119-hr4885

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4885 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 4885

 To posthumously award a historic Congressional Gold Medal, 
 collectively, to Africans and their descendants enslaved within our 
 country from August 20, 1619, to December 6, 1865.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 August 5, 2025

Mr. Green of Texas introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committees 
 on House Administration, and the Budget, 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 posthumously award a historic Congressional Gold Medal, 
 collectively, to Africans and their descendants enslaved within our 
 country from August 20, 1619, to December 6, 1865.

 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 ``The original legislation awarding a 
historic Congressional Gold Medal, collectively, to Africans and their 
descendants enslaved within our country from August 20, 1619, to 
December 6, 1865''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

 Congress finds the following:

    (1) Human beings were systematically abducted from the 
 continent of Africa and placed against their will onto ships 
 that would cross the Atlantic Ocean.

    (2) These persons were chained within the holds of ships in 
 horrendous conditions for the duration of the transatlantic 
 journey, which lasted up to six months.

    (3) Upon arrival in North America, they were forced into 
 labor among the English and European colonies that would later 
 become the United States.

    (4) Their enslavement was concentrated on farms and 
 plantations that produced crops such as cotton, tobacco, and 
 sugar cane.

    (5) The practice of slavery continued up to and past the 
 eventual American Revolution against England and the founding 
 of the United States of America.

    (6) In the ensuing decades, slavery persisted primarily in 
 States where the economy was based significantly on farming.

    (7) The treatment of enslaved people continued to be 
 horrendous in nature, including exploitation, family 
 separation, rape, torture, and degradation, among other 
 cruelties.

    (8) Slave labor was essential to the functioning of many 
 farms and plantations and therefore was essential to the growth 
 of the United States economy as a whole.

    (9) Slave labor was used to build notable buildings and 
 monuments in the United States, including the United States 
 Capitol Building, the White House, the Washington Monument, 
 Mount Vernon, which was the home of George Washington, and 
 Monticello, which was the home of Thomas Jefferson.

    (10) The profits from and involvement of slave labor were 
 also essential to the construction of the Smithsonian 
 Institution, Wall Street, Harvard University, Georgetown 
 University, and Fort Sumter.

    (11) It has been estimated that the total economic value of 
 slave labor is between $5.9 trillion and $14.2 trillion in 2009 
 dollars.

    (12) The United States became increasingly divided between 
 slaveholding and non-slaveholding States and territories, 
 including as to whether slavery should be expanded to new 
 States and territories or abolished altogether.

    (13) The secession of States from the United States began 
 on December 20, 1860, and led to the formation of the 
 Confederate States of America on February 4, 1861.

    (14) The American Civil War began on April 12, 1861, with 
 the attack on Fort Sumter by Confederate forces.

    (15) On January 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued 
 the Emancipation Proclamation declaring that ``all persons held 
 as slaves'' in Confederate States ``henceforward shall be 
 free''.

    (16) After four years of grueling battle and conflict, the 
 Civil War concluded with the surrender of the commander of the 
 Confederate forces on April 9, 1865, although fighting 
 continued until November 6, 1865, and the Civil War was 
 proclaimed to be over by President Andrew Johnson on August 20, 
 1866.

    (17) The 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution 
 abolishing slavery passed the Congress on January 31, 1865, and 
 was ratified by the required number of States on December 6, 
 1865.

    (18) The text of the 13th Amendment states that, ``Neither 
 slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for 
 crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall 
 exist within the United States, or any place subject to their 
 jurisdiction.''.

    (19) The use of slave labor over hundreds of years resulted 
 in immense suffering and deprivation among the people who fell 
 victim to these abhorrent practices.

    (20) At the same time, the extensive, long-term use of 
 unpaid labor advantaged the United States economy immeasurably.

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 award, on behalf of the Congress, of a gold medal 
of appropriate design dedicated to the enslaved persons collectively in 
recognition of their service as the greatest contributors to the 
foundation of America's economic greatness.

    (b) Design and Striking.--For the purposes of the award referred to 
in subsection

    (a) , the Secretary of the Treasury shall strike the gold 
medal with suitable emblems, devices, and inscriptions, to be 
determined by the Secretary.
            (c) Smithsonian Institution.--Following the award of the gold medal 
described in subsection

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

SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 
bronze of the gold medal struck under 

section 3, at a price sufficient 
to cover the costs of the bronze medals, including labor, materials, 
dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses.

    (b) Proceeds of Sales.--The amounts received from the sale of 
duplicate medals under subsection

    (a) shall be deposited in the United 
States Mint Public Enterprise Fund.
            (c) 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.

SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS.

 The gold medal struck pursuant to this Act is a national medal for 
purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United States Code.

SEC. 6. DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS.

 The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of complying 
with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, shall be determined by 
reference to the latest statement titled ``Budgetary Effects of PAYGO 
Legislation'' for this Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional 
Record by the Chairman of the House Budget Committee, provided that 
such statement has been submitted prior to the vote on passage.
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