,i  #aaith ,,congress  #ast ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #aicc  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of  
,,representatives  ,march #f1 #bjbe,mr4 
,lawler 7for himself and ,mr4 ,torres of
 ,new ,york7 introduced the following   
bill2 which was referred to the         
,committee on ,financial ,services  ,a  
,,bill  ,to award posthumously a        
congressional gold medal to ,james ,earl
 ,jones1 an ,american icon1 in          
recognition of a remarkable life in     
reshaping perceptions1 dismantling      
racial barriers1 and advocating for     
equal opportunities for people of all   
backgrounds in film and theatre4  #a4   
,short title ,this ,act may be cited as 
the ,james ,earl ,jones ,congressional  
,gold ,medal ,act4  #b4 ,findings       
,congress finds the following3 7#a7     
,james ,earl ,jones1 born on ,january   
#ag1 #aica1 in ,arkabutla ,township1    
,mississippi1 was raised largely by his 
grandparents after his father left4     
,following the family's move to         
,michigan1 he developed a serious       

stutter that led to him rarely speaking4
  7#b7 ,james ,earl ,jones started      
writing poetry while still in school and
 used this to break free of his stutter4
 ,inspired by the grapefruit that the   
,federal ,government gave to            
,mississippians during the wartime      
shortage1 ,jones penned a poem titled   
,ode to ,grapefruit4 ,jones continued to
 write1 play1 and compete and as a      
result1 he was awarded a scholarship to 
the ,university of ,michigan and won a  
public speaking competition4  7#c7      
,jones enlisted in the ,army in #aiec   
and reported to ,fort ,benning1         
,georgia1 for ,ranger ,school and the   
,officers ,basic ,course4 ,he was       
commissioned as a second lieutenant4    
,following his training1 ,jones was     
tasked with assisting in the            
establishment of a cold weather training
 command at the defunct ,camp ,hale in  
,colorado4  7#d7 ,jones relocated to    
,new ,york ,city and took a job as a    
janitor to support himself while        

attending the ,american ,theatre ,wing  
after receiving an honorable discharge  
as a first lieutenant4  7#e7 ,jones'    
,broadway debut was in #aieg1 where he  
performed in several ,shakespeare plays1
 including ,othello1 ,hamlet1           
,coriolanus1 and ,king ,lear4 ,in #aifc1
 ,jones received his first major        
nomination1 receiving a ,primetime ,emmy
 ,awards nomination for his role in     
,east ,side_/,west ,side4  7#f7 ,dr4    
,strangelove1 directed by ,stanley      
,kubrick1 was ,jones' feature picture   
debut4  7#g7 ,jones' performance in the 
play ,the ,great ,white ,hope1 which was
 about the first ,black heavyweight     
boxing champion1 earned him his first   
,tony ,award in #aifi4  7#h7 ,throughout
 his career1 ,jones has provided the    
voices of well-known global characters1 
such as ,mufasa in the animated film    
,the ,lion ,king and ,darth ,vader in   
the ,star ,wars series4  7#i7           
,throughout his professional life1      
,jones has been nominated for two       

,academy ,awards1 five ,tony ,awards1   
eight ,primetime ,emmy ,awards1 three   
,grammy ,awards1 and five ,golden ,globe
 ,awards4  7#aj7 ,jones was one of the  
rare performers to have received an     
,,egot 7,emmy1 ,grammy1 ,oscar1 and     
,tony74 ,jones was honored with three   
,tony ,awards1 an ,honorary ,academy    
,award1 a ,grammy ,award1 and two       
,primetime ,emmy ,awards4  7#aa7 ,in    
#aihe1 ,jones was inducted into the     
,american ,theater ,hall of ,fame4      
7#ab7 ,in #aiib1 ,president ,george     
,h4,w4 ,bush and ,first ,lady ,barbara  
,bush presented ,jones with the         
,national ,medal of the ,arts at the    
,white ,house in recognition of his     
career4  7#ac7 ,in #bjjb1 ,jones was    
selected to be a recipient of the #bjjb 
,kennedy ,center ,honors for his        
contributions to the cultural life of   
the ,nation at the ,john ,f4 ,kennedy   
,center in ,washington1 ,,dc4  7#ad7 ,on
 ,may #ab #bjji1 ,president and ,first  
,lady ,obama invited ,james ,earl ,jones

 to perform ,shakespeare's ,othello at  
the ,white ,house ,evening of ,poetry1  
,music1 and the ,spoken ,word4  7#ae7   
,on ,september #ab1 #bjbb1 the ,cort    
,theatre1 a ,broadway theater in the    
,theater ,district of ,midtown          
,manhattan in ,new ,york ,city1 was     
renamed the ,james ,earl ,jones         
,theatre4  7#af7 ,james ,earl ,jones has
 been recognized for his independence1  
activism1 and groundbreaking            
achievements and has been described as  
one of the greatest actors in ,american 
history4  7#ag7 ,james ,earl ,jones'    
career showcases talent and resilience  
in an industry that historically faced  
challenges related to representation4   
#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 posthumous         
presentation1 on behalf of ,congress1 of
 a gold medal of appropriate design to  

,james ,earl ,jones1 in recognition of  
his contribution to the ,united ,states 
and his achievements of paving the way  
for inclusion and equal opportunities   
for people of all backgrounds in film   
and theatre4  7b7 ,design and striking  
,for purposes of the presentation       
described in subsection 7a71 the        
,secretary of the ,treasury 7referred to
 in this ,act as the ,secretary7 shall  
strike a gold medal with suitable       
emblems1 devices1 and inscriptions to be
 determined by the ,secretary4 ,the     
design shall bear an image of1 and      
inscription of the name of1 ,james ,earl
 ,jones4  7c7 ,disposition of medal     
,following the presentation described in
 subsection 7a71 the gold medal shall be
 given to the son of ,james ,earl       
,jones1 ,flynn ,earl ,jones4  #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 costs of the medals1 including

 labor1 materials1 dies1 use of         
machinery1 and overhead expenses4  #e4  
,status of medals  7a7 ,national medals 
,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
 section #eacd and section #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 under    
this ,act4  7b7 ,proceeds of sale       
,amounts received from the sale of      
duplicate bronze medals authorized under
 section #d shall be deposited into the 
,united ,states ,mint ,public           
,enterprise ,fund4