[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2784 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 2784
To award posthumously the Congressional Gold Medal to Constance Baker
Motley, in recognition of her enduring contributions and service to the
United States.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
September 11, 2025
Mr. Blumenthal (for himself, Ms. Collins, Mr. Schumer, Mr. Murphy, Mrs.
Gillibrand, Mr. King, Mrs. Shaheen, Mr. Padilla, Mr. Fetterman, Ms.
Hirono, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Booker, Ms. Baldwin, Mr. Whitehouse, Mr.
Merkley, Ms. Alsobrooks, Mr. Schatz, Ms. Klobuchar, Ms. Cortez Masto,
Mr. Reed, Mr. Coons, Ms. Blunt Rochester, Mr. Lujan, Mr. Wyden, Mr.
Markey, Mr. Van Hollen, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Welch, and Mr. Heinrich)
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To award posthumously the Congressional Gold Medal to Constance Baker
Motley, in recognition of her enduring contributions and service to the
United States.
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 ``Congressional Tribute to Constance
Baker Motley Act of 2025''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Constance Baker Motley was born in 1921, in New Haven,
Connecticut, the daughter of immigrants from the Caribbean
island of Nevis.
(2) In 1943, Constance Baker Motley graduated from New York
University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics.
(3) Upon receiving a law degree from Columbia University in
1946, Constance Baker Motley became a staff attorney at the
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (referred to in this
Act as the ``LDF''), and fought tirelessly for 2 decades
alongside Thurgood Marshall and other leading civil rights
lawyers to dismantle segregation throughout the United States.
(4) Constance Baker Motley was the only female attorney on
the LDF legal team that won the landmark desegregation case,
Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954).
(5) Constance Baker Motley argued 10 major civil rights
cases before the Supreme Court of the United States, winning
all but 1, including the case brought on behalf of James
Meredith challenging the refusal of the University of
Mississippi to admit him.
(6) Constance Baker Motley's only loss before the Supreme
Court of the United States in Swain v. Alabama, 380 U.S. 202
(1965), a case in which the Supreme Court refused to proscribe
race-based peremptory challenges in cases involving African-
American defendants, and which was later reversed in Batson v.
Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79 (1986), on grounds that were largely
asserted by Constance Baker Motley in the Swain case.
(7) In 1964, Constance Baker Motley became the first
African-American woman elected to the New York State Senate.
(8) In 1965, Constance Baker Motley became the first
African-American woman, and the first woman, to serve as
president of the Borough of Manhattan.
(9) Constance Baker Motley, in her capacity as an elected
public official in New York, continued to fight for civil
rights, dedicating herself to the revitalization of the inner
city and improvement of urban public schools and housing.
(10) In 1966, Constance Baker Motley was appointed by
President Lyndon B. Johnson as a judge on the United States
District Court for the Southern District of New York.
(11) The appointment of Constance Baker Motley made her the
first African-American woman, and only the fifth woman,
appointed and confirmed for a Federal judgeship.
(12) In 1982, Constance Baker Motley was elevated to Chief
Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern
District of New York, the largest Federal trial court in the
United States.
(13) Constance Baker Motley assumed senior status in 1986,
and continued serving on the United States District Court for
the Southern District of New York with distinction for nearly 2
decades.
(14) Constance Baker Motley passed away on September 28,
2005, and is survived by her son, Joel W. Motley III, 3
grandchildren, and nieces and nephews in Connecticut and in
other States.
(15) September 14, 2021, was the 100th anniversary of the
birth of Constance Baker Motley.
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
Congress, of a gold medal of appropriate design in commemoration of
Constance Baker Motley, in recognition of her enduring contributions
and service to the United States.
(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.
The design shall bear an image of, and an inscription of the name of,
``Constance Baker Motley''.
(c) Presentation.--With respect to the presentation referred to in
subsection (a), the gold medal shall be presented to Constance Baker
Motley's son, Joel Motley III, and her niece, Constance Royster.
(d) Disposition of Medal.--Following the presentation referred to
in subsection (a), the gold medal shall be given to Joel Motley III.
SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS.
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 medals, including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, and
overhead expenses.
SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS.
(a) National Medal.--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 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
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.
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