Robert Parris Moses Congressional Gold Medal Act

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2831 To award posthumously a Congressional Gold Medal to Robert Parris Moses, in recognition of his achievements and contributions to advancing Amer- ican education and civil rights. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 25, 2023 Mr. ESPAILLAT (for himself and Mr. RASKIN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services A BILL To award posthumously a Congressional Gold Medal to Rob- ert Parris Moses, in recognition of his achievements and contributions to advancing American education and civil rights. 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 ‘‘Robert Parris Moses 4 Congressional Gold Medal Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 The Congress finds that: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:55 May 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2831.IH H2831 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2831 IH (1) Robert Parris Moses was born in Harlem, 1 New York City, on January 23, 1935. 2 (2) Robert Parris Moses is regarded as an in- 3 fluential civil rights activist, peace activist, public 4 education advocate, and math literacy educator. 5 (3) Moses grew up in Harlem River Houses and 6 was one of only a handful of Black students at the 7 time who was admitted to Stuyvesant High School. 8 (4) Moses earned a scholarship to Hamilton 9 College in Clinton, New York, and subsequently ob- 10 tained a master’s degree in philosophy from Harvard 11 University in 1957. 12 (5) His doctorate studies in mathematics were 13 halted due to the death of his mother and the hos- 14 pitalization of his father. 15 (6) In 1959, Moses helped with the second 16 Youth March for Integrated Schools in Washington, 17 DC. 18 (7) Moses visited Mississippi in the summer of 19 1960, and met with local National Association for 20 the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) lead- 21 ers who indicated the need to focus on voter reg- 22 istration. He returned to Mississippi after teaching 23 the 1960–1961 school year in New York, where he 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:55 May 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2831.IH H2831 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2831 IH organized and registered thousands of poor, illit- 1 erate, and rural Black residents to vote. 2 (8) As a leader of the Student Nonviolent Co- 3 ordinating Committee, in 1964, Moses helped orga- 4 nize the Mississippi ‘‘Freedom’’ Summer Project. 5 (9) Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., called Moses’ 6 ‘‘contribution to the freedom struggle in America’’ 7 an ‘‘inspiration’’. 8 (10) After Moses married Janet, they started a 9 family in Tanzania. He spent nearly a decade there 10 teaching mathematics and working with the Ministry 11 of Education. 12 (11) Moses returned to the United States in 13 1976, and continued his doctoral studies in Philos- 14 ophy of Mathematics at Harvard. He received a 15 MacArthur Fellowship in 1982, which he used to 16 promote the Algebra Project. 17 (12) In founding the Algebra Project, Moses 18 stated that K–12 math literacy, like voting literacy, 19 is key to full citizenship for Americans from poor 20 and minority communities as our society shifts from 21 the Industrial Age to the Information Age. 22 (13) The Algebra Project is a non-profit dedi- 23 cated to helping students from historically 24 marginalized communities, including Black, Brown, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:55 May 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2831.IH H2831 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2831 IH and youth living in poverty, who often hail from low- 1 income households. Students develop math literacy 2 skills, which Bob Moses viewed as the path to per- 3 manently improving their life circumstances, as well 4 as the social and economic conditions of their com- 5 munities. 6 (14) The Algebra Project uses mathematics lit- 7 eracy as an organizing tool to guarantee quality pub- 8 lic-school education for all children in the United 9 States. 10 (15) The Algebra Project is one of the few 11 mathematics education initiatives to originate in the 12 African-American community. 13 (16) Since its inception in 1982, the Algebra 14 Project has helped more than 40,000 students in 15 hundreds of schools nationwide. 16 (17) In 1996, the Young People’s Project was 17 launched by Algebra Project graduates from Cam- 18 bridge, MA, and Algebra Project middle school stu- 19 dents from Jackson, Mississippi. The Young Peo- 20 ple’s Project recruits and trains high school and col- 21 lege age ‘‘Math Literacy Workers’’ to facilitate en- 22 richment workshops for younger students in mathe- 23 matics. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:55 May 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2831.IH H2831 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2831 IH (18) For his work, Bob Moses has been hon- 1 ored, including with an Honorary Doctor of Science 2 from Harvard University and Ohio State University, 3 an Honorary Doctor of Laws from Princeton Uni- 4 versity, the John Dewey Prize for Progressive Edu- 5 cation, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Na- 6 tional Council of the Teachers of Mathematics, and 7 was inducted to the American Academy of Arts and 8 Sciences. 9 (19) Moses wrote about his vision for education 10 and experiences. He was co-author of Radical Equa- 11 tions—Civil Rights from Mississippi to the Algebra 12 Project (2001), and co-editor of Quality Education 13 as a Constitutional Right—Creating a Grassroots 14 Movement to Transform America’s Schools (2010). 15 (20) Moses wrote in Radical Equations that 16 ‘‘the most urgent social issue affecting poor people 17 and people of color, is economic access. In today’s 18 world, economic access and full citizenship depend 19 crucially on math and science literacy. I believe that 20 the absence of math literacy in urban and rural com- 21 munities throughout this country is an issue as ur- 22 gent as the lack of registered Black voters in Mis- 23 sissippi was in 1961.’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:55 May 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2831.IH H2831 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2831 IH (21) Bob Moses passed away in Hollywood, 1 Florida, on July 25, 2021. 2 SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 3 (a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of 4 the House of Representatives and the President pro tem- 5 pore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements 6 for the posthumous presentation, on behalf of the Con- 7 gress, of a gold medal of appropriate design in commemo- 8 ration of Robert Parris Moses, in recognition of his 9 achievements and contributions to American education 10 and civil rights. 11 (b) DESIGN AND STRIKING.—For purposes of the 12 presentation referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary 13 of the Treasury (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Sec- 14 retary’’) shall strike a gold medal with suitable emblems, 15 devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the Sec- 16 retary. The design shall bear an image of, and inscription 17 of the name of, Robert Parris Moses. 18 (c) AUTHORIZED RECIPIENT.—Following the award 19 of the gold medal under subsection (a), in honor of Moses, 20 the gold medal shall be given to Maisha Moses, Robert 21 Parris Moses’ daughter. 22 SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 23 The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 24 bronze of the gold medal struck under section 3, at a price 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:55 May 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2831.IH H2831 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 2831 IH sufficient to cover the cost thereof, including labor, mate- 1 rials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses. 2 SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS. 3 (a) NATIONAL MEDALS.—The medals struck under 4 this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 51 5 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 SEC. 6. AUTHORITY TO USE FUND AMOUNTS; PROCEEDS OF 11 SALE. 12 (a) AUTHORITY TO USE FUND AMOUNTS.—There is 13 authorized to be charged against the United States Mint 14 Public Enterprise Fund such amounts as may be nec- 15 essary to pay for the costs of the medals struck under 16 this Act. 17 (b) PROCEEDS OF SALE.—Amounts received from the 18 sale of duplicate bronze medals authorized under section 19 4 shall be deposited into the United States Mint Public 20 Enterprise Fund. 21 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:55 May 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2831.IH H2831 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS