HR 4069 IHCommentsClose CommentsPermalink

112th CONGRESSCommentsClose CommentsPermalink

2d SessionCommentsClose CommentsPermalink

H. R. 4069CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

To award a Congressional Gold Medal to Dr. Shakeel Afridi.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVESCommentsClose CommentsPermalink

February 16, 2012CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

Mr. ROHRABACHER (for himself, Mr. COHEN, Mr. BARTLETT, Mr. STEARNS, Mr. KING of Iowa, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. ROYCE, Mr. COBLE, Mr. FARENTHOLD, and Mr. GOHMERT) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial ServicesCommentsClose CommentsPermalink

A BILLCommentsClose CommentsPermalink

To award a Congressional Gold Medal to Dr. Shakeel Afridi.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

Congress makes the following findings:CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(1) Dr. Shakeel Afridi bravely risked his life to identify Osama Bin Laden so that the United States could bring him to justice.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(2) Before the May 2, 2011, raid which resulted in Osama Bin Laden’s death, Dr. Afridi, acting courageously, used the cover of conducting a vaccination program in Abbottabad in order to gain access to Bin Laden’s compound and identify who was living there.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(3) Dr. Afridi did this at the greatest personal risk, as the discovery of his true mission likely would have led him, and possibly his family, to be killed.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(4) The Government of Pakistan subsequently arrested Dr. Afridi at his home on May 22, 2011, and he has been unjustly jailed since that time.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(5) In January 2011, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta said that Dr. Afridi is ‘an individual who in fact helped provide intelligence that was very helpful with regards to this operation [to kill or capture Osama Bin Laden].’CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(6) Dr. Afridi’s acts to help the United States were extremely valiant and daring, and his subsequent imprisonment by and suffering on account of the Government of Pakistan for the exemplary deeds he undertook for the United States is shameful.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(7) Pakistan’s Inquiry Commission on the Abbottabad Operation, the United States mission which killed Osama Bin Laden, has recommended that Dr. Afridi be tried for treason for helping the United States.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(8) If convicted, Dr. Afridi could be executed, and so his life continues to be in jeopardy on account of his work that helped further the interests of the United States.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(9) Dr. Afridi played a pivotal and vital role in the final operation to bring Osman Bin Laden to justice after nearly a decade of unrelenting effort.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(10) The attacks of September 11, 2001, and the murder of 3,000 Americans, were avenged the day of the raid that resulted in Osama Bin Laden’s death, and the world is a safer place because of Dr. Afridi’s selflessness, courage, and willingness to help the just cause.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(11) All Americans are grateful for Dr. Afridi’s bold actions.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL.

(a) Award Authorized- The President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall make appropriate arrangements for the award, on behalf of Congress, of a gold medal of appropriate design in honor of Dr. Shakeel Afridi, in recognition of his activities to identify and provide intelligence regarding the location of Osama Bin Laden.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(b) Design and Striking- For the purposes of the award referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury shall strike the gold medal with suitable emblems, devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the Secretary.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

SEC. 3. DUPLICATE MEDALS.

Under such regulations as the Secretary of the Treasury may prescribe, the Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in bronze of the gold medal struck under this Act, at a price sufficient to cover the costs of the medals, including labor, materials, dyes, use of machinery, and overhead expenses.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

SEC. 4. NATIONAL MEDALS.

The medals struck pursuant to this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United States Code.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS; PROCEEDS OF SALE.

(a) Authorization of Appropriations- There is authorized to be charged against the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund, an amount not to exceed $30,000 to pay for the cost of the medals struck pursuant to this Act.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(b) Proceeds of Sale- Amounts received from the sale of duplicate bronze medals under section 3 shall be deposited in the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink