,i  #aacth ,,congress  #ast ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #bici  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of  
,,representatives  ,august #a1 #bjac    
,mr4 ,kennedy 7for himself and ,mr4     
,franks of ,arizona7 introduced the     
following bill2 which was referred to   
the ,committee on ,financial ,services  
,a ,,bill  ,to award the ,congressional 
,gold ,medal to ,shimon ,peres4  #a4    
,findings ,congress makes the following 
findings3  7#a7 ,shimon ,peres was born 
in ,poland in #aibc4  7#b7 ,the ,peres  
family emigrated to ,tel ,aviv in #aicd1
 and all of the family members of       
,shimon ,peres who remained in ,poland  
were murdered during the ,holocaust4    
7#c7 ,before ,israel gained             
independence1 ,shimon ,peres earned the 
respect of senior leaders in the        
independence movement in ,israel1 most  
notably ,david ,ben-,gurion4  7#d7 ,the 
founding generation of ,israel was      
central to the development of ,israel1  
and ,shimon ,peres is the only surviving
 member of that founding generation4    

7#e7 ,shimon ,peres has served in       
numerous high-level cabinet positions   
and ministerial posts in ,israel1       
including head of the ,israeli ,navy1   
,minister of ,defense1 ,foreign         
,minister1 ,prime ,minister1 and        
,president1 among many others4  7#f7    
,shimon ,peres has honorably served     
,israel for over #gj years1 during which
 he has significantly contributed to    
,united ,states interests and has played
 a pivotal role in forging the strong   
and unbreakable bond between the ,united
 ,states and ,israel4  7#g7 ,by         
presenting the ,congressional ,gold     
,medal to ,shimon ,peres1 the first to  
be awarded to a sitting ,president of   
,israel1 ,congress proclaims its        
unbreakable bond with ,israel and       
reaffirms its continual support for     
,israel as we commemorate the #feth     
anniversary of the independence of      
,israel and the #ijth birthday of       
,shimon ,peres1 which are both          
significant milestones in ,israeli      

history4  7#h7 ,maintaining strong      
bilateral relations between the ,united 
,states and ,israel has been a priority 
of ,shimon ,peres since he began working
 with the ,united ,states in the days of
 ,john ,f4 ,kennedy4 ,the strong bond is
 exemplified by the following3  7,a7    
,president ,reagan said to ,shimon      
,peres upon his visit to the ,united    
,states1 ,mr4 ,prime ,minister1 ,i thank
 you very much for your visit4 ,it's    
been an occasion to renew a friendship  
and to review and enhance the strength  
of our unique bilateral relationship44  
7,b7 ,at another point ,president       
,reagan said of ,shimon ,peres1 ,his    
vision1 his statesmanship and his       
tenacity are greatly appreciated here44 
7,c7 ,while visiting with ,shimon ,peres
 at the ,residence of the ,president in 
,jerusalem1 ,president ,obama described 
,shimon ,peres as ''' a son of ,israel  
who's devoted his life to keeping       
,israel strong and sustaining the bonds 
between our two nations4  7,d7 ,on      

,march #bj1 #bjac1 ,shimon ,peres       
reaffirmed his belief in the            
relationship between the ,united ,states
 and ,israel1 stating1 ,america stood by
 our side from the very beginning4 ,you 
support us as we rebuild our ancient    
homeland and as we defend our land4     
,from ,holocaust to redemption44  7,e7  
,on ,march #ba1 #bjac1 ,shimon ,peres   
stated1 ''' ,america is so great and we 
are so small4 ,but ,i learned that you  
don't measure us by size1 but by values4
 ,when it comes to values1 we are you   
and you are us ''' ,as ,i look back1 ,i 
feel that the ,israel of today has      
exceeded the vision we had #fe years    
ago4 ,reality has surpassed our dreams4 
,the ,united ,states of ,america helped 
us to make this possible44  #b4         
,congressional gold medal  7a7 ,award   
authorized ,the ,president pro tempore  
of the ,senate and the ,speaker of the  
,house of ,representatives shall make   
appropriate arrangements for the award1 
on behalf of ,congress1 of a single gold

 medal of appropriate design in honor of
 ,president ,shimon ,peres4  7b7 ,design
 and striking ,for the purpose of the   
award referred to in subsection 7a71 the
 ,secretary of the ,treasury shall      
strike a gold medal with suitable       
emblems1 devices1 and inscriptions to be
 determined by the ,secretary4  #c4     
,duplicate medals ,under such           
regulations as the ,secretary of the    
,treasury may prescribe1 the ,secretary 
may strike duplicate medals in bronze of
 the gold medal struck pursuant to      
section #b and sell such duplicate      
medals at a price sufficient to cover   
the costs of the medals1 including      
labor1 materials1 dies1 use of          
machinery1 and overhead expenses4  #d4  
,national medals ,medals struck pursuant
 to this ,act are national medals for   
purposes of chapter #ea of title #ca1   
,united ,states ,code4  #e4 ,authority  
to use fund amounts2 proceeds of sale   
7a7 ,authorization of charges ,there is 
authorized to be charged against the    

,united ,states ,mint ,public           
,enterprise ,fund1 such amounts as may  
be necessary to pay for the costs of the
 medals struck pursuant to this ,act4   
7b7 ,proceeds of sale ,amounts received 
from the sale of duplicate bronze medals
 under section #c shall be deposited in 
the ,united ,states ,mint ,public       
,enterprise ,fund4