mr. chairman , i thank the gentleman for his leadership and simply say that is the spirit of bipartisanship . 
that would have been reflective of members having an opportunity in their wisdom to present their case before the united states congress and the committee on financial services . 
that would have been fairness to the unsung heroes . 
that would have been in respect to president and mrs. reagan , dr . 
king and mrs. king , dr . 
graham and mrs. graham , as well as many others . 
i ask my colleagues to vote against this legislation , allow us to work in a bipartisan manner and do not take away from those as yet unrecognized the honor of a congressional gold medal . 
mr. chairman , i rise in opposition to the bill before the committee of the whole because it is unreasonably restrictive . 
its passage will result in the preclusion of our ability to pay tribute to americans in the most respectful manner . 
the central amendment that would have made this legislation palatable at the very least and not so disrespectful to the heroes that we strive to honor with the congressional gold medal has been effectively blocked by partisan stubbornness . 
if the import of this legislation is good , why not allow the representatives of this august body to openly debate it before the american people ? 
are we so ashamed of its true legislative intent that we feel the need to hide behind obstructionist rules ? 
i say that legislation with bona fide purpose should have nothing to fear -- at the very least should it fear honest and open debate . 
the underlying legislation that is before this house seeks to `` provide reasonable standards for congressional gold medals '' but will essentially limit the bestowal of honor to american icons . 
one of the main reasons that the medal is bestowed is to make the highest expression of national appreciation for distinguished achievements and contributions . 
h.r. 54 will summarily restrict this goal and prevent many honored heroes from receiving proper recognition . 
section 2 , paragraph ( e ) ( 2 ) ( a ) of h.r. 54 would limit the striking of a congressional gold medal to `` only an individual. '' such `` unreasonably '' restrictive legislation would preclude the bestowal of this award collectively to the 9 students who `` voluntarily subjected themselves to racial bigotry during the integration of central high school in little rock , arkansas , otherwise known as the `` little rock nine. '' similarly , under this restrictive provision , the secretary of the treasury can not lawfully strike a congressional gold medal to honor former president ronald reagan and his wife nancy reagan in recognition of their services to america or to honor former president jimmy carter and his wife rosalynn carter . 
furthermore , h.r. 54 would make it illegal for congress to cause the secretary to strike a congressional gold medal to honor the monumental contributions made to the civil rights movement by dr . 
martin luther king , jr . 
and his widow , coretta scott king , or the brave employees and others who responded to the attacks on the world trade center and the pentagon and perished and to the people aboard united airlines flight 93 who resisted hijackers and caused the plane to crash . 
mr. chairman , i oppose this legislation and ask that my colleagues join me to defeat it unless the overly restrictive provisions are fixed or removed . 
