Congressional Tribute to Constance Baker Motley Act of 2013 - Authorizes the President Pro Tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives to make appropriate arrangements for the posthumous presentation, on behalf of Congress, of a gold medal in commemoration of Constance Baker Motley (civil rights attorney at the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., first African-American woman elected to the New York State Senate, and Chief Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York), in recognition of her enduring contributions and service to the United States.
[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3097 Introduced in House (IH)]
113th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3097
To posthumously award a congressional gold medal to Constance Baker
Motley.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 12, 2013
Ms. DeLauro (for herself, Mr. Meeks, Mr. Rangel, Mr. Lewis, Ms. Clarke,
Mr. Clay, Ms. Lee of California, Ms. Jackson Lee, Ms. Wilson of
Florida, Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas, Ms. Kelly of Illinois, Mr.
Conyers, Mr. Cummings, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Mr. Nadler, Mr. Watt,
Mr. Carson of Indiana, and Ms. Schakowsky) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To posthumously award a congressional gold medal to Constance Baker
Motley.
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 Constance
Baker Motley Act of 2013''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Constance Baker Motley was born in 1921, in New Haven,
Connecticut, the daughter of immigrants from the Caribbean
island of Nevis.
(2) In 1943, Constance Baker Motley graduated from New York
University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics.
(3) Upon receiving a law degree from Columbia University in
1946, Constance Baker Motley became a staff attorney at the
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (in this Act referred
to as the ``LDF''), and fought tirelessly for 2 decades
alongside Thurgood Marshall and other leading civil rights
lawyers to dismantle segregation throughout the United States.
(4) Constance Baker Motley was the only female attorney on
the LDF legal team that won the landmark desegregation case,
Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954).
(5) In addition to writing briefs in Brown v. Board of
Education, Motley was trial or appellate counsel in 57 civil
rights cases in the United States Supreme Court, 82 cases in
Federal courts of appeals, 48 cases in Federal district courts,
and numerous cases in State courts. She argued four appeals in
desegregation cases in one day. She won cases that ended de
jure segregation in White only restaurants and lunch counters.
She protected the right of protestors to march, sit-in, freedom
ride, and demonstrate in other ways. She represented Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr., and other jailed civil rights activists and
forced their release when they were arrested and locked up in
Southern jails. She secured the right for Blacks to register,
vote, and have access to the political power structure. She won
education desegregation cases in almost every State in the
South and the District of Columbia and secured the right for
Blacks to attend formerly all White public schools, colleges,
and universities including the representation of James Meredith
against the University of Mississippi, Charlayne Hunter Gault
and Hamilton Holmes against the University of Georgia,
Autherine Lucy against the University of Alabama, Harvey Gantt
against Clemson College, and Ernest Morial against Louisiana
State University. Without her victories in the courtroom, the
goal of ending racial segregation in public schools, colleges,
and universities, public accommodations, and voting--a goal of
the Civil Rights Movement--may not have been achieved.
(6) As the country celebrates the 50th Anniversary of the
``Birmingham Movement'', it is noted that Motley was the
attorney who went South and represented Dr. King, defended his
right to march in Birmingham, Alabama, and Albany, Georgia, and
obtained the court order which mandated the reinstatement of
over 1,000 school children who had been expelled from school
for demonstrating with Dr. King in Birmingham fifty years ago.
She represented ``Freedom Riders'' who rode buses to test the
Supreme Court's 1960 ruling prohibiting segregation in
interstate transportation. She protected the right of Blacks to
ride and sit in any vacant seat on buses and trains, to use
bathroom facilities and drink from fountains in bus and train
stations, to be served and eat at lunch counters and
restaurants, to vote, stay in hotels, and to go to parks,
museums, and places of public accommodations on an equal basis
with Whites. She won the case in the Supreme Court that led to
the reversal of all arrests and convictions of all of the
thousands of sit-in activists.
(7) Constance Baker Motley argued 10 major civil rights
cases before the Supreme Court, winning all but one.
(8) Constance Baker Motley's only loss before the United
States Supreme Court was in Swain v. Alabama, 380 U.S. 202
(1965), a case in which the Supreme Court refused to proscribe
race-based peremptory challenges in cases involving African-
American defendants, and which was later reversed in Batson v.
Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79 (1986), on grounds that were largely
asserted by Constance Baker Motley in the Swain case.
(9) In 1964, Constance Baker Motley became the first
African-American woman elected to the New York State Senate.
(10) In 1965, Constance Baker Motley became the first
African-American woman, and the first woman, to serve as
president of the Borough of Manhattan.
(11) Constance Baker Motley, in her capacity as an elected
public official in New York, continued to fight for civil
rights, dedicating herself to the revitalization of the inner
city and improvement of urban public schools and housing.
(12) In 1966, Constance Baker Motley was appointed by
President Lyndon B. Johnson as a judge on the United States
District Court for the Southern District of New York.
(13) The appointment of Constance Baker Motley made her the
first African-American woman, and only the fifth woman,
appointed and confirmed for a Federal judgeship.
(14) In 1982, Constance Baker Motley was elevated to Chief
Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern
District of New York, the largest Federal trial court in the
United States.
(15) Constance Baker Motley assumed senior status in 1986,
and continued serving on the United States District Court for
the Southern District of New York with distinction for nearly 2
decades.
(16) Constance Baker Motley passed away on September 28,
2005, and is survived by her son, Joel Motley III, her 3
grandchildren, her brother, Edward Baker of Florida, and her
sisters Eunice Royster and Marian Green, of New Haven,
Connecticut.
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 posthumous presentation, on
behalf of Congress, of a gold medal of appropriate design in
commemoration of Constance Baker Motley, in recognition of her enduring
contributions and service to the United States.
(b) Design and Striking.--For the purpose of the presentation
referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury (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. NATIONAL MEDALS.
(a) National Medal.--The medal struck under section 3 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 section 4 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 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.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services.
Llama 3.2 · runs locally in your browser
Ask anything about this bill. The AI reads the full text to answer.
Enter to send · Shift+Enter for new line