[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4520 Introduced in House (IH)]
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114th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 4520
To posthumously award a Congressional gold medal to Justin Smith
Morrill, United States Senator of the State of Vermont, in recognition
of his lasting contributions to higher education opportunity for all
Americans.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 10, 2016
Mr. Newhouse (for himself, Mr. Peterson, Mr. Conaway, Mr. Miller of
Florida, Mr. McGovern, Mr. Kelly of Mississippi, Mr. Welch, Mr. Rodney
Davis of Illinois, Ms. Kuster, Mr. Gibson, Mr. David Scott of Georgia,
Mr. Rouzer, Ms. DelBene, Mr. Lucas, Mr. Nolan, Ms. Jenkins of Kansas,
Ms. Slaughter, Mr. Benishek, Ms. Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico,
Mr. Yoho, Mrs. Bustos, Mr. Goodlatte, Mr. Clay, Mr. LaMalfa, Mrs.
Beatty, Mr. Luetkemeyer, Mr. Vela, Mrs. Walorski, Mr. Walz, Mr. Allen,
Mr. Costa, Mr. Thompson of Pennsylvania, Ms. Kaptur, Mr. Bost, Mr.
Ashford, Mrs. Hartzler, Mr. Pocan, Mr. Abraham, Mr. Hastings, Mr.
Gibbs, Mr. Kind, Mr. Denham, Ms. Fudge, Mr. Smith of Missouri, Ms.
Graham, Mr. Austin Scott of Georgia, Mr. Hurd of Texas, Mr. Neugebauer,
Mr. Roe of Tennessee, Mr. Bishop of Michigan, Mrs. McMorris Rodgers,
Mr. Pearce, and Mr. Collins of Georgia) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in
addition to the Committee on House Administration, 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 posthumously award a Congressional gold medal to Justin Smith
Morrill, United States Senator of the State of Vermont, in recognition
of his lasting contributions to higher education opportunity for all
Americans.
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 ``Justin Smith Morrill Congressional
Gold Medal Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds that:
(1) Justin Smith Morrill, the son of a blacksmith and
farmer, was born in Strafford, Vermont, on April 14, 1810. He
prospered as a merchant and businessman in his early years and
served in public office the remainder of his life.
(2) Morrill, the longest serving Member of Congress in the
Nineteenth Century and Chairman of the Committee on Ways and
Means in the United States House of Representatives and the
Committee on Finance in the United States Senate, served 5
terms in the United States House of Representatives, from 1854
to 1869 and 6 terms in the United States Senate, from 1872 to
1898.
(3) Morrill, inspired by his own lack of public education
opportunity beyond his fifteenth birthday, proposed legislation
that would set aside public lands to be sold by the States to
create and fund State-run colleges.
(4) Congress enacted the First Morrill Act (7 U.S.C. 301 et
seq.) on July 2, 1862, marking the genesis of the national
focus on higher education in the United States through the
establishment of the land-grant institutions.
(5) Congress enacted the Second Morrill Act (7 U.S.C. 321
et seq.) on August 30, 1890.
(6) Land-grant and other public research universities today
award nearly 1,000,000 degrees annually and perform more than
$37,000,000,000 of research for improving the lives of
Americans.
(7) In 1864, Morrill introduced House Joint Resolution 66
which created National Statuary Hall from the Old Hall of the
U.S. House of Representatives and authorized the President of
the United States to invite States to submit two statues of
worthy citizens to be exhibited, which continues as a daily
inspiration to the thousands of visitors to the United States
Capitol.
(8) As chairman of the Committee on Buildings and Grounds,
Morrill served as principal advocate for the construction and
financing of the Thomas Jefferson Building of the Library of
Congress; for inviting Frederick Law Olmstead to design the
present landscape of the Capitol; for planning the location of
the United States Supreme Court Building; for raising funds to
complete the Washington Monument; and for championing the
Smithsonian Institution.
(9) In delivering his last speech as Senator just two weeks
before his death, Morrill noted that the location of the United
States Supreme Court in close proximity to the United States
Capitol and the Library of Congress ``would form a harmonious
group of large public structures on Capitol Hill of unequaled
grandeur, and will be appreciated by the American people
forever''.
(10) In his 1882 book ``Self-Consciousness of Noted
Persons'', Morrill concluded, ``The spur to acquire some future
reputation, to be earned by conscious fidelity, keeps the work
of men always at its best, the mechanic at the top of his
skill, the merchant ever mindful of the upright and downright
in trade; the pulpit and the bar it pushes on to effort and to
eloquence; it makes the soldier brave in battle, the politician
ashamed not be a patriot, and the statesman unwilling to give
up to party what was meant for mankind.''.
(11) After Morrill died on December 28, 1898, eulogies
extolled Morrill's leadership, integrity and good-will,
including the comments of Senator George Graham Vest of
Missouri who stated, ``If all those to whom he did acts of
kindness could whisper across his grave, it would make an
anthem sweeter and more sonorous than any that ever pealed
through cathedral aisle'' and those of Senator George Hoar of
Massachusetts who recalled that Justin Morrill, ``knew in his
youth the veterans of the Revolution and the generation who
declared independence and framed the Constitution . . . . He
knew the whole history of his country from the time of her
independence, partly from the lips of those who shaped it,
partly because of the large share he had in it himself.''.
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
Justin Smith Morrill in recognition of his lasting contributions to
higher education opportunity for all Americans.
(b) Design and Striking.--For the purpose of the presentation
referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury (hereafter
in this Act referred to as the ``Secretary'') shall strike a gold medal
with--
(1) an inscription stating ``A Statesman who did not give
up to party what was intended for humankind''; and
(2) suitable emblems, devices, and inscriptions to be
determined by the Secretary.
(c) Smithsonian.--
(1) In general.--Following the award of the gold medal in
honor of Justin Smith Morrill under subsection (a), the gold
medal shall be given to the Smithsonian, where it shall be
available for display as appropriate and made available for
research.
(2) Sense of congress.--It is the sense of Congress that
the Smithsonian should make the gold medal received under
paragraph (1) available for display or for loan as appropriate
so that it may be displayed elsewhere, particularly at other
appropriate locations associated with the life of Justin Smith
Morrill.
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.
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