119-hr485

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 485 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

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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.
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