S 1434 IS
107th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1434
To authorize the President to award posthumously the Congressional Gold Medal to the passengers and crew of United Airlines flight 93 in the aftermath of the terrorist attack on the United States on September 11, 2001.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
September 19, 2001
Mr. SPECTER (for himself, Mr. BOND, Mr. BUNNING, Mrs. BOXER, Mr. BURNS, Ms. CANTWELL, Mr. CHAFEE, Mrs. CLINTON, Mr. ENSIGN, Mr. HARKIN, Mr. HELMS, Mr. KOHL, Ms. LANDRIEU, Mr. NELSON of Florida, Mr. SCHUMER, Ms. COLLINS, Mr. CRAPO, Mr. DORGAN, Mr. MILLER, Mr. DAYTON, Mr. NELSON of Nebraska, Mr. CORZINE, Mr. MCCAIN, Mr. WELLSTONE, Ms. SNOWE, Mrs. CARNAHAN, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, and Mr. CONRAD) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
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A BILL
To authorize the President to award posthumously the Congressional Gold Medal to the passengers and crew of United Airlines flight 93 in the aftermath of the terrorist attack on the United States on September 11, 2001.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the `Honoring the Passengers and Crew of United Flight 93 Act'.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds that--
(1) on September 11, 2001, United Airlines Flight 93 took off at 8:44 a.m. from Newark, New Jersey, destined for San Francisco, California;
(2) the plane was hijacked by 4 terrorists shortly after it took off;
(3) it is widely presumed that the terrorists who took control of United Airlines Flight 93 intended to use the aircraft as a weapon and crash it into the United States Capitol Building in Washington, D.C.;
(4) the passengers and crew of United Airlines Flight 93 learned from cellular phone conversations with their loved ones of the fate of the 3 other aircraft that were hijacked earlier that same day and used as weapons to murder thousands of innocent people and destroy American landmarks;
(5) the passengers and crew of United Airlines Flight 93, recognizing the potential danger that the aircraft they were aboard posed to large numbers of innocent Americans, American institutions, and the symbols of American democracy, took heroic and noble action to ensure that the aircraft they were aboard could not be used as a weapon;
(6) the 40 passengers and crew of United Airlines Flight 93, in the ultimate act of selfless courage and supreme sacrifice, fought to recapture their flight from the terrorists ; and
(7) the struggle of the crew and passengers of United Airlines Flight 93 against the terrorists caused the Boeing 757 to crash down in a sparsely populated area near Shanksville, Pennsylvania at 10:10 a.m., September 11, 2001, possibly saving countless lives in the Nation's Capital.
SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL.
(a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED-
(1) IN GENERAL- The President is authorized, on behalf of Congress, to award posthumously a gold medal of appropriate design to each of--
(2) MODALITIES- The modalities of presentation of the medals struck under this Act shall be determined by the President, after consultation with the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Majority Leader of the Senate, the Minority Leader of the Senate, and the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives.
(b) DESIGN AND STRIKING- For purposes of the presentation referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury (in this Act referred to as the `Secretary') shall strike gold medals with suitable emblems, devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the Secretary.
SEC. 4. STATUS AS NATIONAL MEDALS.
The medals struck under this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United States Code.
SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary such sums as may be necessary to carry out this Act.
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