H.R. 485

[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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