Charles B. Rangel Congressional Gold Medal Act

This bill, the Charles B. Rangel Congressional Gold Medal Act, would authorize the posthumous awarding of a Congressional Gold Medal to Charles B. Rangel in recognition of his life and career as a public servant who elevated underserved communities, expanded the United States’ global standing, and co-founded the Congressional Black Caucus. It directs the process for presenting the medal, design and inscription, and disposition of the medal, and it provides a mechanism for issuing duplicate bronze medals to cover costs. The findings accompanying the bill recount Rangel’s military service in the Korean War, his long congressional career, leadership in the Congressional Black Caucus, and a broad record of legislative initiatives spanning veterans’ affairs, housing, tax policy, international trade, and foreign affairs. The act designates that the Speaker of the House and the President pro tempore of the Senate shall arrange the presentation on behalf of Congress. The Secretary of the Treasury would oversee striking the gold medal, which would feature Rangel’s image and name. After presentation, the medal would be given to Rangel’s children. The bill also allows bronze duplicates to be struck and sold to cover costs, with proceeds deposited into the U.S. Mint Public Enterprise Fund. Under the bill, the medals would be national medals and treated as numismatic items under federal law.