[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 590 Referred in House (RFH)]
<DOC>
116th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 590
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 29, 2019
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
_______________________________________________________________________
AN ACT
To award Congressional Gold Medals to Katherine Johnson and Dr.
Christine Darden, to posthumously award Congressional Gold Medals to
Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson, and to award a Congressional Gold
Medal to honor all of the women who contributed to the success of the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration during the Space Race.
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 ``Hidden Figures Congressional Gold
Medal Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) In 1935, the National Advisory Committee for
Aeronautics (referred to in this section as ``NACA'') hired 5
women to serve as the first ``computer pool'' at the Langley
Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory where those women took on work
making calculations that male engineers had made previously.
(2) During the 1940s, NACA began recruiting African-
American women to work as computers and initially separated
those women from their White counterparts in a group known as
the ``West Area Computers'' where the women were restricted to
segregated dining and bathroom facilities.
(3) Katherine Johnson was born on August 26, 1918, in White
Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.
(4) In 1953, Katherine Johnson began her career in
aeronautics as a computer in the segregated West Area Computing
unit described in paragraph (2).
(5) As a member of the Flight Research Division, Katherine
Johnson analyzed data from flight tests. After NACA was
reformulated into the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration (referred to in this section as ``NASA''),
Katherine Johnson--
(A) calculated the trajectory for Alan Shepard's
Freedom 7 mission in 1961, which was the first human
spaceflight by an individual from the United States;
(B) co-authored a report that provided the
equations for describing orbital spaceflight with a
specified landing point, which made her the first woman
to be recognized as an author of a report from the
Flight Research Division;
(C) was asked to verify the calculations when
electronic computers at NASA were used to calculate the
orbit for John Glenn's Friendship 7 mission; and
(D) provided calculations for NASA throughout her
career, including for the Apollo missions.
(6) Katherine Johnson retired from NASA in 1986.
(7) Dr. Christine Darden was born on September 10, 1942, in
Monroe, North Carolina.
(8) In 1962, Dr. Christine Darden graduated from Hampton
Institute with a B.S. in Mathematics and a teaching credential.
(9) Dr. Christine Darden attended Virginia State University
where she studied aerosol physics and earned an M.S. in Applied
Mathematics.
(10) Dr. Christine Darden began her career in aeronautics
in 1967 as a data analyst at NASA's Langley Research Center
(referred to in this section as ``Langley'') before being
promoted to aerospace engineer in 1973. Her work in this
position resulted in the production of low-boom sonic effects,
which revolutionized aerodynamics design.
(11) Dr. Christine Darden completed her education by
earning a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from George
Washington University in 1983.
(12) While working at NASA, Dr. Christine Darden--
(A) was appointed to be the leader of the Sonic
Boom Team, which worked on designs to minimize the
effects of sonic booms by testing wing and nose designs
for supersonic aircraft;
(B) wrote more than 50 articles on aeronautics
design; and
(C) became the first African American to be
promoted to a position in the Senior Executive Service
at Langley.
(13) Dorothy Vaughan was born on September 20, 1910, in
Kansas City, Missouri.
(14) Dorothy Vaughan began working for NACA in 1943.
Dorothy Vaughan--
(A) started at NACA as a member of the West Area
Computing unit;
(B) was promoted to be the head of the West Area
Computing unit, becoming NACA's first African-American
supervisor, a position that she held for 9 years; and
(C) became an expert programmer in FORTRAN as a
member of NASA's Analysis and Computation Division.
(15) Dorothy Vaughan retired from NASA in 1971 and died on
November 10, 2008.
(16) Mary Jackson was born on April 9, 1921, in Hampton,
Virginia.
(17) Mary Jackson started her career at NACA in 1951,
working as a computer as a member of the West Area Computing
unit.
(18) After petitioning the city of Hampton to allow her to
take graduate-level courses in math and physics at night at the
all-White Hampton High School, Mary Jackson was able to
complete the required training to become an engineer, making
her NASA's first female African-American engineer.
(19) Mary Jackson--
(A) while at NACA and NASA--
(i) worked in the Theoretical Aerodynamics
Branch of the Subsonic-Transonic Aerodynamics
Division at Langley where she analyzed wind
tunnel and aircraft flight data; and
(ii) published a dozen technical papers
that focused on the boundary layer of air
around airplanes; and
(B) after 21 years working as an engineer at NASA,
transitioned to a new job as Langley's Federal Women's
Program Manager where she worked to improve the
prospects of NASA's female mathematicians, engineers,
and scientists.
(20) Mary Jackson retired from NASA in 1985 and died in
2005.
(21) These 4 women, along with the other African-American
women in NASA's West Area Computing unit, were integral to the
success of the early space program. The stories of these 4
women exemplify the experiences of hundreds of women who worked
as computers, mathematicians, and engineers at NACA beginning
in the 1930s and the handmade calculations that they made
played an integral role in--
(A) aircraft testing during World War II;
(B) supersonic flight research;
(C) sending the Voyager probes to explore the solar
system; and
(D) the United States landing the first man on the
lunar surface.
SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDALS.
(a) Presentation Authorized.--The Speaker of the House of
Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate shall make
appropriate arrangements for the presentation, on behalf of Congress,
of 5 gold medals of appropriate design as follows:
(1) One gold medal to Katherine Johnson in recognition of
her service to the United States as a mathematician.
(2) One gold medal to Dr. Christine Darden for her service
to the United States as an aeronautical engineer.
(3) In recognition of their service to the United States
during the Space Race--
(A) 1 gold medal commemorating the life of Dorothy
Vaughan; and
(B) 1 gold medal commemorating the life of Mary
Jackson.
(4) One gold medal in recognition of all women who served
as computers, mathematicians, and engineers at the National
Advisory Committee for Aeronautics and the National Aeronautics
and Space Administration between the 1930s and the 1970s
(referred to in this section as ``recognized women'').
(b) Design and Striking.--For the purpose of the awards under
subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury (referred to in this Act
as the ``Secretary'') shall strike each gold medal described in that
subsection with suitable emblems, devices, and inscriptions, to be
determined by the Secretary.
(c) Transfer of Certain Medals After Presentation.--
(1) Smithsonian institution.--
(A) In general.--After the award of the gold medal
commemorating the life of Dorothy Vaughan under
subsection (a)(3)(A) and the award of the gold medal in
recognition of recognized women under subsection
(a)(4), those medals shall be given to the Smithsonian
Institution where the medals shall be--
(i) available for display, as appropriate;
and
(ii) made available for research.
(B) Sense of congress.--It is the sense of Congress
that the Smithsonian Institution should make the gold
medals received under subparagraph (A) available for--
(i) display, particularly at the National
Museum of African American History and Culture;
or
(ii) loan, as appropriate, so that the
medals may be displayed elsewhere.
(2) Transfer to family.--After the award of the gold medal
in honor of Mary Jackson under subsection (a)(3)(B), the medal
shall be given to her granddaughter, Wanda Jackson.
SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS.
Under regulations that the Secretary may promulgate, the Secretary
may strike and sell duplicates in bronze of the gold medals struck
under this Act, at a price sufficient to cover the cost of the medals,
including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead
expenses.
SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS.
(a) National Medals.--The medals struck under this Act are national
medals for purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United States Code.
(b) Numismatic Items.--For purposes of sections 5134 and 5136 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
under 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.
Passed the Senate March 27, 2019.
Attest:
JULIE E. ADAMS,
Secretary.