[115th Congress Public Law 415]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[[Page 132 STAT. 5433]]
Public Law 115-415
115th Congress
An Act
To award a Congressional Gold Medal to Stephen Michael
Gleason. <<NOTE: Jan. 3, 2019 - [S. 2652]>>
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled, <<NOTE: Stephen Michael
Gleason Congressional Gold Medal Act. 31 USC 5111 note.>>
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Stephen Michael Gleason Congressional
Gold Medal Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) Stephen ``Steve'' Gleason was born March 19, 1977, in
Spokane, Washington to Mike and Gail Gleason.
(2) Steve attended Gonzaga Preparatory School for high
school where he excelled as both a football and baseball player.
(3) In 1995, Steve enrolled at Washington State University
where he was a 2-sport athlete for the baseball and football
teams and helped the Cougars football team advance to the 1997
Rose Bowl.
(4) In 2000, Steve signed a professional football contract
with the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League as
an undrafted free agent but later joined the New Orleans Saints
in November of that same season.
(5) Steve would go on to play 7 more seasons as a member of
the New Orleans Saints.
(6) Steve will always be remembered for his blocked punt on
September 25, 2006, against the Atlanta Falcons, the night the
Louisiana Superdome reopened for the first time after Hurricane
Katrina in a game the Saints would win 23 to 3.
(7) In January, 2011 Steve was diagnosed with amyotrophic
lateral sclerosis or ALS, considered a terminal neuro-muscular
disease.
(8) Following his diagnosis, Steve, with the loving support
of his wife, Michel, began a mission to show that patients can
not only live but thrive after a diagnosis of ALS and
established The Gleason Initiative Foundation also known simply
as ``Team Gleason''.
(9) At the time of his diagnosis, however, Steve said there
will be ``No White Flags'', which has become the mantra of Team
Gleason.
(10) The Gleason Initiative Foundation helps provide
individuals with neuromuscular diseases or injuries with leading
edge technology, equipment and services, raises global awareness
about ALS to find solutions and an end to the
[[Page 132 STAT. 5434]]
disease, and has helped hundreds of people with ALS experience
life adventures they never thought possible after their
diagnosis.
(11) Steve's story and mission have been told by the NFL
Network, ESPN, HBO, ABC, CBS, CNN, and many local media outlets,
as well as in a 2016 documentary titled ``Gleason'', which was
heralded at the Sundance Film Festival and premiered across the
country with Variety calling the production ``an emotional
powerhouse''. The documentary won several awards, including the
2016 Washington, D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for
Best Documentary.
(12) Steve was named one of two Sports Illustrated's
Inspirations of the Year in 2014, has been a keynote speaker for
Microsoft and at two United Nations sponsored Social Innovation
Summits, and received the 2015 George S. Halas Courage Award,
given to a NFL player, coach or staff member who overcomes the
most adversity to succeed.
(13) Steve helped advocate for the Steve Gleason Act of 2015
(Public Law 114-40; 129 Stat. 441), and the Steve Gleason
Enduring Voices Act of 2017, H.R. 2465, 115th Congress (2017),
which permanently ensures people living with diseases such ALS
have access to speech generating devices regardless of their
setting, whether at home or a healthcare institution.
(14) In 2014, Steve and Team Gleason hosted a global summit
to bring together researchers, patients, caregivers, and all ALS
stakeholders to create a plan to ultimately end ALS. That summit
resulted in the single largest coordinated and collaborative ALS
research project in the world, Answer ALS, which brings together
nearly two dozen research institutions, 1,000 patients and
20,000,000,000,000 data points that are important to the project
and that will define the unknown pathways that will lead to
treatments or finally a cure.
(15) In 2015, Steve and Microsoft worked together to create
a method for people who are completely paralyzed to navigate
their power wheelchairs with their eyes. Today, Steve, Microsoft
and all wheelchair manufacturers are working collaboratively to
make it widely available to all who need this technology. In
addition, Microsoft has also made eye tracking technology part
of all Windows 10 products across the globe.
(16) In 2011, 10 months after his diagnosis, Steve and
Michel made their most significant accomplishment, becoming
parents to their son Rivers.
(17) Steve and Michel Gleason continue to fight to find a
solution for ALS so they can share many years together and as
parents to Rivers.
SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL.
(a) Award Authorized.--The Speaker of the House of Representatives
and the President pro tempore of the Senate shall make appropriate
arrangements for the award, on behalf of the Congress, of a single gold
medal of appropriate design to Stephen Michael Gleason.
(b) Design and Striking.--For the purposes of the award referred to
in subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury (hereafter in this Act
referred to as the ``Secretary'') shall strike the gold medal with
suitable emblems, devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the
Secretary.
[[Page 132 STAT. 5435]]
SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS.
Under such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, the Secretary
may strike and sell duplicates in bronze of the gold medal struck under
section 3, at a price sufficient to cover the costs of the medals,
including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead
expenses.
SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS.
Medals struck pursuant to this Act are national medals for purposes
of chapter 51 of title 31, United States Code.
Approved January 3, 2019.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY--S. 2652:
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 164 (2018):
June 14, considered and passed Senate.
Dec. 20, considered and passed House.
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