Congressional Tribute to Dr. Norman E. Borlaug Act of 2006 - Authorizes The President Pro Tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives to make appropriate arrangements for the presentation, on behalf of Congress, of a gold medal of appropriate design, to Dr. Norman E. Borlaug, in recognition of his enduring contributions to the United States and the world.
[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4924 Introduced in House (IH)]
109th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 4924
To award a congressional gold medal to Dr. Norman E. Borlaug.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 9, 2006
Mr. Latham (for himself, Mr. Leach, Mr. King of Iowa, Mr. Boswell, Mr.
Nussle, Mr. Sabo, Mr. Kennedy of Minnesota, Mr. Peterson of Minnesota,
Mr. Gutknecht, Mr. Oberstar, Mr. Kline, and Mr. Ramstad) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial
Services
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To award a congressional gold medal to Dr. Norman E. Borlaug.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Congressional Tribute to Dr. Norman
E. Borlaug Act of 2006''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds as follows:
(1) Dr. Norman E. Borlaug, was born in Iowa where he grew
up on a family farm, and received his primary and secondary
education.
(2) Dr. Borlaug attended the University of Minnesota where
he received his B.A. and Ph.D. degrees and was also a star NCAA
wrestler.
(3) For the past 20 years, Dr. Borlaug has lived in Texas
where he is a member of the faculty of Texas A&M University.
(4) Dr. Borlaug also serves as President of the Sasakawa
Africa Association.
(5) Dr. Borlaug's accomplishments in terms of bringing
radical change to world agriculture and uplifting humanity are
without parallel.
(6) In the immediate aftermath of World War II, Dr. Borlaug
spent 20 years working in the poorest areas of rural Mexico. It
was there that Dr. Borlaug made his breakthrough achievement in
developing a strain of wheat that could exponentially increase
yields while actively resisting disease.
(7) With the active support of the governments involved,
Dr. Borlaug's ``green revolution'' uplifted hundreds of
thousands of the rural poor in Mexico and saved hundreds of
millions from famine and outright starvation in India and
Pakistan.
(8) Dr. Borlaug's approach to wheat production next spread
throughout the Middle East. Soon thereafter his approach was
adapted to rice growing, increasing the number of lives Dr.
Borlaug has saved to more than a billion people.
(9) In 1970, Dr. Borlaug received the Nobel Prize, the only
person working in agriculture to ever be so honored. Since then
he has received numerous honors and awards including the
Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Public Service Medal, the
National Academy of Sciences' highest honor, and the Rotary
International Award for World Understanding and Peace.
(10) At age 91, Dr. Borlaug continues to work to alleviate
poverty and malnutrition. He currently serves as president of
Sasakawa Global 2000 Africa Project, which seeks to extend the
benefits of agricultural development to the 800,000,000 people
still mired in poverty and malnutrition in sub-Saharan Africa.
(11) Dr. Borlaug continues to serve as Chairman of the
Council of Advisors of the World Food Prize, an organization he
created in 1986 to be the ``Nobel Prize for Food and
Agriculture'' and which presents a $250,000 prize each October
at a Ceremony in Des Moines, Iowa, to the Laureate who has made
an exceptional achievement similar to Dr. Borlaug's
breakthrough 40 years ago. In the almost 20 years of its
existence, the World Food Prize has honored Laureates from
Bangladesh, India, China, Mexico, Denmark, Sierra Leone,
Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
(12) Dr. Borlaug has saved more lives than any other person
who has ever lived, and likely has saved more lives in the
Islamic world than any other human being in history.
(13) Due to a lifetime of work that has led to the saving
and preservation of an untold amount of lives, Dr. Norman E.
Borlaug is deserving of America's highest civilian award: the
congressional gold medal.
SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL.
(a) Presentation Authorized.--The President Pro Tempore of the
Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives are authorized
to make appropriate arrangements for the presentation, on behalf of
Congress, of a gold medal of appropriate design, to Dr. Norman E.
Borlaug, in recognition of his enduring contributions to the United
States and the world.
(b) Design and Striking.--For the purpose 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.
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 cost thereof,
including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead
expenses, and the cost of the gold medal.
SEC. 5. STATUS AS NATIONAL MEDALS.
(a) National Medal.--The medal struck under this Act is a national
medal 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 duplicate 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 are authorized to be
charged against the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund, such
sums as may be necessary to pay for the cost of the medals struck under
this Act.
(b) Proceeds of Sale.--Amounts received from the sale of duplicate
bronze medals under section 4 shall be deposited in the United States
Mint Public Enterprise Fund.
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Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Domestic and International Monetary Policy, Trade, and Technology.
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