Us Congress 2023-2024 Regular Session

Us Congress House Bill HB174 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	I
2	2	118THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION H. R. 1174
5	5	To award a Congressional Gold Medal to Dr. Norman Christopher Francis,
6	6	in recognition of his contributions to the United States through his
7	7	lifelong dedication to education, justice, and public service.
8	8	IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
9	9	FEBRUARY24, 2023
10	10	Mr. C
11	11	ARTERof Louisiana (for himself, Mrs. BEATTY, Ms. STRICKLAND, Mr.
12	12	H
13	13	ORSFORD, Mr. NEGUSE, Ms. JACKSONLEE, Mr. JOHNSONof Georgia,
14	14	Mr. D
15	15	AVISof Illinois, Mr. IVEY, Mr. CLYBURN, Mr. BISHOPof Georgia,
16	16	Ms. C
17	17	ROCKETT, Ms. NORTON, Mrs. FOUSHEE, Ms. ADAMS, Mr. THOMP-
18	18	SONof Mississippi, Mr. JACKSONof Illinois, Ms. PRESSLEY, Mr. DAVIS
19	19	of North Carolina, Mrs. M
20	20	CBATH, Ms. SEWELL, Mr. MEEKS, Mr.
21	21	C
22	22	LEAVER, Mr. PAYNE, Ms. BROWN, Ms. KAMLAGER-DOVE, Ms. WATERS,
23	23	Ms. C
24	24	LARKEof New York, Mr. VEASEY, Mrs. WATSONCOLEMAN, Mr.
25	25	B
26	26	OWMAN, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Mr. GARCI´Aof Illinois, Mr. SOTO, and Ms.
27	27	W
28	28	ILLIAMSof Georgia) introduced the following bill; which was referred
29	29	to the Committee on Financial Services
30	30	A BILL
31	31	To award a Congressional Gold Medal to Dr. Norman Chris-
32	32	topher Francis, in recognition of his contributions to
33	33	the United States through his lifelong dedication to edu-
34	34	cation, justice, and public service.
35	35	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
36	36	tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
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39	39	•HR 1174 IH
40	40	SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1
41	41	This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Dr. Norman C. 2
42	42	Francis Congressional Gold Medal Act’’. 3
43	43	SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 4
44	44	Congress finds the following: 5
45	45	(1) Dr. Norman Christopher Francis was born 6
46	46	in Lafayette, LA, on March 20, 1931, to Joseph A. 7
47	47	Francis and Mabel F. Francis. His parents were a 8
48	48	barber and a homemaker, and he had a Catholic 9
49	49	education at St. Paul Catholic elementary and sec-10
50	50	ondary schools in Lafayette. 11
51	51	(2) After graduation, Francis attended Xavier 12
52	52	University of Louisiana in New Orleans, where he 13
53	53	graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree. 14
54	54	(3) An honor student all four years at Xavier 15
55	55	University of Louisiana, young Norman Francis con-16
56	56	ducted his work scholarship repairing damaged 17
57	57	books in the university library. In his senior year, he 18
58	58	was elected student body president. 19
59	59	(4) From 1952–1955, Francis attended Loyola 20
60	60	University Law School in New Orleans, where he 21
61	61	earned his Juris Doctorate. He made history as the 22
62	62	first Black graduate of Loyola University Law 23
63	63	School in 1955. 24
64	64	(5) Upon graduation he married the late Mrs. 25
65	65	Blanche Macdonald, but then was drafted into the 26
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68	68	•HR 1174 IH
69	69	United States Army’s Third Armored Division, 1
70	70	where he earned the rank of corporal specialist four. 2
71	71	After a two-year tour of duty, Francis left the Army 3
72	72	in 1957 and began his civilian career. 4
73	73	(6) Upon his return from the military, he joined 5
74	74	the U.S. Attorney’s Office and worked to help inte-6
75	75	grate Federal agencies. 7
76	76	(7) Dr. Francis used his law degree to rep-8
77	77	resent civil rights activists as a young lawyer. One 9
78	78	of his clients was Xavier student body president, Ru-10
79	79	dolph Lombard, who had been arrested for attempt-11
80	80	ing to integrate the lunch counter at McCrory’s on 12
81	81	Canal Street in New Orleans. 13
82	82	(8) As Dean of Men at Xavier University of 14
83	83	Louisiana in 1961, he showed his moral courage and 15
84	84	vision by housing the Freedom Riders in the historic 16
85	85	St. Michael’s dormitory when the rest of New Orle-17
86	86	ans establishments had closed their doors to them or 18
87	87	openly threatened their safety. 19
88	88	(9) In 1963, he became Director of Student 20
89	89	Personnel Services and one year later (1964) he was 21
90	90	promoted to Assistant to the President. In 1967, he 22
91	91	became Executive Vice President. 23
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94	94	•HR 1174 IH
95	95	(10) In 1967, Dr. Francis joined the brother-1
96	96	hood of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated, 2
97	97	Sigma Lambda chapter. 3
98	98	(11) On the day of the assassination of Dr. 4
99	99	Martin Luther King, April 4, 1968, at the age of 37, 5
100	100	Dr. Francis accepted the position as President of 6
101	101	Xavier University of Louisiana, the Nation’s only 7
102	102	historically Black and Catholic university, and his 8
103	103	alma mater. He broke barriers on that day by be-9
104	104	coming the first African-American lay person to 10
105	105	serve in that position. 11
106	106	(12) His tenure as President lasted from 1968– 12
107	107	2015, and he is one of the longest-sitting university 13
108	108	presidents in the Nation’s history. Over that 49-year 14
109	109	term, Dr. Francis steered the university to grow 15
110	110	both in size and dimension. 16
111	111	(13) Dr. Francis was President of Xavier Uni-17
112	112	versity of Louisiana during the height of the Civil 18
113	113	Rights Movement, and while at the helm of the 19
114	114	school, he more than tripled its enrollment, ex-20
115	115	panded course offerings, and transformed the cam-21
116	116	pus grounds into an ‘‘Emerald City’’ of colorful 22
117	117	green roofs. During his tenure, Xavier awarded more 23
118	118	doctorate pharmacy degrees to Black Americans and 24
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121	121	•HR 1174 IH
122	122	sent more Black graduates to medical school than 1
123	123	any other U.S. university. 2
124	124	(14) Dr. Francis cofounded the Liberty Bank 3
125	125	of New Orleans, one of the largest Black-owned 4
126	126	banks in the country. Dr. Francis has served as its 5
127	127	Chairman since the Bank’s inception in 1972 work-6
128	128	ing to improve access to financial institutions for 7
129	129	Black Americans. 8
130	130	(15) Francis has served in an advisory role to 9
131	131	eight U.S. presidential administrations—not only on 10
132	132	education issues, but civil rights as well—in addition 11
133	133	to serving on 54 boards and commissions. In 1983, 12
134	134	Francis helped compile and release the report ‘‘A 13
135	135	Nation at Risk’’ during his service on the National 14
136	136	Commission on Excellence in Education. The report 15
137	137	was a landmark piece that summarized racism and 16
138	138	classism with the school system and called for com-17
139	139	prehensive education reform. 18
140	140	(16) He co-chaired the Louisiana Recovery Au-19
141	141	thority after Hurricane Katrina, playing a vital role 20
142	142	in helping the people of New Orleans and the Gulf 21
143	143	Coast rebuild their lives in the aftermath of Hurri-22
144	144	cane Katrina. 23
145	145	(17) In 2006, then-President George W. Bush 24
146	146	presented him with the Nation’s highest civil award, 25
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149	149	•HR 1174 IH
150	150	the Presidential Medal of Freedom in recognition of 1
151	151	his, ‘‘deep intellect, compassion and character.’’. 2
152	152	(18) In 2009, he was named one of ‘‘America’s 3
153	153	Best Leaders’’ by U.S. News Media Group and the 4
154	154	Center for Public Leadership (CPL) at Harvard 5
155	155	Kennedy’s School of Government. 6
156	156	(19) He has received 40 honorary degrees from 7
157	157	other universities, and at least 20 major awards in 8
158	158	recognition of his leadership in higher education as 9
159	159	well as his unselfish service to New Orleans and to 10
160	160	the Nation. 11
161	161	(20) Francis’ civic endeavors include service as 12
162	162	Chair of the Louisiana Recovery Authority, past 13
163	163	Chair of the Louisiana Disaster Recovery Founda-14
164	164	tion, past Chair of the Southern Education Founda-15
165	165	tion, Chairman of the Board of Liberty Bank and 16
166	166	Trust and a member of the Times-Picayune Advi-17
167	167	sory Board. Previously he has been Chairman of the 18
168	168	New Orleans Aviation Board, the Metropolitan Area 19
169	169	Committee Education Fund and the Board of Direc-20
170	170	tors of PBS-affiliate WLAE–TV. 21
171	171	(21) Dr. Francis has been involved at the na-22
172	172	tional level as past Chairman of the Boards of the 23
173	173	Educational Testing Service, the Carnegie Founda-24
174	174	tion for the Advancement of Teaching, the College 25
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177	177	•HR 1174 IH
178	178	Board, the Southern Education Foundation and the 1
179	179	American Association of Higher Education. He was 2
180	180	also member president of the UNCF, a member of 3
181	181	the Board of Trustees of Catholic University, and 4
182	182	Chairman of SACS, the southern regional accred-5
183	183	iting agency for more than 11,000 institutions in 6
184	184	eleven States. 7
185	185	(22) A man of enduring determination, vision, 8
186	186	faith, and strength, Dr. Norman C. Francis has for-9
187	187	ever changed the lives and landscape of the commu-10
188	188	nities of New Orleans, Louisiana, and all of Amer-11
189	189	ica. We are forever grateful for his service and are 12
190	190	proud to present him with the distinguished recogni-13
191	191	tion of a Congressional Gold Medal. 14
192	192	SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 15
193	193	(a) P
194	194	RESENTATIONAUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of 16
195	195	the House of Representatives and the President pro tem-17
196	196	pore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements 18
197	197	for the presentation, on behalf of Congress, of a gold 19
198	198	medal of appropriate design to Dr. Norman C. Francis, 20
199	199	in recognition of his contributions to the United States. 21
200	200	(b) D
201	201	ESIGN ANDSTRIKING.—For purposes of the 22
202	202	presentation referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary 23
203	203	of the Treasury (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Sec-24
204	204	retary’’) shall strike a gold medal with suitable emblems, 25
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207	207	•HR 1174 IH
208	208	devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the Sec-1
209	209	retary. The design shall bear an image of, and inscription 2
210	210	of the name of, Dr. Norman C. Francis. 3
211	211	SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 4
212	212	The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 5
213	213	bronze of the gold medal struck pursuant to section 3, at 6
214	214	a price sufficient to cover the cost thereof, including labor, 7
215	215	materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses. 8
216	216	SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS. 9
217	217	(a) N
218	218	ATIONALMEDALS.—The medals struck pursu-10
219	219	ant to this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 11
220	220	51 of title 31, United States Code. 12
221	221	(b) N
222	222	UMISMATICITEMS.—For purposes of sections 13
223	223	5134 and 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all medals 14
224	224	struck under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic 15
225	225	items. 16
226	226	SEC. 6. AUTHORITY TO USE FUND AMOUNTS; PROCEEDS OF 17
227	227	SALE. 18
228	228	(a) A
229	229	UTHORITYTOUSEFUNDAMOUNTS.—There is 19
230	230	authorized to be charged against the United States Mint 20
231	231	Public Enterprise Fund such amounts as may be nec-21
232	232	essary to pay for the costs of the medals struck under 22
233	233	this Act. 23
234	234	(b) P
235	235	ROCEEDS OFSALE.—Amounts received from the 24
236	236	sale of duplicate bronze medals authorized under section 25
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239	239	•HR 1174 IH
240	240	4 shall be deposited into the United States Mint Public 1
241	241	Enterprise Fund. 2
242	242	Æ
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