with pride and their eyes swell with
tears in 1996 when Muhammad Ali lit the Olympic torch, because
we know, now and forever, he is the greatest'', President Jimmy
Carter who cited Muhammad Ali as ``Mr. International
Friendship'', and President Barack Obama who, as a Senator, had
a framed picture of Muhammad Ali hanging in his office, and
before announcing his intentions to run for President, Obama
visited with Muhammad Ali at the Ali Center in Louisville,
Kentucky.
(15) Muhammad Ali encouraged humanity through his
perseverance and the support of thousands of people. He helped
such organizations as the Chicago-based adoption agency, The
Cradle, the Make-A-Wish Foundation, the Special Olympics'
organization, Best Buddies; and Herbert E. Birch Services, an
organization that runs a school for handicapped children and
young adults, in addition to a summer camp for children with
AIDS.
(16) Muhammad Ali and his wife Lonnie were the founding
directors of the Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center in Phoenix,
Arizona, and helped raise over $50,000,000 for Parkinson's
research. The Center's mission is to provide excellence in
treatment, research, and education for patients and families
affected by Parkinson's disease and other movement disorders,
regardless of their ability to pay.
(17) Muhammad Ali was an inspiration to countless
individuals with Parkinson's disease, including members of the
Rock Steady Boxing Foundation in Indianapolis, Indiana, which
was founded to give people with Parkinson's disease hope by
improving their quality of life using boxing for fitness.
(18) Muhammad Ali was one of the founding members of
Athletes for Hope, an organization created by a few very
successful athletes of exemplary character who have a deep
commitment to charitable and community causes.
(19) Muhammad Ali also established the Muhammad Ali Center
in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, which promotes
respect, hope, and understanding, and inspires people
everywhere to be as great as they can be. A visitor of the
Muhammad Ali Center experiences the ``hows'' of Ali's life: How
he found the courage, the dedication, and the discipline to
become a world champion, how he found the conviction to stand
up for what he believed, and how he turned his passion for
excellence in the ring to a passion for peace on the world
stage.
(20) Like Muhammad Ali himself, the Muhammad Ali Center
focuses on what brings individuals together, not what sets them
apart, and is a ``global gathering place'' to which people can
come, both online and in person, to learn, share, and celebrate
our commonalities as human beings and to formulate ways of
advancing humanity.
(21) Muhammad Ali helped to provide more than 22,000,000
aid packets to assist people in need, and until the last years
of his life, he traveled, on average, more than 200 days per
year for humanitarian causes.
(22) Muhammad Ali, known simply as ``the greatest'',
transcended the glamour and glory of being a sports champion to
become not only one of the greatest sports figures, but one of
the greatest role models of our time.
(23) On June 3, 2016, Muhammad Ali died at the age of 74.
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 Congress,
of a gold medal of appropriate design to Muhammad Ali, in recognition
of his contributions to the United States.
(b) Design and Striking.--For the purpose of the presentation
described 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) Transfer of Medal After Presentation.--Following the
presentation of the gold medal in honor of Muhammad Ali under
subsection (a), the gold medal shall be given to his wife, Lonnie Ali.
SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS.
The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in bronze of the gold
medal struck pursuant to section 3 at a price sufficient to cover the
cost of the medals, including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery,
and overhead expenses.
SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS.
(a) National Medals.--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.
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
under 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
Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR E43-44)
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services.
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