National Civilian Medals Improvement Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 5013 To amend requirements for awarding the National Medal of Science, the National Medal of Arts, and the National Technology and Innovation Medal, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES DECEMBER 11, 2020 Mr. BOOKER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To amend requirements for awarding the National Medal of Science, the National Medal of Arts, and the National Technology and Innovation Medal, and for other pur- poses. 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 ‘‘National Civilian Med- 4 als Improvement Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. THE NATIONAL MEDAL OF SCIENCE AWARD. 6 The Act entitled ‘‘An Act to establish a National 7 Medal of Science to provide recognition for individuals who 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:15 Dec 19, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5013.IS S5013 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 5013 IS make outstanding contributions in the physical, biological, 1 mathematical, engineering, behavioral, and social 2 sciences.’’, approved August 25, 1959 (42 U.S.C. 1881), 3 is amended— 4 (1) in the title, by striking ‘‘engineering, behav- 5 ioral, and social’’ and inserting ‘‘and engineering 6 sciences’’; and 7 (2) by amending section 2 to read as follows: 8 ‘‘SEC. 2. AWARD OF THE NATIONAL MEDAL OF SCIENCE. 9 ‘‘(a) RECOMMENDATIONS.—The President shall 10 award the National Medal of Science to an individual or 11 a group who in the judgment of the President is deserving 12 of special recognition by reason of outstanding contribu- 13 tions to knowledge in the physical, biological, mathe- 14 matical, or engineering sciences on the basis of— 15 ‘‘(1) information and evidence the President de- 16 termines appropriate; and 17 ‘‘(2) recommendations received from— 18 ‘‘(A) the President’s Committee on the Na- 19 tional Medal of Science (or a successor of such 20 committee); 21 ‘‘(B) the Director of the National Science 22 Foundation; 23 ‘‘(C) the President of the National Acad- 24 emy of Sciences; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:15 Dec 19, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5013.IS S5013 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 5013 IS ‘‘(D) the Director of the Office of Science 1 and Technology Policy; and 2 ‘‘(E) the Director of the National Insti- 3 tutes of Health. 4 ‘‘(b) NUMBER; ANNUAL REQUIREMENT.—Annually, 5 the President shall award at least 1 medal, and the Presi- 6 dent may not award more than 5 medals in any calendar 7 year. 8 ‘‘(c) CITIZENSHIP.— 9 ‘‘(1) CITIZENSHIP OF AN INDIVIDUAL.—An in- 10 dividual may be awarded the medal only if at the 11 time the award is made such individual— 12 ‘‘(A) is a citizen or other national of the 13 United States; or 14 ‘‘(B) is an alien lawfully admitted to the 15 United States for permanent residency who— 16 ‘‘(i) has filed an application or peti- 17 tion for naturalization in the manner pre- 18 scribed by section 334 of the Immigration 19 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1445); and 20 ‘‘(ii) is eligible for naturalization. 21 ‘‘(2) CITIZENSHIP OF A GROUP.—A group may 22 be awarded the medal only if such group is orga- 23 nized or incorporated in the United States. 24 ‘‘(d) CEREMONIES.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:15 Dec 19, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5013.IS S5013 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 5013 IS ‘‘(1) DATE REQUIREMENT.—The presentation 1 of the award under subsection (a) shall be made by 2 the President, during the month of April of each cal- 3 endar year, with such ceremonies as the President 4 may determine proper. 5 ‘‘(2) INVITATION TO CONGRESS AND THE SU- 6 PREME COURT.—The President shall invite appro- 7 priate Members of Congress and all Justices of the 8 Supreme Court to attend the presentation under 9 paragraph (1). 10 ‘‘(e) ADDITIONAL LIMITATIONS.— 11 ‘‘(1) POSTHUMOUS LIMITATION.—The Presi- 12 dent may not award the National Medal of Science 13 posthumously. 14 ‘‘(2) CERTAIN PUBLIC OFFICIALS.—The Presi- 15 dent may not award the National Medal of Science 16 to— 17 ‘‘(A) the Vice President, the head of an 18 Executive department, or a Member of Con- 19 gress; or 20 ‘‘(B) the spouse, child, son-in-law, or 21 daughter-in-law of an individual described in 22 subparagraph (A), as determined under applica- 23 ble common law.’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:15 Dec 19, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5013.IS S5013 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 5013 IS SEC. 3. THE NATIONAL MEDAL OF ARTS AWARD. 1 Section 13 of the National Foundation on the Arts 2 and the Humanities Act Amendments of 1983 (20 U.S.C. 3 955b) is amended— 4 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘subsection 5 (b)’’ and inserting ‘‘this section’’; 6 (2) by amending subsection (b) to read as fol- 7 lows: 8 ‘‘(b) RECOMMENDATIONS.—The President shall 9 award the National Medal of Arts, on the basis of rec- 10 ommendations from the National Council on the Arts, to 11 an individual or a group who in the judgment of the Presi- 12 dent is deserving of special recognition by reason of out- 13 standing contributions to the excellence, growth, support, 14 and availability of the arts in the United States.’’; 15 (3) by redesignating subsection (c) as sub- 16 section (g); and 17 (4) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol- 18 lowing: 19 ‘‘(c) NUMBER; ANNUAL REQUIREMENT.—Annually, 20 the President shall award at least 1 National Medal of 21 Arts, and the President may not award more than 5 of 22 such medals in any calendar year. 23 ‘‘(d) CITIZENSHIP.— 24 ‘‘(1) CITIZENSHIP OF AN INDIVIDUAL.—An in- 25 dividual may be awarded the National Medal of Arts 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:15 Dec 19, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5013.IS S5013 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 5013 IS only if at the time the award is made such indi- 1 vidual— 2 ‘‘(A) is a citizen or other national of the 3 United States; or 4 ‘‘(B) is an alien lawfully admitted to the 5 United States for permanent residency who— 6 ‘‘(i) has filed an application or peti- 7 tion for naturalization in the manner pre- 8 scribed by section 334 of the Immigration 9 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1445); and 10 ‘‘(ii) is eligible to become a citizen of 11 the United States. 12 ‘‘(2) CITIZENSHIP OF A GROUP.—A group may 13 be awarded the National Medal of Arts only if such 14 group is organized or incorporated in the United 15 States. 16 ‘‘(e) CEREMONIES.— 17 ‘‘(1) DATE REQUIREMENT.—The presentation 18 of the award under subsection (a) shall be made by 19 the President, during the month of October of each 20 calendar year, with such ceremonies as the President 21 may determine proper. 22 ‘‘(2) INVITATION TO CONGRESS AND THE SU- 23 PREME COURT.—The President shall invite appro- 24 priate Members of Congress and all Justices of the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:15 Dec 19, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5013.IS S5013 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 5013 IS Supreme Court to attend the presentation under 1 paragraph (1). 2 ‘‘(f) ADDITIONAL LIMITATIONS.— 3 ‘‘(1) POSTHUMOUS LIMITATION.—The Presi- 4 dent may not award the National Medal of Arts 5 posthumously. 6 ‘‘(2) CERTAIN PUBLIC OFFICIALS.—The Presi- 7 dent may not award the National Medal of Arts to— 8 ‘‘(A) the Vice President, the head of an 9 Executive department, or a Member of Con- 10 gress; or 11 ‘‘(B) the spouse, child, son-in-law, or 12 daughter-in-law of an individual described in 13 subparagraph (A), as determined under applica- 14 ble common law.’’. 15 SEC. 4. THE NATIONAL TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION 16 MEDAL. 17 Section 16 of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Inno- 18 vation Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3711) is amended— 19 (1) by amending subsection (b) to read as fol- 20 lows: 21 ‘‘(b) RECOMMENDATIONS.—The President shall 22 award the National Technology and Innovation Medal to 23 an individual or a group who in the judgment of the Presi- 24 dent is deserving of special recognition by reason of out- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:15 Dec 19, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5013.IS S5013 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 5013 IS standing contributions to the promotion of technology or 1 technological manpower for the improvement of the eco- 2 nomic, environmental, or social well-being of the United 3 States on the basis of— 4 ‘‘(1) information and evidence the President de- 5 termines appropriate; and 6 ‘‘(2) recommendations from— 7 ‘‘(A) the National Medal of Technology 8 and Innovation Nomination Evaluation Com- 9 mittee (or a successor of such committee); 10 ‘‘(B) the Director of the United States 11 Patent and Trademark Office; 12 ‘‘(C) the Director of the Office of Science 13 and Technology Policy; 14 ‘‘(D) the Director of the National Institute 15 of Standards and Technology; and 16 ‘‘(E) the Director of the National Science 17 Foundation.’’; 18 (2) by striking subsection (c); and 19 (3) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol- 20 lowing: 21 ‘‘(c) NUMBER; ANNUAL REQUIREMENT.—Annually, 22 the President shall award at least 1 National Technology 23 and Innovation Medal, and the President may not award 24 more than 5 of such medals in any calendar year. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:15 Dec 19, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5013.IS S5013 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 5013 IS ‘‘(d) CITIZENSHIP.— 1 ‘‘(1) CITIZENSHIP OF AN INDIVIDUAL.—An in- 2 dividual may be awarded the National Technology 3 and Innovation Medal only if at the time the award 4 is made such individual— 5 ‘‘(A) is a citizen or other national of the 6 United States; or 7 ‘‘(B) is an alien lawfully admitted to the 8 United States for permanent residency who— 9 ‘‘(i) has filed an application or peti- 10 tion for naturalization in the manner pre- 11 scribed by section 334 of the Immigration 12 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1445); and 13 ‘‘(ii) is eligible to become a citizen of 14 the United States. 15 ‘‘(2) CITIZENSHIP OF A GROUP.—A group may 16 be awarded the National Technology and Innovation 17 Medal only if such group is organized or incor- 18 porated in the United States. 19 ‘‘(e) CEREMONIES.— 20 ‘‘(1) DATE REQUIREMENT.—The presentation 21 of the award under subsection (a) shall be made by 22 the President, during the month of April of each cal- 23 endar year, with such ceremonies as the President 24 may determine proper. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:15 Dec 19, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5013.IS S5013 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 5013 IS ‘‘(2) INVITATION TO CONGRESS AND THE SU- 1 PREME COURT.—The President shall invite appro- 2 priate Members of Congress and all Justices of the 3 Supreme Court to attend the presentation under 4 paragraph (1). 5 ‘‘(f) ADDITIONAL LIMITATIONS.— 6 ‘‘(1) POSTHUMOUS LIMITATION.—The Presi- 7 dent may not award the National Technology and 8 Innovation Medal posthumously. 9 ‘‘(2) CERTAIN PUBLIC OFFICIALS.—The Presi- 10 dent may not award the National Technology and 11 Innovation Medal to— 12 ‘‘(A) the Vice President, the head of an 13 Executive department, or a Member of Con- 14 gress; or 15 ‘‘(B) the spouse, child, son-in-law, or 16 daughter-in-law of an individual described in 17 subparagraph (A), as determined under applica- 18 ble common law.’’. 19 SEC. 5. THE NATIONAL HUMANITIES MEDAL. 20 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a Na- 21 tional Humanities Medal, which shall be a medal of such 22 design as is determined appropriate by the President. 23 (b) RECOMMENDATIONS.—The President shall award 24 the National Humanities Medal, on the basis of rec- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:15 Dec 19, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5013.IS S5013 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 5013 IS ommendations from the National Council on the Human- 1 ities, to an individual or a group who in the judgment of 2 the President is deserving of special recognition by reason 3 of outstanding contributions to the excellence, growth, 4 support, and availability of the humanities in the United 5 States. 6 (c) NUMBER; ANNUAL REQUIREMENT.—Annually, 7 the President shall award at least 1 National Humanities 8 Medal, and the President may not award more than 5 of 9 such medals in any calendar year. 10 (d) CITIZENSHIP.— 11 (1) CITIZENSHIP OF AN INDIVIDUAL.—An indi- 12 vidual may be awarded the National Humanities 13 Medal only if at the time the award is made such 14 individual— 15 (A) is a citizen or other national of the 16 United States; or 17 (B) is an alien lawfully admitted to the 18 United States for permanent residency who— 19 (i) has filed an application or petition 20 for naturalization in the manner prescribed 21 by section 334 of the Immigration and Na- 22 tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1445); and 23 (ii) is eligible to become a citizen of 24 the United States. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:15 Dec 19, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5013.IS S5013 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 5013 IS (2) CITIZENSHIP OF A GROUP.—A group may 1 be awarded the National Humanities Medal only if 2 such group is organized or incorporated in the 3 United States. 4 (e) CEREMONIES.— 5 (1) DATE REQUIREMENT.—The presentation of 6 the award under subsection (a) shall be made by the 7 President, during the month of October of each cal- 8 endar year, with such ceremonies as the President 9 may determine proper. 10 (2) INVITATION TO CONGRESS AND THE SU- 11 PREME COURT.—The President shall invite appro- 12 priate Members of Congress and all Justices of the 13 Supreme Court to attend the presentation under 14 paragraph (1). 15 (f) ADDITIONAL LIMITATIONS.— 16 (1) POSTHUMOUS LIMITATION.—The President 17 may not award the National Humanities Medal post- 18 humously. 19 (2) CERTAIN PUBLIC OFFICIALS.—The Presi- 20 dent may not award the National Humanities Medal 21 to— 22 (A) the Vice President, the head of an Ex- 23 ecutive department, or a Member of Congress; 24 or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:15 Dec 19, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5013.IS S5013 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 13 •S 5013 IS (B) the spouse, child, son-in-law, or daugh- 1 ter-in-law of an individual described in subpara- 2 graph (A), as determined under applicable com- 3 mon law. 4 SEC. 6. THE NATIONAL MEDAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES 5 AWARD. 6 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a Na- 7 tional Medal of Social Sciences, which shall be a me [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]