Reverend James Lawson, Jr. Congressional Gold Medal Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8730 To award a Congressional Gold Medal to Reverend James Morris Lawson, Jr., in recognition of his contributions to the United States through the promotion of nonviolence during the Civil Rights movement and beyond. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES NOVEMBER 5, 2020 Mr. KHANNA (for himself, Mr. COHEN, Mr. CLYBURN, Ms. BASS, Mr. CLEAVER, and Mr. RIGGLEMAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services A BILL To award a Congressional Gold Medal to Reverend James Morris Lawson, Jr., in recognition of his contributions to the United States through the promotion of non- violence during the Civil Rights movement and beyond. 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 ‘‘Reverend James 4 Lawson, Jr. Congressional Gold Medal Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:09 Nov 24, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8730.IH H8730 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8730 IH (1) Reverend James Morris Lawson, Jr. (‘‘Rev. 1 Lawson’’) was born in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, on 2 September 22, 1928, to Reverend James Morris 3 Lawson, Sr. and Philane May Cover. 4 (2) Rev. Lawson received his local preacher’s li- 5 cense in 1947, the same year he graduated from 6 high school. 7 (3) While attending Baldwin-Wallace College, 8 Rev. Lawson joined the Fellowship of Reconciliation, 9 the oldest pacifist organization in the United States 10 and an advocate of nonviolent resistance to racism, 11 as well as the Congress of Racial Equality, where he 12 was exposed to the nonviolent teachings of world-re- 13 nowned civil rights and spiritual leader Mohandas K. 14 Gandhi (‘‘Gandhi’’). 15 (4) From 1953 to 1956, Rev. Lawson served as 16 a Methodist missionary at Hislop College in Nagpur, 17 India, where he continued his studies of satyagraha, 18 Gandhi’s philosophy of nonviolent resistance, and 19 met with associates and fellow students of Gandhi. 20 (5) Rev. Lawson was instrumental in bringing 21 the message of Gandhi to the United States. 22 (6) Rev. Lawson viewed segregation in the 23 United States as ‘‘much like the ‘untouchables’ of 24 India’’ and was inspired by the view of Gandhi that 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:09 Nov 24, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8730.IH H8730 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8730 IH it could be through African Americans that ‘‘the un- 1 adulterated message of nonviolence will be delivered 2 to the world.’’. 3 (7) In 1956, Rev. Lawson enrolled in the 4 Oberlin School of Theology in Ohio, where he first 5 met Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (‘‘Dr. King’’), 6 who urged Rev. Lawson to move to the South to 7 spread his teachings on nonviolence, saying ‘‘Don’t 8 wait! Come now! You’re badly needed. We don’t have 9 anyone like you!’’. 10 (8) In 1957, Rev. Lawson answered the call of 11 Dr. King, moving to Nashville, Tennessee, and en- 12 rolling at Vanderbilt Divinity School as the second 13 African-American student in its history. 14 (9) Rev. Lawson opened a Fellowship of Rec- 15 onciliation field office, became the southern secretary 16 for the organization, and held seminars to train vol- 17 unteers in Gandhian tactics of nonviolent direct ac- 18 tion. 19 (10) Rev. Lawson was an advisor for the Little 20 Rock Nine, teaching the students, in the living room 21 of Arkansas NAACP Chair Daisy Bates, how to re- 22 sist their opponents using the ‘‘superior weapons’’ 23 offered by nonviolence. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:09 Nov 24, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8730.IH H8730 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8730 IH (11) Rev. Lawson led the Nashville sit-in cam- 1 paign of 1960 that successfully challenged ‘‘Jim 2 Crow’’ and trained a new generation of civil rights 3 activists. 4 (12) In 1960, the Southern Christian Leader- 5 ship Conference, led by Ella Baker, organized the 6 Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, with 7 Rev. Lawson writing the statement of purpose for 8 the organization and delivering the keynote speech 9 at the organization’s founding meeting in April of 10 that year. 11 (13) Rev. Lawson, and the activists he trained, 12 organized many famous campaigns, including the 13 Freedom Rides, Freedom Schools, 1963 March on 14 Washington, Mississippi Freedom Summer, Mis- 15 sissippi Freedom Democratic Party, 1963 Bir- 16 mingham Children’s Crusade, 1965 Selma Voting 17 Rights Movement, and 1966 Chicago Open Housing 18 Movement. 19 (14) In 1968, Rev. Lawson chaired the strike 20 committee for the Memphis Sanitation Workers, a 21 campaign that advanced the slogan ‘‘I Am A Man’’ 22 and was the first successful effort to organize Afri- 23 can-American municipal workers in the South. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:09 Nov 24, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8730.IH H8730 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 8730 IH (15) Dr. King lauded Rev. Lawson as the 1 ‘‘leading theorist and strategist of nonviolence in the 2 world’’ and civil rights leader Diane Nash stated 3 that Rev. Lawson’s ‘‘impact was fundamental and 4 tremendous. I think that he, more than anyone else 5 really, is why the civil rights movement was non- 6 violent’’. 7 (16) In 1974, Rev. Lawson became pastor of 8 Holman United Methodist Church in Los Angeles, 9 where he continued his nonviolent advocacy for ra- 10 cial equality and social justice, including through 11 Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice, the 12 Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the 13 American Civil Liberties Union, Interfaith Commu- 14 nities United for Peace and Justice, the National 15 Committee for Worker Justice, and many others. 16 (17) Rev. Lawson received dozens of awards, 17 honorary degrees, and lectureships, including the 18 National Civil Rights Museum Freedom Award, 19 Vanderbilt University’s Walter R. Murray Distin- 20 guished Alumnus Award, Harvard University’s 21 Henry Luce Lectureship, and recognition for his 22 leadership and lifetime achievements from the Con- 23 gressional Black Caucus Foundation and the Amer- 24 ican Civil Liberties Union. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:09 Nov 24, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8730.IH H8730 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 8730 IH (18) Rev. Lawson has played an invaluable role 1 in the progress of the United States due to his tire- 2 less work to create what Dr. King called a ‘‘beloved 3 community’’ where people treat each other with re- 4 spect and dignity and end all forms of violence in 5 favor of a politics of love. 6 SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 7 (a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of 8 the House of Representatives and the President pro tem- 9 pore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements 10 for the presentation, on behalf of Congress, of a gold 11 medal of appropriate design to Reverend James Morris 12 Lawson, Jr., in recognition of his contributions to the 13 United States. 14 (b) DESIGN AND STRIKING.—For purposes of the 15 presentation referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary 16 of the Treasury (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Sec- 17 retary’’) shall strike a gold medal with suitable emblems, 18 devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the Sec- 19 retary. 20 SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 21 The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 22 bronze of the gold medal struck pursuant to section 3 23 under such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, at 24 a price sufficient to cover the cost thereof, including labor, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:09 Nov 24, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8730.IH H8730 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 8730 IH materials, dies, use of machinery, overhead expenses, and 1 the cost of the gold medal. 2 SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS. 3 (a) NATIONAL MEDALS.—The medals struck pursu- 4 ant to this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 5 51 of title 31, United States Code. 6 (b) NUMISMATIC ITEMS.—For purposes of sections 7 5134 and 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all medals 8 struck under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic 9 items. 10 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:09 Nov 24, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H8730.IH H8730 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS