mr. chairman , i thank the gentleman from ohio ( mr. oxley ) xz4003070 for his support of the legislation as well as his managing of it here today , and his general goodwill for all people in this country . 
mr. chairman , i rise in support of h.r. 54 , the congressional gold medal enhancement act of 2005 , and i do urge its immediate adoption after consideration of the amendments today . 
congress created the congress gold medal honor in 1776 to recognize military leaders , and awarded the first medal to george washington for his heroic service in the revolutionary war , as the chairman indicated earlier . 
since then , the gold medal has evolved to become the highest civilian honor congress confers to express gratitude for distinguished service , to dramatize the virtues of patriotism , and to perpetuate the remembrance of a great event . 
the legislation we consider today seeks to maintain the prestige of the medal by limiting the number that may be awarded in any given year . 
to understand the need for such legislation , a little history of the medal is in order . 
as i mentioned , the first congressional gold medal was struck in 1776 , in paris , for america had no appropriate facilities at that point , at the behest of the continental congress , which had not yet declared independence from great britain . 
the recipient was general george washington , and the act that inspired the medal was his leadership of the continental army in driving the british from boston . 
in the next dozen years , congress awarded six more gold medals to individuals for heroic action in the revolutionary war . 
that is an average of one medal every congress . 
by comparison , in the 108th congress we authorized five medal programs honoring seven individuals and one couple . 
in the 106th congress we authorized seven medal programs , but because of multiple recipients , the number of medals totaled more than 300 . 
mr. chairman , all of those medals were deserved , and i supported their authorization . 
my concern , and a concern shared by many members , is that the luster and the importance and the meaning of a congressional gold medal will be tarnished if we do not limit the number we award . 
reversing this trend will protect the medal 's prestige . 
mr. chairman , this is a simple piece of legislation with great meaning . 
it will ensure the future integrity and true honor of the award . 
it is my goal that each recipient , president , civil rights leader , military hero , inventor , or noted healer , who receives the congressional gold medal will remain part of a unique honor bestowed by the united states congress . 
as you may recall , mr. chairman , we had a similar problem a decade ago with commemorative coins . 
while commemorative coins are not as prestigious as congressional gold medals , both are used to recognize moments in history . 
these coins have also helped raise money through surcharges for a worthy cause . 
a decade ago , the commemorative coin program had gotten out of control , with many coin programs approved each year , and many of the programs costing taxpayers money . 
one blatant example is the 1996 olympics coin program that the gao estimates cost taxpayers $ 26 million . 
in response , mr. chairman , i authored and congress approved the commemorative reform coin act . 
now coin programs are limited to two a year and demand full cost recovery for taxpayers before any surcharges are paid . 
additionally , before congress can consider a coin or medal program , two-thirds of the house , 290 members , must cosponsor the legislation to demonstrate broad bipartisan support . 
and having done that , i can tell you it takes broad bipartisan support to get the 290 members . 
i believe that the reforms to the commemorative coin program have been extraordinarily successful . 
since these reforms were enacted in the 104th congress , commemorative coins have not cost the taxpayers a dime . 
instead , the programs have raised millions for worthy causes , provided valuable collections , and , importantly , restored prestige to commemorative coins . 
but something disturbing happened when we reformed the commemorative coin program . 
the number of congressional gold medals saw a dramatic increase . 
from 1776 , when congress created the medal , to 1904 , congress approved 47 medals . 
in the last 100 years , congress awarded 86 medals , including 20 in the past decade , since the commemorative coin reforms . 
and this number jumped even higher , over 300 , when including multiple recipients for each medal . 
mr. chairman , over the years , congressional gold medals have gone to the reverend dr . 
martin luther king , jr. , rosa parks , jackie robinson , mother teresa , elie wiesel , pope john paul ii , british prime ministers winston churchill and tony blair , jonas salk , john wayne , and robert f. kennedy , among others . 
reading the list of all the medal recipients and the deeds that earned the medal is quite inspiring . 
to maintain these medals as the highest of honors , the legislation before us would limit the number of medals that may be awarded to two a year , and clarify that recipients are individuals and not groups . 
i understand there is concern by the minority that one bill per year should be designated for each party . 
i feel it is important to note that proposals in the past have been sponsored in about equal numbers by republicans and democrats , and i do not really recall any discussion of the recipients ' or the sponsors ' party affiliations . 
in my view , any such discussion would be inappropriate , as these awards should be awarded in true bipartisan fashion . 
in practice , however , not through statute , the committee on financial services requires a two-thirds cosponsorship before considering proposals to award medals , a practice that the senate has now adopted . 
i believe by the adoption of these simple changes , we can preserve the prestige and the integrity of the congressional gold medal program , something i believe all members support . 
i encourage my colleagues to join me in maintaining the integrity of the congressional gold medal by supporting this measure . 
i urge immediate and unanimous passage of h.r. 54 with no amendments but the manager 's amendment . 
