123STA T . 1 96 6 PUBLIC LA W 111 –4 4 — AU G . 7, 2 0 09 PublicLaw1 11 –4 4 111 thCongres s A n Act Toauth o rize the P re s i d e n t , in c on j unction w ith the 40 th anni v ersar y o f the historic and first l unar landin gb yhu m ans in 196 9, to award gold medals on behalf of the U nited S tates C ongress to N eil A. Armstrong, the first human to wal k on the moon
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dwin E. ‘ ‘ B uzz ’ ’ Aldrin, J r., the p ilot of the lunar module and second person to walk on the moon; M ichael Collins, the pilot of their Apollo 11 mission’s command module; and, the first American to orbit the Earth, John H erschel G lenn, Jr. Beit e nac te dby t h e S enate and Hous eo fR e pr esentati v es of the U nited States of Am erica in C on g ress assemb l ed ,SECTION1. S H O R T TIT L E. ThisActmaybe cite d as the ‘ ‘ N e wFron tier C on g ressiona lG old M edal Act ’ ’ . SEC. 2 . F IN D IN G S. The Congress f inds that —(1) ass p acecraft commander for Apollo 11 , the first manned l u nar landing mission, Neil A. Armstrong gained the distinction of being the first man to land a craft on the moon and first to step on its surface on J uly 2 1,1 96 9
(2) by con q uering the moon at great personal ris k to safety, Neil Armstrong ad v anced America scientifically and techno - logically, paving the way for future missions to other regions in space; ( 3 ) E dwin E. ‘‘ B u z z’’ Aldrin, Jr., j oined Armstrong in piloting the lunar module, Eagle, to the surface of the moon, and became the second person to walk upon its surface; ( 4 ) Michael Collins piloted the command module, Columbia, in lunar orbit and helped his fellow Apollo 11 astronauts com- plete their mission on the moon; ( 5 ) John H erschel Glenn, Jr., helped pave the way for the first lunar landing when on February 2 0 , 1962, he became the first American to orbit the Earth; and (6) John Glenn’s actions, like Armstrong’s, Aldrin’s and Collins’s, continue to greatly inspire the people of the U nited S tates. SEC. 3 . CONGRESSION A L GOLD M EDAL. (a) PRES E NTA T IO NA U T H ORI Z E D .—The President is authorized to present, on behalf of the Congress, to Neil A. Armstrong, Edwin E. ‘‘Buzz’’ Aldrin, Jr., Michael Collins, and John Herschel Glenn, Jr., each a gold medal of appropriate design, in recognition of their significant contributions to society. (b) D ESI G N AND STRI K ING.—For purposes of the presentation referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury shall 31USC5 111 note.Pr e sid ent. 31 USC 5111 note. N e wF rontier Con g ression alG old M edal Ac t. 31 USC 5111 note. A u g. 7,20 0 9[H . R .22 4 5 ]
