I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8619 To award posthumously the Congressional Gold Medal to Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OCTOBER 16, 2020 Mr. RUSH (for himself and Mr. BACON) 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 provi- sions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To award posthumously the Congressional Gold Medal to Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Emmett Till and 4 Mamie Till-Mobley Congressional Gold Medal Act of 5 2020’’. 6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 7 Congress finds the following: 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:54 Nov 03, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8619.IH H8619 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8619 IH (1) The brutal lynching of Emmett Till and the 1 subsequent bravery and boldness of his mother, 2 Mamie Till-Mobley, became a catalyst for the civil 3 rights movement. 4 (2) On August 28, 1955, 14 year old Emmett 5 Till was kidnapped, beaten, and shot in Money, Mis- 6 sissippi, where he had traveled from Chicago to stay 7 with his great uncle, Moses Wright. 8 (3) The corpse of Emmett Till was discovered 9 days later in the Tallahatchie River and his mur- 10 derers were acquitted despite Moses Wright pro- 11 viding an eyewitness testimony that the men on trial 12 kidnapped Emmett Till. 13 (4) Mamie Till-Mobley, the mother of Emmett 14 Till, demonstrated her love for her son and her cour- 15 age and strength in suffering in the days that fol- 16 lowed as she brought the body of Emmett Till back 17 to Chicago for burial and demanded an open casket 18 funeral, which drew more than 50,000 attendees. 19 (5) Mamie Till-Mobley further allowed a photo- 20 graph to be taken of Emmett Till in his casket, 21 which was shown throughout the world. 22 (6) The original casket of Emmett Till stands 23 on display at the National Museum of African Amer- 24 ican History and Culture as an enduring reminder 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:54 Nov 03, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8619.IH H8619 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8619 IH of the racial violence that is a part of the history of 1 the United States that the people of the United 2 States must confront. 3 (7) The heroic actions of Mamie Till-Mobley in 4 the midst of evil, injustice, and grief became a cata- 5 lyst for the civil rights movement and continued in 6 the years to come as she worked for justice and hon- 7 ored the legacy of Emmett Till. 8 (8) Mamie Till-Mobley went on to create the 9 Emmett Till Players, which was a significant na- 10 tional cultural contribution as teenagers traveled 11 throughout the country presenting Martin Luther 12 King Jr. speeches in the name of Emmett Till. 13 (9) Mamie Till-Mobley also served as chair and 14 co-founder of the Emmett Till Justice Campaign, 15 which had the dual mission of reopening the murder 16 of Emmett Till for a reinvestigation and a passage 17 into law of Federal legislation to ensure that other 18 racially motivated murders during the civil rights era 19 were investigated and, when possible, prosecuted. 20 (10) The efforts of the Emmett Till Justice 21 Campaign led to the successful joint investigation by 22 the State of Mississippi, the Federal Bureau of In- 23 vestigation, and the Department of Justice in 2004, 24 the passage of the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:54 Nov 03, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8619.IH H8619 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8619 IH Rights Crime Act of 2007 (Public Law 110–344; 1 122 Stat. 3934), signed into law by President 2 George W. Bush, and the Emmett Till Unsolved 3 Civil Rights Crimes Reauthorization Act of 2016 4 (Public Law 114–325; 130 Stat. 1965), signed into 5 law by President Barack Obama. 6 (11) The people of the United States honor the 7 legacy of Emmett Till and the incredible suffering 8 and equally incredible courage, resilience, and efforts 9 of Mamie Till-Mobley that led to the civil rights 10 movement that began in the 1950s. 11 SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 12 (a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of 13 the House of Representatives and the President pro tem- 14 pore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements 15 for the posthumous presentation, on behalf of Congress, 16 of a gold medal of appropriate design in commemoration 17 of Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley. 18 (b) DESIGN AND STRIKING.—For purposes of the 19 presentation referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary 20 of the Treasury (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Sec- 21 retary’’) shall strike a gold medal with suitable emblems, 22 devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the Sec- 23 retary. 24 (c) AWARD OF MEDAL.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:54 Nov 03, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8619.IH H8619 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 8619 IH (1) IN GENERAL.—After the award of the gold 1 medal referred to in subsection (a), the gold medal 2 shall be given to the National Museum of African 3 American History and Culture, where it shall be dis- 4 played as appropriate. 5 (2) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of 6 Congress that the National Museum of African 7 American History and Culture should make the gold 8 medal received under paragraph (1) available for 9 display elsewhere, particularly at other locations and 10 events associated with Emmett Till and Mamie Till- 11 Mobley. 12 SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 13 Under such regulations as the Secretary may pre- 14 scribe, the Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 15 bronze of the gold medal struck under section 3, at a price 16 sufficient to cover the costs of the medals, including labor, 17 materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses. 18 SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS. 19 (a) NATIONAL MEDALS.—Medals struck under this 20 Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 51 of title 21 31, United States Code. 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:54 Nov 03, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8619.IH H8619 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 8619 IH (b) NUMISMATIC ITEMS.—For purposes of section 1 5134 of title 31, United States Code, all medals struck 2 under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic items. 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:54 Nov 03, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H8619.IH H8619 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS