,,ii #aagth ,,congress #ast ,session ,s4 #bjaa ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of ,,the ,,united ,,states ,june #aj1 #bjba ,mr4 ,coons 7for himself and ,mr4 ,blunt7 introduced the following bill2 which was read twice and referred to the ,committee on ,banking1 ,housing1 and ,urban ,affairs ,a ,,bill ,to award a ,congressional ,gold ,medal to honor the contributions of all of those whose efforts led to the successful development of life saving vaccines to combat the novel coronavirus4 #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,,covid-#ai ,vaccine ,developers ,gold ,medal ,act4 #b4 ,findings ,congress finds the following3 7#a7 ,researchers1 scientists1 doctors1 epidemiologists1 and others around the world have worked tirelessly and collaboratively to develop lifesaving vaccines to combat the coronavirus by reducing the likelihood of transmission1 building immune resiliency1 avoiding hospitalizations1 and reducing the likelihood of death4 7#b7 ,through the academic1 research and analytic expertise of universities and their faculty1 researchers1 and students1 their efforts contributed to providing valuable information to the public on the severity of the coronavirus worldwide and1 in some cases1 contributed to vaccine development4 7#c7 ,several of the resulting vaccines represent historic breakthroughs in biopharmaceutical technology1 which are predicated on years of leading research conducted in laboratories and hospitals that benefit from the significant financial investment of ,united ,states taxpayers through the ,department of ,health and ,human ,services1 the ,national ,institutes of ,health1 including the ,national ,institute of ,allergy and ,infectious ,diseases1 and the ,biomedical ,advanced ,research and ,development ,authority4 7#d7 ,these professionals worked under record timelines to develop safe1 effective vaccines demonstrated in trials and granted emergency use authorization by the ,food and ,drug ,administration1 outpacing the typical vaccine development timeframe of #e to #aj years and beating the previous record by #c years4 7#e7 ,these remarkable achievements in medical science will have positive implications for future vaccine development1 helping to combat new viruses1 leading to improvements in health and well-being4 7#f7 ,the tremendous efforts in vaccine development can be celebrated and attributed to building diverse teams1 including the notable efforts of many individuals across the planet4 7#g7 ,vaccines authorized for emergency use in the ,united ,states benefitted greatly from global cooperation1 strategic partnerships1 and collaboration with publicly funded agencies and research capabilities of the academic community4 7#h7 ,as a result of the collaborative efforts1 people around the world are benefitting from the administration of vaccines1 although work remains to support governments around the world in ensuring vaccines are equitably distributed4 7#i7 ,the ,united ,states1 including through cooperation with bilateral and multilateral partnerships1 can help scale up manufacturing and distribution to all corners of the globe4 7#aj7 ,the vaccines developed are contributing to the safety of people of the ,united ,states1 rebuilding the ,united ,states economy1 and the reunion of families4 #c4 ,congressional gold medals 7a7 ,presentation authorized ,the ,speaker of the ,house of ,representatives and the ,president pro tempore of the ,senate shall make appropriate arrangements for the presentation1 on behalf of ,congress1 of a single gold medal of appropriate design in recognition of all those whose efforts led to the successful development of vaccines that received emergency use authorizations to respond to the coronavirus4 7b7 ,design and striking ,for the purpose of the awards under subsection 7a71 the ,secretary of the ,treasury 7referred to in this ,act as the ,secretary7 shall strike a gold medal described in that subsection with suitable emblems1 devices1 and inscriptions1 to be determined by the ,secretary4 7c7 ,smithsonian institution 7#a7 ,in general ,after the award of the gold medal under subsection 7a71 the medal shall be given to the ,smithsonian ,institution where the medal shall be-- 7,a7 available for display1 as appropriate2 and 7,b7 made available for research4 7#b7 ,sense of congress ,it is the sense of ,congress that the ,smithsonian ,institution should make the gold medal received under paragraph 7#a7 available for-- 7,a7 the purpose of education1 research1 and the encouragement of science1 technology1 engineering1 and math professions through the ,smithsonian ,science ,education ,center2 and 7,b7 on display at a physical ,smithsonian museum or on loan1 as appropriate1 so that the medal may be displayed elsewhere4 #d4 ,duplicate medals ,under regulations that the ,secretary may promulgate1 the ,secretary may strike and sell duplicates in bronze of the gold medal struck under section #c at a price sufficient to cover the cost of the medals1 including labor1 materials1 dies1 use of machinery1 and overhead expenses4 #e4 ,status of medals 7a7 ,national medals ,the medals struck under this ,act are national medals for purposes of chapter #ea of title #ca1 ,united ,states ,code4 7b7 ,numismatic items ,for purposes of sections #eacd and #eacf of title #ca1 ,united ,states ,code1 all medals struck under this ,act shall be considered to be numismatic items4 #f4 ,authority to use fund amounts2 proceeds of sale 7a7 ,authority to use fund amounts ,there is authorized to be charged against the ,united ,states ,mint ,public ,enterprise ,fund such sums as may be necessary to pay for the costs of the medal authorized under section #c4 7b7 ,proceeds of sale ,amounts received from the sale of duplicate bronze medals authorized under section #d shall be deposited in the ,united ,states ,mint ,public ,enterprise ,fund4