I
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 945
To award a Congressional Gold Medal to the Freedom Riders, collectively,
in recognition of their unique contribution to Civil Rights, which inspired
a revolutionary movement for equality in interstate travel.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY4, 2025
Mr. J
OHNSONof Georgia (for himself, Ms. ANSARI, Mrs. BEATTY, Mr.
B
EYER, Ms. BROWN, Ms. BROWNLEY, Mr. CARTERof Louisiana, Mr.
C
ARSON, Ms. CASTORof Florida, Mr. CASTROof Texas, Mrs.
C
HERFILUS-MCCORMICK, Ms. CLARKEof New York, Mr. CLYBURN, Mr.
C
LEAVER, Mr. COSTA, Mr. CRAWFORD, Ms. CROCKETT, Ms. DAVIDSof
Kansas, Ms. D
EANof Pennsylvania, Mrs. DINGELL, Mr. DOGGETT, Mr.
F
IELDS, Mr. FROST, Mr. GREENof Texas, Mr. DAVISof North Carolina,
Ms. N
ORTON, Mr. JACKSONof Illinois, Ms. JACOBS, Ms. KAMLAGER-
D
OVE, Ms. KELLYof Illinois, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI, Mrs.
M
CBATH, Ms. MCCLELLAN, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mrs. MCIVER, Mr. MEEKS,
Ms. M
OOREof Wisconsin, Mr. MOSKOWITZ, Mr. NEAL, Ms. OCASIO-COR-
TEZ, Ms. PRESSLEY, Mrs. RAMIREZ, Ms. SCHOLTEN, Mr. DAVIDSCOTT
of Georgia, Ms. S
EWELL, Ms. STEVENS, Ms. STRICKLAND, Mr.
S
WALWELL, Mr. THANEDAR, Mr. THOMPSONof Mississippi, Ms. TLAIB,
Mr. T
ONKO, Mrs. TORRESof California, Mr. TURNERof Texas, Ms. WIL-
LIAMSof Georgia, Ms. WILSONof Florida, Mrs. SYKES, and Mr. VARGAS)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Fi-
nancial Services, and in addition to the Committee on House Administra-
tion, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each
case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of
the committee concerned A BILL
To award a Congressional Gold Medal to the Freedom Rid-
ers, collectively, in recognition of their unique contribu-
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tion to Civil Rights, which inspired a revolutionary move-
ment for equality in interstate travel.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 3
The Congress finds the following: 4
(1) In 1960, the Supreme Court ruled in Boyn-5
ton v. Virginia that segregated bus and rail stations 6
were unconstitutional. 7
(2) The rigid system of racial segregation that 8
prevailed in the United States during the 1960s did 9
not permit a Black person to sit next to a White 10
person on any bus traveling through interstate com-11
merce and in most locations in the South. Bus sta-12
tions had ‘‘Whites Only’’ waiting areas and Blacks 13
were not permitted to wait in those areas despite the 14
Supreme Court making it the law of the land. 15
(3) The Freedom Riders, with the intent to end 16
segregation in public transportation throughout the 17
South, paved the way for full racial integration of 18
the United States transit system. They overcame 19
prejudice, discrimination, and violence. They sparked 20
a movement that changed our Nation. 21
(4) The Congress of Racial Equality (C.O.R.E.) 22
selected thirteen volunteers for nonviolent response 23
training to join in the Freedom Rides from Wash-24
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ington, DC, to New Orleans, LA. The Freedom Rid-1
ers used their strategies of nonviolence throughout 2
the South to challenge the region’s Jim Crow laws 3
directly and enforce the Supreme Court decision in 4
Boynton. 5
(5) On the morning of May 4, 1961, the Free-6
dom Riders, comprised of seven Blacks and six 7
Whites, boarded two buses, with Blacks and Whites 8
seated together. Those thirteen Freedom Riders 9
were: Genevieve Hughes Houghton, Charles Person, 10
Hank Thomas, John Lewis, Edward Blankenheim, 11
James Farmer, Walter Bergman, Frances Bergman, 12
Joseph Perkins, Jimmy McDonald, Mae Francis 13
Moultrie, Benjamin Elton Cox, and Albert Bigelow. 14
Most segregated States considered even this level of 15
integration a crime. At various stops along the way, 16
the Freedom Riders would enter areas designated 17
‘‘Whites’’ and ‘‘Colored’’ and would eat together at 18
segregated lunch counters to defy local laws. 19
(6) Initially, the Freedom Riders had encoun-20
tered only minor clashes until a stop in South Caro-21
lina. In Rock Hill, an angry mob severely beat John 22
Lewis, late Congressman from the 5th District of 23
Georgia, when he entered the bus station. Henry 24
‘‘Hank’’ Thomas was jailed when he entered the bus 25
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station in Winnsboro. Authorities delivered him to a 1
waiting mob long after the station had closed that 2
evening. A local Black minister rescued Thomas, en-3
abling him to rejoin the group in Columbia. How-4
ever, Lewis was so badly beaten he could not con-5
tinue the Freedom Rides. 6
(7) Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and other civil 7
rights leaders met with the group in Atlanta to dis-8
suade their continuance through the Deep South due 9
to death threats. Despite these warnings, more Free-10
dom Riders joined in Atlanta. Dedicated to their 11
mission to end segregation in the South and trained 12
in nonviolent movements, the Freedom Riders con-13
tinued on their journey. 14
(8) On Mother’s Day, May 14, 1961, the Free-15
dom Riders were on two different buses. An angry 16
mob in Anniston, Alabama, firebombed the first bus. 17
When the Freedom Riders rushed out, still choking 18
from the thick smoke of the burning bus, the wait-19
ing angry mob beat them with lead pipes and base-20
ball bats as the bus exploded. Ambulances refused to 21
transport the Black Freedom Riders to the hospital. 22
The mob beat the Freedom Riders on the second bus 23
and forced them to sit in the back. As they jour-24
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neyed to Birmingham, another mob savagely beat 1
the Freedom Riders. 2
(9) The Nashville (TN) Student Group, a local 3
group of students who had been successful in deseg-4
regating the lunch counters and movie theaters in 5
Nashville (TN), vowed not to let these acts of vio-6
lence curtail the goal of the Freedom Rides. They 7
sent their members to continue the Freedom Rides 8
and called out to other student groups to do the 9
same. 10
(10) As the violence grew, the Attorney General 11
of the United States called in the National Guard 12
and the U.S. Marshals to protect the Freedom Rid-13
ers as they journeyed through Alabama. This protec-14
tion was short lived. The Federal authorities turned 15
the Freedom Riders over to the local authorities in 16
Mississippi who then arrested the Freedom Riders 17
for disturbing the peace. 18
(11) The Government of Mississippi imprisoned 19
many of the Freedom Riders in Parchman Prison 20
known for its horrific conditions, such as subjecting 21
the Freedom Riders to strip searches, work on chain 22
gangs, and light shining in their cells 24 hours a 23
day. Despite these conditions, the Freedom Riders 24
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refused bail because they were determined to spread 1
the message of their nonviolent movement. 2
(12) Five months after the first Freedom Rid-3
ers left on their historic ride, the Interstate Com-4
merce Commission in conjunction with the U.S. At-5
torney General Robert Kennedy issued a Federal 6
order banning segregation at all interstate public fa-7
cilities based upon ‘‘race, color or creed’’. The law 8
became effective on November 1, 1961. 9
(13) In 2011, Barack Obama, the President of 10
the United States, paid tribute to the Freedom Rid-11
ers with a Presidential proclamation honoring the 12
50th anniversary of the first Freedom Ride by brave 13
Americans whose selfless act of courage helped pave 14
the way for others to continue on the road to Civil 15
Rights in America. 16
SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 17
(a) P
RESENTATIONAUTHORIZATION.—The Speaker 18
of the House of Representatives and the President pro 19
tempore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrange-20
ments for the presentation, on behalf of the Congress, of 21
a gold medal of appropriate design to the Freedom Riders, 22
collectively, in recognition of their unique contribution to 23
Civil Rights, which inspired a revolutionary movement to 24
equality in interstate travel. 25
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(b) DESIGN ANDSTRIKING.—For the purposes of the 1
award referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary of the 2
Treasury (hereafter in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Sec-3
retary’’) shall strike a gold medal with suitable emblems, 4
devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the Sec-5
retary. 6
(c) S
MITHSONIANINSTITUTION.— 7
(1) I
N GENERAL.—Following the award of the 8
gold medal under subsection (a), the gold medal 9
shall be given to the Smithsonian Institution, where 10
it will be available for display as appropriate and 11
available for research. 12
(2) S
ENSE OF THE CONGRESS .—It is the sense 13
of the Congress that the Smithsonian Institution 14
should make the gold medal awarded pursuant to 15
this Act available for display elsewhere, particularly 16
at appropriate locations associated with the Freedom 17
Riders. 18
SEC. 3. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 19
The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 20
bronze of the gold medal struck pursuant to section 2, at 21
a price sufficient to cover the cost thereof, including labor, 22
materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses. 23
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SEC. 4. STATUS OF MEDALS. 1
(a) N
ATIONALMEDALS.—Medals struck pursuant to 2
this Act are national medals for the purposes of chapter 3
51 of title 31, United States Code. 4
(b) N
UMISMATICITEMS.—For purposes of sections 5
5134 and 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all medals 6
struck under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic 7
items. 8
SEC. 5. AUTHORITY TO USE FUND AMOUNTS; PROCEEDS OF 9
SALE. 10
(a) A
UTHORITYTOUSEFUNDAMOUNTS.—There is 11
authorized to be charged against the United States Mint 12
Public Enterprise Fund such amounts as may be nec-13
essary to pay for the costs of the medals struck under 14
this Act. 15
(b) P
ROCEEDS OFSALE.—Amounts received from the 16
sale of duplicate bronze medals authorized under section 17
4 shall be deposited into the United States Mint Public 18
Enterprise Fund. 19
Æ
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