I
118THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 1174
To award a Congressional Gold Medal to Dr. Norman Christopher Francis,
in recognition of his contributions to the United States through his
lifelong dedication to education, justice, and public service.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY24, 2023
Mr. C
ARTERof Louisiana (for himself, Mrs. BEATTY, Ms. STRICKLAND, Mr.
H
ORSFORD, Mr. NEGUSE, Ms. JACKSONLEE, Mr. JOHNSONof Georgia,
Mr. D
AVISof Illinois, Mr. IVEY, Mr. CLYBURN, Mr. BISHOPof Georgia,
Ms. C
ROCKETT, Ms. NORTON, Mrs. FOUSHEE, Ms. ADAMS, Mr. THOMP-
SONof Mississippi, Mr. JACKSONof Illinois, Ms. PRESSLEY, Mr. DAVIS
of North Carolina, Mrs. M
CBATH, Ms. SEWELL, Mr. MEEKS, Mr.
C
LEAVER, Mr. PAYNE, Ms. BROWN, Ms. KAMLAGER-DOVE, Ms. WATERS,
Ms. C
LARKEof New York, Mr. VEASEY, Mrs. WATSONCOLEMAN, Mr.
B
OWMAN, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Mr. GARCI´Aof Illinois, Mr. SOTO, and Ms.
W
ILLIAMSof Georgia) introduced the following bill; which was referred
to the Committee on Financial Services
A BILL
To award a Congressional Gold Medal to Dr. Norman Chris-
topher Francis, in recognition of his contributions to
the United States through his lifelong dedication to edu-
cation, justice, and public service.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:52 Mar 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1174.IH H1174
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2
•HR 1174 IH
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Dr. Norman C. 2
Francis Congressional Gold Medal Act’’. 3
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 4
Congress finds the following: 5
(1) Dr. Norman Christopher Francis was born 6
in Lafayette, LA, on March 20, 1931, to Joseph A. 7
Francis and Mabel F. Francis. His parents were a 8
barber and a homemaker, and he had a Catholic 9
education at St. Paul Catholic elementary and sec-10
ondary schools in Lafayette. 11
(2) After graduation, Francis attended Xavier 12
University of Louisiana in New Orleans, where he 13
graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree. 14
(3) An honor student all four years at Xavier 15
University of Louisiana, young Norman Francis con-16
ducted his work scholarship repairing damaged 17
books in the university library. In his senior year, he 18
was elected student body president. 19
(4) From 1952–1955, Francis attended Loyola 20
University Law School in New Orleans, where he 21
earned his Juris Doctorate. He made history as the 22
first Black graduate of Loyola University Law 23
School in 1955. 24
(5) Upon graduation he married the late Mrs. 25
Blanche Macdonald, but then was drafted into the 26
VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:52 Mar 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1174.IH H1174
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3
•HR 1174 IH
United States Army’s Third Armored Division, 1
where he earned the rank of corporal specialist four. 2
After a two-year tour of duty, Francis left the Army 3
in 1957 and began his civilian career. 4
(6) Upon his return from the military, he joined 5
the U.S. Attorney’s Office and worked to help inte-6
grate Federal agencies. 7
(7) Dr. Francis used his law degree to rep-8
resent civil rights activists as a young lawyer. One 9
of his clients was Xavier student body president, Ru-10
dolph Lombard, who had been arrested for attempt-11
ing to integrate the lunch counter at McCrory’s on 12
Canal Street in New Orleans. 13
(8) As Dean of Men at Xavier University of 14
Louisiana in 1961, he showed his moral courage and 15
vision by housing the Freedom Riders in the historic 16
St. Michael’s dormitory when the rest of New Orle-17
ans establishments had closed their doors to them or 18
openly threatened their safety. 19
(9) In 1963, he became Director of Student 20
Personnel Services and one year later (1964) he was 21
promoted to Assistant to the President. In 1967, he 22
became Executive Vice President. 23
VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:52 Mar 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1174.IH H1174
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4
•HR 1174 IH
(10) In 1967, Dr. Francis joined the brother-1
hood of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated, 2
Sigma Lambda chapter. 3
(11) On the day of the assassination of Dr. 4
Martin Luther King, April 4, 1968, at the age of 37, 5
Dr. Francis accepted the position as President of 6
Xavier University of Louisiana, the Nation’s only 7
historically Black and Catholic university, and his 8
alma mater. He broke barriers on that day by be-9
coming the first African-American lay person to 10
serve in that position. 11
(12) His tenure as President lasted from 1968– 12
2015, and he is one of the longest-sitting university 13
presidents in the Nation’s history. Over that 49-year 14
term, Dr. Francis steered the university to grow 15
both in size and dimension. 16
(13) Dr. Francis was President of Xavier Uni-17
versity of Louisiana during the height of the Civil 18
Rights Movement, and while at the helm of the 19
school, he more than tripled its enrollment, ex-20
panded course offerings, and transformed the cam-21
pus grounds into an ‘‘Emerald City’’ of colorful 22
green roofs. During his tenure, Xavier awarded more 23
doctorate pharmacy degrees to Black Americans and 24
VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:52 Mar 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1174.IH H1174
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5
•HR 1174 IH
sent more Black graduates to medical school than 1
any other U.S. university. 2
(14) Dr. Francis cofounded the Liberty Bank 3
of New Orleans, one of the largest Black-owned 4
banks in the country. Dr. Francis has served as its 5
Chairman since the Bank’s inception in 1972 work-6
ing to improve access to financial institutions for 7
Black Americans. 8
(15) Francis has served in an advisory role to 9
eight U.S. presidential administrations—not only on 10
education issues, but civil rights as well—in addition 11
to serving on 54 boards and commissions. In 1983, 12
Francis helped compile and release the report ‘‘A 13
Nation at Risk’’ during his service on the National 14
Commission on Excellence in Education. The report 15
was a landmark piece that summarized racism and 16
classism with the school system and called for com-17
prehensive education reform. 18
(16) He co-chaired the Louisiana Recovery Au-19
thority after Hurricane Katrina, playing a vital role 20
in helping the people of New Orleans and the Gulf 21
Coast rebuild their lives in the aftermath of Hurri-22
cane Katrina. 23
(17) In 2006, then-President George W. Bush 24
presented him with the Nation’s highest civil award, 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:52 Mar 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1174.IH H1174
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6
•HR 1174 IH
the Presidential Medal of Freedom in recognition of 1
his, ‘‘deep intellect, compassion and character.’’. 2
(18) In 2009, he was named one of ‘‘America’s 3
Best Leaders’’ by U.S. News Media Group and the 4
Center for Public Leadership (CPL) at Harvard 5
Kennedy’s School of Government. 6
(19) He has received 40 honorary degrees from 7
other universities, and at least 20 major awards in 8
recognition of his leadership in higher education as 9
well as his unselfish service to New Orleans and to 10
the Nation. 11
(20) Francis’ civic endeavors include service as 12
Chair of the Louisiana Recovery Authority, past 13
Chair of the Louisiana Disaster Recovery Founda-14
tion, past Chair of the Southern Education Founda-15
tion, Chairman of the Board of Liberty Bank and 16
Trust and a member of the Times-Picayune Advi-17
sory Board. Previously he has been Chairman of the 18
New Orleans Aviation Board, the Metropolitan Area 19
Committee Education Fund and the Board of Direc-20
tors of PBS-affiliate WLAE–TV. 21
(21) Dr. Francis has been involved at the na-22
tional level as past Chairman of the Boards of the 23
Educational Testing Service, the Carnegie Founda-24
tion for the Advancement of Teaching, the College 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:52 Mar 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1174.IH H1174
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7
•HR 1174 IH
Board, the Southern Education Foundation and the 1
American Association of Higher Education. He was 2
also member president of the UNCF, a member of 3
the Board of Trustees of Catholic University, and 4
Chairman of SACS, the southern regional accred-5
iting agency for more than 11,000 institutions in 6
eleven States. 7
(22) A man of enduring determination, vision, 8
faith, and strength, Dr. Norman C. Francis has for-9
ever changed the lives and landscape of the commu-10
nities of New Orleans, Louisiana, and all of Amer-11
ica. We are forever grateful for his service and are 12
proud to present him with the distinguished recogni-13
tion of a Congressional Gold Medal. 14
SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 15
(a) P
RESENTATIONAUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of 16
the House of Representatives and the President pro tem-17
pore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements 18
for the presentation, on behalf of Congress, of a gold 19
medal of appropriate design to Dr. Norman C. Francis, 20
in recognition of his contributions to the United States. 21
(b) D
ESIGN ANDSTRIKING.—For purposes of the 22
presentation referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary 23
of the Treasury (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Sec-24
retary’’) shall strike a gold medal with suitable emblems, 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:52 Mar 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1174.IH H1174
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8
•HR 1174 IH
devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the Sec-1
retary. The design shall bear an image of, and inscription 2
of the name of, Dr. Norman C. Francis. 3
SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 4
The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 5
bronze of the gold medal struck pursuant to section 3, at 6
a price sufficient to cover the cost thereof, including labor, 7
materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses. 8
SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS. 9
(a) N
ATIONALMEDALS.—The medals struck pursu-10
ant to this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 11
51 of title 31, United States Code. 12
(b) N
UMISMATICITEMS.—For purposes of sections 13
5134 and 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all medals 14
struck under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic 15
items. 16
SEC. 6. AUTHORITY TO USE FUND AMOUNTS; PROCEEDS OF 17
SALE. 18
(a) A
UTHORITYTOUSEFUNDAMOUNTS.—There is 19
authorized to be charged against the United States Mint 20
Public Enterprise Fund such amounts as may be nec-21
essary to pay for the costs of the medals struck under 22
this Act. 23
(b) P
ROCEEDS OFSALE.—Amounts received from the 24
sale of duplicate bronze medals authorized under section 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:52 Mar 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1174.IH H1174
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 9
•HR 1174 IH
4 shall be deposited into the United States Mint Public 1
Enterprise Fund. 2
Æ
VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:52 Mar 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1174.IH H1174
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB