[110th Congress Public Law 260]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office]
[DOCID: f:publ260.110]
[[Page 122 STAT. 2433]]
Public Law 110-260
110th Congress
An Act
To award a congressional gold medal to Edward William Brooke III in
recognition of his unprecedented and enduring service to our
Nation. <<NOTE: July 1, 2008 - [S. 682]>>
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress <<NOTE: Edward William Brooke III
Congressional Gold Medal Act. 31 USC 5111 note.>> assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Edward William Brooke III
Congressional Gold Medal Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds as follows:
(1) Edward William Brooke III was the first African American
elected by popular vote to the United States Senate and served
with distinction for 2 terms from January 3, 1967, to January 3,
1979.
(2) In 1960, Senator Brooke began his public career when
Governor John Volpe appointed him chairman of the Boston Finance
Commission, where the young lawyer established an outstanding
record of confronting and eliminating graft and corruption and
proposed groundbreaking legislation for consumer protection and
against housing discrimination and air pollution.
(3) At a time when few African Americans held State or
Federal office, Senator Brooke became an exceptional pioneer,
beginning in 1962, when he made national and State history by
being elected Attorney General of Massachusetts, the first
African American in the Nation to serve as a State Attorney
General, the second highest office in the State, and the only
Republican to win statewide in the election that year, at a time
when there were fewer than 1,000 African American officials in
our nation.
(4) He won office as a Republican in a state that was
strongly Democratic.
(5) As Massachusetts Attorney General, Senator Brooke became
known for his fearless and honest execution of the laws of his
State and for his vigorous prosecution of organized crime.
(6) The pioneering accomplishments of Edward William Brooke
III in public service were achieved although he was raised in
Washington, DC at a time when the Nation's capital was a city
where schools, public accommodations, and other institutions
were segregated, and when the District of Columbia did not have
its own self-governing institutions or elected officials.
[[Page 122 STAT. 2434]]
(7) Senator Brooke graduated from Paul Laurence Dunbar High
School and went on to graduate from Howard University in 1941.
(8) Senator Brooke's enduring advocacy for self-government
and congressional voting rights for the citizens of Washington,
DC has roots in his life and personal experience as a native
Washingtonian.
(9) Senator Brooke served for 5 years in the United States
Army in the segregated 366th Infantry Regiment during World War
II in the European theater of operations, attaining the rank of
captain and receiving a Bronze Star Medal for ``heroic or
meritorious achievement or service'' and the Distinguished
Service Award.
(10) After the war, Senator Brooke attended Boston
University School of Law, where he served as editor of the
school's Law Review, graduating with an LL.B. in 1948 and an
LL.M. in 1949, and made Massachusetts his home.
(11) During his career in Congress, Senator Brooke was a
leader on some of the most critical issues of his time,
including the war in Vietnam, the struggle for civil rights, the
shameful system of apartheid in South Africa, the Cold War, and
United States' relations with the People's Republic of China.
(12) President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed Senator Brooke to
the President's Commission on Civil Disorders in 1967, where his
work on discrimination in housing would serve as the basis for
the 1968 Civil Rights Act.
(13) Senator Brooke continued to champion open housing when
he left the Senate and became the head of the National Low-
Income Housing Coalition.
(14) Senator Brooke has been recognized with many high
honors, among them the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2004, an
honor that recognizes ``an especially meritorious contribution
to the security or national interests of the United States,
world peace, cultural or other significant public or private
endeavors''; the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit from the
Government of Italy; a State courthouse dedicated in his honor
by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, making him the first
African American to have a State courthouse named in his honor;
the NAACP Spingarn Medal; and the Charles Evans Hughes award
from the National Conference of Christians and Jews.
(15) Senator Brooke's biography, Bridging The Divide: My
Life, was published in 2006, and he is the author of The
Challenge of Change: Crisis in Our Two-Party System, published
in 1966.
(16) Senator Brooke became a racial pioneer, but race was
never at the center of his political campaigns.
(17) He demonstrated to all that with commitment,
determination, and strength of character, even the barriers once
thought insurmountable can be overcome.
(18) He has devoted his life to the service of others, and
made enormous contributions to our society today.
(19) The life and accomplishments of Senator Brooke is
inspiring proof, as he says, that ``people can be elected on the
basis of their qualifications and not their race''.
[[Page 122 STAT. 2435]]
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 presentation, on behalf of the
Congress, of a gold medal of appropriate design to Edward William Brooke
III in recognition of his unprecedented and enduring service to our
Nation.
(b) Design and Striking.--For purposes of the presentation referred
to in subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury (hereafter in this
Act referred to as the ``Secretary'') shall strike a gold medal with
suitable emblems, devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the
Secretary.
SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS.
The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in bronze of the gold
medal struck pursuant to section 3 under such regulations as the
Secretary may prescribe, at a price sufficient to cover the cost
thereof, including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, and
overhead expenses, and the cost of the gold medal.
SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS.
(a) National Medals.--The medals struck pursuant to 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
pursuant to 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.
Approved July 1, 2008.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY--S. 682:
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD:
Vol. 153 (2007):
Mar. 29, considered and passed
Senate.
Vol. 154 (2008):
June 10, considered and passed
House.
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