[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4130 Introduced in House (IH)]
112th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 4130
To award posthumously a Congressional Gold Medal to Althea Gibson, in
recognition of her groundbreaking achievements in athletics and her
commitment to ending racial discrimination and prejudice within the
world of athletics.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 1, 2012
Mr. Payne (for himself and Mr. Rangel) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services
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A BILL
To award posthumously a Congressional Gold Medal to Althea Gibson, in
recognition of her groundbreaking achievements in athletics and her
commitment to ending racial discrimination and prejudice within the
world of athletics.
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 ``Althea Gibson Excellence Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) Althea Gibson was born August 25, 1927, in Silver,
South Carolina.
(2) Althea Gibson lived with her family in Harlem during
the 1930s and 1940s. She was first introduced to tennis on the
Harlem River Tennis Courts. She went on to dominate the all-
Black American Tennis Association tournaments throughout the
early 1940s, when racism and segregation prevented her from
participating in tournaments sponsored by the United States
Lawn Tennis Association (USLTA).
(3) Althea Gibson graduated from Florida A & M University
in 1953, and was an athletic instructor at the Lincoln
University in Jefferson City, Missouri.
(4) Despite her extraordinary athletic prowess, Althea was
repeatedly denied entry into the world's top tennis tournaments
based on the color of her skin. Alice Marble, a four-time U.S.
Open champion, wrote a historic editorial published in the July
1950 American Lawn Tennis magazine, condemning the sport of
tennis for excluding players of Althea Gibson's caliber.
(5) Althea excelled in the Eastern Grass Court
Championships at the Orange Lawn Tennis Club in South Orange,
New Jersey. Her outstanding grass play caused the USLTA to
reevaluate its policy providing Althea a bid to Forest Hills.
(6) Althea was the first African-American to win
championships at famous tournaments, such as the French Open,
the United States Open, the Australian Doubles, and Wimbledon
in the 1950s.
(7) Althea broke the color barrier to become the first
African-American player, either male or female, to be allowed
to enter the Forest Hills, New York, Championship in 1950.
(8) Althea Gibson's tennis career flourished, even in the
face of discrimination. She was the first African-American
invited to Wimbledon in 1951, eventually winning both the
women's singles and doubles in 1957 and 1958.
(9) She would go on to become the first African-American
woman to win the championship at the French Open in 1956.
(10) During her career, she won 56 doubles and singles
titles before gaining national and international acclaim for
her athletic feats in professional tennis leagues. In the late
1950s, Gibson won eleven major titles including three straight
doubles at the French Open in 1956, 1957, and 1958 and the U.S.
Open in 1957 and 1958.
(11) Althea was the first African-American to be named as
the Female Athlete of the Year by the Associated Press in 1957.
She was given that honor again the following year. When she won
her second U.S. Championship, she went professional at the age
of 31.
(12) As further evidence to Althea's athletic gift, after
finishing her amateur tennis career, she became a professional
golfer in 1959. She was also the first African-American woman
to hold a membership in the Ladies Professional Golf
Association (LGPA).
(13) After retiring from golf, Althea Gibson shifted her
focus to public service. In 1975, Althea Gibson was named the
New Jersey Commissioner of Athletics. She held this position
and also served on both the State's Athletics Control Board and
the Governor's Council on Physical Fitness.
(14) Althea Gibson was inducted into the prestigious
International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1971 and to the
International Women's Sports Hall of Fame in 1980.
(15) In 1991, the National Collegiate Athletic Association
(NCAA) honored Althea Gibson with the Theodore Roosevelt Award,
the highest honor the organization may confer on an individual.
She was the first woman ever to receive this distinguished
honor.
(16) Althea passed away in East Orange, NJ, on September
28, 2003.
(17) Althea Gibson was a trailblazer whose experiences and
successes paved the way for other great African-American tennis
players like Arthur Ashe.
(18) The legacy of Althea Gibson continues to serve as an
inspiration and a shining example for the Nation's youth.
(19) Joining the ranks of other distinguished Congressional
Gold Medal recipients would be a fitting accolade to the
achievements of Althea Gibson.
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 posthumous presentation, on behalf of
the Congress, of a gold medal of appropriate design in commemoration of
Althea Gibson, in recognition of her groundbreaking achievements in
athletics and her commitment to ending racial discrimination and
prejudice within the world of athletics.
(b) Design and Striking.--For purposes of the presentation referred
to 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.
SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS.
The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in bronze of the gold
medal struck pursuant to section 3 under such regulations as the
Secretary may prescribe, at a price sufficient to cover the cost
thereof, including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, and
overhead expenses, and the cost of the gold medal.
SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS.
(a) National Medals.--The medals struck pursuant to this Act are
national medals for purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United States
Code.
(b) Numismatic Items.--For purposes of section 5134 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
pursuant to 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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