119-hr1817

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1817 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

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119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 1817

 To award a Congressional Gold Medal to Arturo Alfonso Schomburg, in 
 recognition of his pioneering work in collecting and preserving the 
 history and culture of the African diaspora.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 March 3, 2025

 Ms. Velazquez (for herself, Mr. Soto, Mr. Torres of New York, Mr. 
 Carson, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, Mr. Jackson of Illinois, Mrs. McIver, Mr. 
 Goldman of New York, Mr. Espaillat, Ms. Kelly of Illinois, Mrs. 
 Cherfilus-McCormick, Ms. Wilson of Florida, and Ms. Lee of 
Pennsylvania) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
 Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committee on 
House Administration, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 
 Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 
 within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To award a Congressional Gold Medal to Arturo Alfonso Schomburg, in 
 recognition of his pioneering work in collecting and preserving the 
 history and culture of the African diaspora.

 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 ``Arturo Alfonso Schomburg 
Congressional Gold Medal Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

 Congress makes the following findings:

    (1) Arturo Alfonso Schomburg was born on January 24, 1874, 
 in Santurce, Puerto Rico, to a Puerto Rican father of German 
 descent and an Afro-Caribbean mother from St. Croix.

    (2) In his youth, a teacher told Schomburg that people of 
 African descent had no history, heroes, or accomplishments, 
 which inspired him to dedicate his life to proving this notion 
 wrong by collecting evidence of the contributions of Africans 
 and their descendants.

    (3) At the age of 17, Schomburg immigrated to New York 
 City, where he became an active member of the intellectual 
 community during the Harlem Renaissance, contributing 
 significantly to the promotion of African and African American 
 culture and history.

    (4) Schomburg amassed a personal collection of over 10,000 
 items related to Black history and the African diaspora, which 
 he made accessible to the public.

    (5) His collection featured original newspapers published 
 by Frederick Douglass, poems by Phillis Wheatley, letters from 
 Toussaint Louverture, books and journals by Paul Cuffe, and 
 music composed by Chevalier de Saint-Georges.

    (6) During the 1920s, Schomburg was an active member of the 
 Negro Society for Historical Research and the American Negro 
 Academy, writing on the history of the global African diaspora 
 and Cuban poets of African descent.

    (7) In 1926, the New York Public Library acquired 
 Schomburg's collection, which became the foundation for the 
 Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem, a 
 world-renowned institution for the study of the global Black 
 experience.

    (8) Schomburg's archive has grown to more than 10 million 
 items.

    (9) Schomburg's efforts have inspired generations of 
 scholars, writers, and artists to explore and celebrate the 
 rich history and culture of the African diaspora.

    (10) The Congressional Gold Medal would be an appropriate 
 way to honor Schomburg's legacy and his role in laying the 
 foundation for future scholarship and global recognition of 
 Black contributions to society.

SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL.

    (a) Award 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 Congress, of 
a gold medal of appropriate design to Arturo Alfonso Schomburg, in 
recognition of his pioneering work in collecting and preserving the 
history and culture of the African diaspora.

    (b) Design and Striking.--For the 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.
            (c) Smithsonian Institution.--

    (1) In general.--Following the award of the gold medal 
 under subsection

    (a) , the gold medal shall be given to the 
 National Museum of African American History and Culture of the 
 Smithsonian Institution, where it shall be displayed as 
 appropriate and made available for research.

    (2) Sense of congress.--It is the sense of Congress that 
 the Smithsonian Institution should make the gold medal received 
 under paragraph

    (1) available for display elsewhere, 
 particularly at other locations and events associated with 
 Arturo Alfonso Schomburg.

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 thereof, including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, and 
overhead expenses.

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.--or 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.
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