,i  #aahth ,,congress  #ast ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #dfhb  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of  
,,representatives  ,july #ag1 #bjbc ,ms4
 ,houlahan 7for herself1 ,mrs4 ,kim of  
,california1 ,ms4 ,stevens1 ,mrs4       
,lesko1 ,ms4 ,norton1 ,mr4 ,johnson of  
,georgia1 ,ms4 ,ross1 ,mr4 ,moskowitz1  
,ms4 ,del,bene1 ,ms4 ,lee of            
,california1 ,mr4 ,allred1 and ,ms4     
,bonamici7 introduced the following     
bill2 which was referred to the         
,committee on ,financial ,services1 and 
in addition to the ,committee on ,house 
,administration1 for a period to be     
subsequently determined by the ,speaker1
 in each case for consideration of such 
provisions as fall within the           
jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
,a ,,bill  ,to award a ,congressional   
,gold ,medal to the ,mercury #ac1 in    
recognition of their historic           
accomplishments and their work for      
gender equity1 and in recognition of    
their important example of women in     
,,stem fields4  #a4 ,short title ,this  

,act may be cited as the ,mercury #ac   
,congressional ,gold ,medal ,act4  #b4  
,findings ,congress finds the following3
  7#a7 ,the ,mercury #ac was a group of 
women who participated in the ,first    
,lady ,astronaut ,trainees 7,f,l,a,ts7  
,program1 a privately funded project    
testing women pilots for astronaut      
fitness in the #aifjs4  7#b7 ,these     
women underwent the same psychological  
and physical testing that ,dr4 ,william 
,randolph ,lovelace was simultaneously  
putting male pilots through to determine
 their candidacy for space travel as    
part of the ,,nasa ,mercury ,project4   
7#c7 ,members of the ,mercury #ac1      
though their training was not part of   
the ,,nasa program1 outperformed the    
,mercury #g astronauts chosen for space 
travel in certain tests1 and these women
 paved the way for other women in space4
  7#d7 ,none of the members of the      
,mercury #ac were ever able to go to    
space due to gender barriers1 but they  
opened the door for female pilots and   

astronauts down the line4  7#e7 ,two of 
the women1 ,geraldyn ,jerrie ,cobb and  
,jane ,janey ,briggs ,hart1 spoke at a  
,congressional ,hearing before the      
,subcommittee of the ,house ,committee  
on ,science and ,astronautics to        
advocate for the continuation of their  
program1 which led to an investigation  
into discrimination on the basis of sex 
two years before the ,civil ,rights ,act
 was passed4  7#f7 ,a motion to honor   
these women was included in the         
,congressional ,record in #bjjg during  
the #aajth ,congress4 ,the resolution1  
,h4 ,res4 #dba1 honored the trailblazing
 accomplishments of the ,mercury #ac and
 encouraged young women to follow in    
their footsteps and pursue careers in   
aviation1 astronautics1 engineering1 and
 science4  7#g7 ,the ,mercury #ac are3  
7,a7 ,myrtle ,k ,cagle4  7,b7 ,geraldyn 
,jerrie ,cobb4  7,c7 ,jan ,dietrich4    
7,d7 ,marion ,dietrich4  7,e7 ,mary     
,wallace ,wally ,funk4  7,f7 ,jane      
,janey ,briggs ,hart4  7,g7 ,jean       

,hixson4  7,h7 ,gene ,nora ,stumbough   
,jessen4  7,i7 ,irene ,leverton4  7,j7  
,sarah ,lee ,gorelick ,ratley4  7,k7    
,bernice ,trimble ,steadman4  7,l7      
,geraldine ,jerri ,sloan ,truhill4  7,m7
 ,rhea ,hurrle ,allison ,woltman4  #c4  
,congressional ,gold ,medal  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 the ,congress1 of a single    
gold medal of appropriate design in     
commemoration of the ,mercury #ac1 in   
recognition of their historic           
accomplishments and their work for      
gender equity1 and in recognition of    
their important example of women in     
,,stem fields4  7b7 ,design and striking
 ,for the purposes of the presentation  
referred to in subsection 7a71 the      
,secretary of the ,treasury 7hereafter  
in this ,act referred to as the         
,secretary7 shall strike a gold medal   

with suitable emblems1 devices1 and     
inscriptions1 to be determined by the   
,secretary4  7c7 ,national ,air and     
,space ,museum  7#a7 ,in general        
,following the award of the gold medal  
under subsection 7a71 the gold medal    
shall be given to the ,national ,air and
 ,space ,museum of the ,smithsonian     
,institution1 where it shall be         
available for display as appropriate and
 made available for research4  7#b7     
,sense of congress ,it is the sense of  
,congress that the ,national ,air and   
,space ,museum should make the gold     
medal received under paragraph 7#a7     
available for display elsewhere1        
particularly at other appropriate       
locations associated with the ,mercury  
#ac1 and that preference should be given
 to locations affiliated with the       
,smithsonian ,institution4  #d4         
,duplicate medals ,the ,secretary may   
strike and sell duplicates in bronze of 
the gold medal struck pursuant to       
section #c at a price sufficient to     

cover the cost thereof1 including labor1
 materials1 dies1 use of machinery1 and 
overhead expenses4  #e4 ,status of      
medals  7a7 ,national medals ,the medal 
struck pursuant to this ,act is a       
national medal 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 amounts as may be
 necessary to pay for the costs of the  
medals struck pursuant to this ,act4    
7b7 ,proceeds of sale ,the amounts      
received from the sale of duplicate     
bronze medals authorized under section  
#d shall be deposited into the ,united  
,states ,mint ,public ,enterprise ,fund4