[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4885 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 4885
To posthumously award a historic Congressional Gold Medal,
collectively, to Africans and their descendants enslaved within our
country from August 20, 1619, to December 6, 1865.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
August 5, 2025
Mr. Green of Texas introduced the following bill; which was referred to
the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committees
on House Administration, and the Budget, 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 historic Congressional Gold Medal,
collectively, to Africans and their descendants enslaved within our
country from August 20, 1619, to December 6, 1865.
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 ``The original legislation awarding a
historic Congressional Gold Medal, collectively, to Africans and their
descendants enslaved within our country from August 20, 1619, to
December 6, 1865''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Human beings were systematically abducted from the
continent of Africa and placed against their will onto ships
that would cross the Atlantic Ocean.
(2) These persons were chained within the holds of ships in
horrendous conditions for the duration of the transatlantic
journey, which lasted up to six months.
(3) Upon arrival in North America, they were forced into
labor among the English and European colonies that would later
become the United States.
(4) Their enslavement was concentrated on farms and
plantations that produced crops such as cotton, tobacco, and
sugar cane.
(5) The practice of slavery continued up to and past the
eventual American Revolution against England and the founding
of the United States of America.
(6) In the ensuing decades, slavery persisted primarily in
States where the economy was based significantly on farming.
(7) The treatment of enslaved people continued to be
horrendous in nature, including exploitation, family
separation, rape, torture, and degradation, among other
cruelties.
(8) Slave labor was essential to the functioning of many
farms and plantations and therefore was essential to the growth
of the United States economy as a whole.
(9) Slave labor was used to build notable buildings and
monuments in the United States, including the United States
Capitol Building, the White House, the Washington Monument,
Mount Vernon, which was the home of George Washington, and
Monticello, which was the home of Thomas Jefferson.
(10) The profits from and involvement of slave labor were
also essential to the construction of the Smithsonian
Institution, Wall Street, Harvard University, Georgetown
University, and Fort Sumter.
(11) It has been estimated that the total economic value of
slave labor is between $5.9 trillion and $14.2 trillion in 2009
dollars.
(12) The United States became increasingly divided between
slaveholding and non-slaveholding States and territories,
including as to whether slavery should be expanded to new
States and territories or abolished altogether.
(13) The secession of States from the United States began
on December 20, 1860, and led to the formation of the
Confederate States of America on February 4, 1861.
(14) The American Civil War began on April 12, 1861, with
the attack on Fort Sumter by Confederate forces.
(15) On January 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued
the Emancipation Proclamation declaring that ``all persons held
as slaves'' in Confederate States ``henceforward shall be
free''.
(16) After four years of grueling battle and conflict, the
Civil War concluded with the surrender of the commander of the
Confederate forces on April 9, 1865, although fighting
continued until November 6, 1865, and the Civil War was
proclaimed to be over by President Andrew Johnson on August 20,
1866.
(17) The 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution
abolishing slavery passed the Congress on January 31, 1865, and
was ratified by the required number of States on December 6,
1865.
(18) The text of the 13th Amendment states that, ``Neither
slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for
crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall
exist within the United States, or any place subject to their
jurisdiction.''.
(19) The use of slave labor over hundreds of years resulted
in immense suffering and deprivation among the people who fell
victim to these abhorrent practices.
(20) At the same time, the extensive, long-term use of
unpaid labor advantaged the United States economy immeasurably.
SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL.
(a) Award Authorized.--The Speaker of the House of Representatives
and the President pro tempore of the Senate shall make appropriate
arrangements for the award, on behalf of the Congress, of a gold medal
of appropriate design dedicated to the enslaved persons collectively in
recognition of their service as the greatest contributors to the
foundation of America's economic greatness.
(b) Design and Striking.--For the purposes of the award referred to
in subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury shall strike the gold
medal with suitable emblems, devices, and inscriptions, to be
determined by the Secretary.
(c) Smithsonian Institution.--Following the award of the gold medal
described in subsection (a), the gold medal shall be given to the
Smithsonian Institution, where it will be displayed at the National
Museum of African-American History & Culture and made available for
research.
SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS.
(a) In General.--The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in
bronze of the gold medal struck under section 3, at a price sufficient
to cover the costs of the bronze medals, including labor, materials,
dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses.
(b) Proceeds of Sales.--The amounts received from the sale of
duplicate medals under subsection (a) shall be deposited in the United
States Mint Public Enterprise Fund.
(c) 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.
SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS.
The gold medal struck pursuant to this Act is a national medal for
purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United States Code.
SEC. 6. DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS.
The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of complying
with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, shall be determined by
reference to the latest statement titled ``Budgetary Effects of PAYGO
Legislation'' for this Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional
Record by the Chairman of the House Budget Committee, provided that
such statement has been submitted prior to the vote on passage.
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