119-s2784

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2784 Introduced in Senate

    (IS) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 S. 2784

 To award posthumously the Congressional Gold Medal to Constance Baker 
Motley, in recognition of her enduring contributions and service to the 
 United States.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

 September 11, 2025

Mr. Blumenthal (for himself, Ms. Collins, Mr. Schumer, Mr. Murphy, Mrs. 
 Gillibrand, Mr. King, Mrs. Shaheen, Mr. Padilla, Mr. Fetterman, Ms. 
 Hirono, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Booker, Ms. Baldwin, Mr. Whitehouse, Mr. 
 Merkley, Ms. Alsobrooks, Mr. Schatz, Ms. Klobuchar, Ms. Cortez Masto, 
 Mr. Reed, Mr. Coons, Ms. Blunt Rochester, Mr. Lujan, Mr. Wyden, Mr. 
 Markey, Mr. Van Hollen, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Welch, and Mr. Heinrich) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
 Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To award posthumously the Congressional Gold Medal to Constance Baker 
Motley, in recognition of her enduring contributions and service 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 ``Congressional Tribute to Constance 
Baker Motley Act of 2025''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

 Congress finds the following:

    (1) Constance Baker Motley was born in 1921, in New Haven, 
 Connecticut, the daughter of immigrants from the Caribbean 
 island of Nevis.

    (2) In 1943, Constance Baker Motley graduated from New York 
 University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics.

    (3) Upon receiving a law degree from Columbia University in 
 1946, Constance Baker Motley became a staff attorney at the 
 National Association for the Advancement of Colored People 
 Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (referred to in this 
 Act as the ``LDF''), and fought tirelessly for 2 decades 
 alongside Thurgood Marshall and other leading civil rights 
 lawyers to dismantle segregation throughout the United States.

    (4) Constance Baker Motley was the only female attorney on 
 the LDF legal team that won the landmark desegregation case, 
 Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483

    (1954) .

    (5) Constance Baker Motley argued 10 major civil rights 
 cases before the Supreme Court of the United States, winning 
 all but 1, including the case brought on behalf of James 
 Meredith challenging the refusal of the University of 
 Mississippi to admit him.

    (6) Constance Baker Motley's only loss before the Supreme 
 Court of the United States in Swain v. Alabama, 380 U.S. 202

    (1965) , a case in which the Supreme Court refused to proscribe 
 race-based peremptory challenges in cases involving African-
 American defendants, and which was later reversed in Batson v. 
 Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79

    (1986) , on grounds that were largely 
 asserted by Constance Baker Motley in the Swain case.

    (7) In 1964, Constance Baker Motley became the first 
 African-American woman elected to the New York State Senate.

    (8) In 1965, Constance Baker Motley became the first 
 African-American woman, and the first woman, to serve as 
 president of the Borough of Manhattan.

    (9) Constance Baker Motley, in her capacity as an elected 
 public official in New York, continued to fight for civil 
 rights, dedicating herself to the revitalization of the inner 
 city and improvement of urban public schools and housing.

    (10) In 1966, Constance Baker Motley was appointed by 
 President Lyndon B. Johnson as a judge on the United States 
 District Court for the Southern District of New York.

    (11) The appointment of Constance Baker Motley made her the 
 first African-American woman, and only the fifth woman, 
 appointed and confirmed for a Federal judgeship.

    (12) In 1982, Constance Baker Motley was elevated to Chief 
 Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern 
 District of New York, the largest Federal trial court in the 
 United States.

    (13) Constance Baker Motley assumed senior status in 1986, 
 and continued serving on the United States District Court for 
 the Southern District of New York with distinction for nearly 2 
 decades.

    (14) Constance Baker Motley passed away on September 28, 
 2005, and is survived by her son, Joel W. Motley III, 3 
 grandchildren, and nieces and nephews in Connecticut and in 
 other States.

    (15) September 14, 2021, was the 100th anniversary of the 
 birth of Constance Baker Motley.

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 posthumous presentation, on behalf of 
Congress, of a gold medal of appropriate design in commemoration of 
Constance Baker Motley, in recognition of her enduring contributions 
and service to the United States.

    (b) Design and Striking.--For 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. 
The design shall bear an image of, and an inscription of the name of, 
``Constance Baker Motley''.
            (c) Presentation.--With respect to the presentation referred to in 
subsection

    (a) , the gold medal shall be presented to Constance Baker 
Motley's son, Joel Motley III, and her niece, Constance Royster.
            (d) Disposition of Medal.--Following the presentation referred to 
in subsection

    (a) , the gold medal shall be given to Joel Motley III.

SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS.

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

SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS.

    (a) National Medal.--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 

section 5134 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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