Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress House Bill HB945 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1	I
2	2	119THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION H. R. 945
5	5	To award a Congressional Gold Medal to the Freedom Riders, collectively,
6	6	in recognition of their unique contribution to Civil Rights, which inspired
7	7	a revolutionary movement for equality in interstate travel.
8	8	IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
9	9	FEBRUARY4, 2025
10	10	Mr. J
11	11	OHNSONof Georgia (for himself, Ms. ANSARI, Mrs. BEATTY, Mr.
12	12	B
13	13	EYER, Ms. BROWN, Ms. BROWNLEY, Mr. CARTERof Louisiana, Mr.
14	14	C
15	15	ARSON, Ms. CASTORof Florida, Mr. CASTROof Texas, Mrs.
16	16	C
17	17	HERFILUS-MCCORMICK, Ms. CLARKEof New York, Mr. CLYBURN, Mr.
18	18	C
19	19	LEAVER, Mr. COSTA, Mr. CRAWFORD, Ms. CROCKETT, Ms. DAVIDSof
20	20	Kansas, Ms. D
21	21	EANof Pennsylvania, Mrs. DINGELL, Mr. DOGGETT, Mr.
22	22	F
23	23	IELDS, Mr. FROST, Mr. GREENof Texas, Mr. DAVISof North Carolina,
24	24	Ms. N
25	25	ORTON, Mr. JACKSONof Illinois, Ms. JACOBS, Ms. KAMLAGER-
26	26	D
27	27	OVE, Ms. KELLYof Illinois, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI, Mrs.
28	28	M
29	29	CBATH, Ms. MCCLELLAN, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mrs. MCIVER, Mr. MEEKS,
30	30	Ms. M
31	31	OOREof Wisconsin, Mr. MOSKOWITZ, Mr. NEAL, Ms. OCASIO-COR-
32	32	TEZ, Ms. PRESSLEY, Mrs. RAMIREZ, Ms. SCHOLTEN, Mr. DAVIDSCOTT
33	33	of Georgia, Ms. S
34	34	EWELL, Ms. STEVENS, Ms. STRICKLAND, Mr.
35	35	S
36	36	WALWELL, Mr. THANEDAR, Mr. THOMPSONof Mississippi, Ms. TLAIB,
37	37	Mr. T
38	38	ONKO, Mrs. TORRESof California, Mr. TURNERof Texas, Ms. WIL-
39	39	LIAMSof Georgia, Ms. WILSONof Florida, Mrs. SYKES, and Mr. VARGAS)
40	40	introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Fi-
41	41	nancial Services, and in addition to the Committee on House Administra-
42	42	tion, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each
43	43	case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of
44	44	the committee concerned A BILL
45	45	To award a Congressional Gold Medal to the Freedom Rid-
46	46	ers, collectively, in recognition of their unique contribu-
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49	49	•HR 945 IH
50	50	tion to Civil Rights, which inspired a revolutionary move-
51	51	ment for equality in interstate travel.
52	52	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
53	53	tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
54	54	SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 3
55	55	The Congress finds the following: 4
56	56	(1) In 1960, the Supreme Court ruled in Boyn-5
57	57	ton v. Virginia that segregated bus and rail stations 6
58	58	were unconstitutional. 7
59	59	(2) The rigid system of racial segregation that 8
60	60	prevailed in the United States during the 1960s did 9
61	61	not permit a Black person to sit next to a White 10
62	62	person on any bus traveling through interstate com-11
63	63	merce and in most locations in the South. Bus sta-12
64	64	tions had ‘‘Whites Only’’ waiting areas and Blacks 13
65	65	were not permitted to wait in those areas despite the 14
66	66	Supreme Court making it the law of the land. 15
67	67	(3) The Freedom Riders, with the intent to end 16
68	68	segregation in public transportation throughout the 17
69	69	South, paved the way for full racial integration of 18
70	70	the United States transit system. They overcame 19
71	71	prejudice, discrimination, and violence. They sparked 20
72	72	a movement that changed our Nation. 21
73	73	(4) The Congress of Racial Equality (C.O.R.E.) 22
74	74	selected thirteen volunteers for nonviolent response 23
75	75	training to join in the Freedom Rides from Wash-24
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79	79	ington, DC, to New Orleans, LA. The Freedom Rid-1
80	80	ers used their strategies of nonviolence throughout 2
81	81	the South to challenge the region’s Jim Crow laws 3
82	82	directly and enforce the Supreme Court decision in 4
83	83	Boynton. 5
84	84	(5) On the morning of May 4, 1961, the Free-6
85	85	dom Riders, comprised of seven Blacks and six 7
86	86	Whites, boarded two buses, with Blacks and Whites 8
87	87	seated together. Those thirteen Freedom Riders 9
88	88	were: Genevieve Hughes Houghton, Charles Person, 10
89	89	Hank Thomas, John Lewis, Edward Blankenheim, 11
90	90	James Farmer, Walter Bergman, Frances Bergman, 12
91	91	Joseph Perkins, Jimmy McDonald, Mae Francis 13
92	92	Moultrie, Benjamin Elton Cox, and Albert Bigelow. 14
93	93	Most segregated States considered even this level of 15
94	94	integration a crime. At various stops along the way, 16
95	95	the Freedom Riders would enter areas designated 17
96	96	‘‘Whites’’ and ‘‘Colored’’ and would eat together at 18
97	97	segregated lunch counters to defy local laws. 19
98	98	(6) Initially, the Freedom Riders had encoun-20
99	99	tered only minor clashes until a stop in South Caro-21
100	100	lina. In Rock Hill, an angry mob severely beat John 22
101	101	Lewis, late Congressman from the 5th District of 23
102	102	Georgia, when he entered the bus station. Henry 24
103	103	‘‘Hank’’ Thomas was jailed when he entered the bus 25
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107	107	station in Winnsboro. Authorities delivered him to a 1
108	108	waiting mob long after the station had closed that 2
109	109	evening. A local Black minister rescued Thomas, en-3
110	110	abling him to rejoin the group in Columbia. How-4
111	111	ever, Lewis was so badly beaten he could not con-5
112	112	tinue the Freedom Rides. 6
113	113	(7) Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and other civil 7
114	114	rights leaders met with the group in Atlanta to dis-8
115	115	suade their continuance through the Deep South due 9
116	116	to death threats. Despite these warnings, more Free-10
117	117	dom Riders joined in Atlanta. Dedicated to their 11
118	118	mission to end segregation in the South and trained 12
119	119	in nonviolent movements, the Freedom Riders con-13
120	120	tinued on their journey. 14
121	121	(8) On Mother’s Day, May 14, 1961, the Free-15
122	122	dom Riders were on two different buses. An angry 16
123	123	mob in Anniston, Alabama, firebombed the first bus. 17
124	124	When the Freedom Riders rushed out, still choking 18
125	125	from the thick smoke of the burning bus, the wait-19
126	126	ing angry mob beat them with lead pipes and base-20
127	127	ball bats as the bus exploded. Ambulances refused to 21
128	128	transport the Black Freedom Riders to the hospital. 22
129	129	The mob beat the Freedom Riders on the second bus 23
130	130	and forced them to sit in the back. As they jour-24
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134	134	neyed to Birmingham, another mob savagely beat 1
135	135	the Freedom Riders. 2
136	136	(9) The Nashville (TN) Student Group, a local 3
137	137	group of students who had been successful in deseg-4
138	138	regating the lunch counters and movie theaters in 5
139	139	Nashville (TN), vowed not to let these acts of vio-6
140	140	lence curtail the goal of the Freedom Rides. They 7
141	141	sent their members to continue the Freedom Rides 8
142	142	and called out to other student groups to do the 9
143	143	same. 10
144	144	(10) As the violence grew, the Attorney General 11
145	145	of the United States called in the National Guard 12
146	146	and the U.S. Marshals to protect the Freedom Rid-13
147	147	ers as they journeyed through Alabama. This protec-14
148	148	tion was short lived. The Federal authorities turned 15
149	149	the Freedom Riders over to the local authorities in 16
150	150	Mississippi who then arrested the Freedom Riders 17
151	151	for disturbing the peace. 18
152	152	(11) The Government of Mississippi imprisoned 19
153	153	many of the Freedom Riders in Parchman Prison 20
154	154	known for its horrific conditions, such as subjecting 21
155	155	the Freedom Riders to strip searches, work on chain 22
156	156	gangs, and light shining in their cells 24 hours a 23
157	157	day. Despite these conditions, the Freedom Riders 24
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161	161	refused bail because they were determined to spread 1
162	162	the message of their nonviolent movement. 2
163	163	(12) Five months after the first Freedom Rid-3
164	164	ers left on their historic ride, the Interstate Com-4
165	165	merce Commission in conjunction with the U.S. At-5
166	166	torney General Robert Kennedy issued a Federal 6
167	167	order banning segregation at all interstate public fa-7
168	168	cilities based upon ‘‘race, color or creed’’. The law 8
169	169	became effective on November 1, 1961. 9
170	170	(13) In 2011, Barack Obama, the President of 10
171	171	the United States, paid tribute to the Freedom Rid-11
172	172	ers with a Presidential proclamation honoring the 12
173	173	50th anniversary of the first Freedom Ride by brave 13
174	174	Americans whose selfless act of courage helped pave 14
175	175	the way for others to continue on the road to Civil 15
176	176	Rights in America. 16
177	177	SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 17
178	178	(a) P
179	179	RESENTATIONAUTHORIZATION.—The Speaker 18
180	180	of the House of Representatives and the President pro 19
181	181	tempore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrange-20
182	182	ments for the presentation, on behalf of the Congress, of 21
183	183	a gold medal of appropriate design to the Freedom Riders, 22
184	184	collectively, in recognition of their unique contribution to 23
185	185	Civil Rights, which inspired a revolutionary movement to 24
186	186	equality in interstate travel. 25
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190	190	(b) DESIGN ANDSTRIKING.—For the purposes of the 1
191	191	award referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary of the 2
192	192	Treasury (hereafter in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Sec-3
193	193	retary’’) shall strike a gold medal with suitable emblems, 4
194	194	devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the Sec-5
195	195	retary. 6
196	196	(c) S
197	197	MITHSONIANINSTITUTION.— 7
198	198	(1) I
199	199	N GENERAL.—Following the award of the 8
200	200	gold medal under subsection (a), the gold medal 9
201	201	shall be given to the Smithsonian Institution, where 10
202	202	it will be available for display as appropriate and 11
203	203	available for research. 12
204	204	(2) S
205	205	ENSE OF THE CONGRESS .—It is the sense 13
206	206	of the Congress that the Smithsonian Institution 14
207	207	should make the gold medal awarded pursuant to 15
208	208	this Act available for display elsewhere, particularly 16
209	209	at appropriate locations associated with the Freedom 17
210	210	Riders. 18
211	211	SEC. 3. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 19
212	212	The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 20
213	213	bronze of the gold medal struck pursuant to section 2, at 21
214	214	a price sufficient to cover the cost thereof, including labor, 22
215	215	materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses. 23
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219	219	SEC. 4. STATUS OF MEDALS. 1
220	220	(a) N
221	221	ATIONALMEDALS.—Medals struck pursuant to 2
222	222	this Act are national medals for the purposes of chapter 3
223	223	51 of title 31, United States Code. 4
224	224	(b) N
225	225	UMISMATICITEMS.—For purposes of sections 5
226	226	5134 and 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all medals 6
227	227	struck under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic 7
228	228	items. 8
229	229	SEC. 5. AUTHORITY TO USE FUND AMOUNTS; PROCEEDS OF 9
230	230	SALE. 10
231	231	(a) A
232	232	UTHORITYTOUSEFUNDAMOUNTS.—There is 11
233	233	authorized to be charged against the United States Mint 12
234	234	Public Enterprise Fund such amounts as may be nec-13
235	235	essary to pay for the costs of the medals struck under 14
236	236	this Act. 15
237	237	(b) P
238	238	ROCEEDS OFSALE.—Amounts received from the 16
239	239	sale of duplicate bronze medals authorized under section 17
240	240	4 shall be deposited into the United States Mint Public 18
241	241	Enterprise Fund. 19
242	242	Æ
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