To authorize the President to award a gold medal on behalf of the Congress to Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew in recognition of his outstanding and enduring contributions toward religious understanding and peace, and for other purposes.
Public Law 105-51 · H.R. 2248 · 105th Congress · began in the House
Signed by Bill Clinton (D) on Oct 6, 1997 · Commemorations
Sponsor: Rep. Jim Leach (R-IA-1)
Cosponsors (325): Rep. Henry González, Rep. Ron Klink,
Passage votes
- HouseUnanimous consent
- SenateUnanimous consent
Data notes
The final version of the law, as each chamber passed it. A chamber that passed it by voice vote or unanimous consent has no count. “Method not stated” means the record does not say how the chamber voted. Where the record has a member-by-member vote, the “Who voted for it” section shows who voted yea.
Summary
The Congressional Research Service’s plain-language summary of what the law does.
Authorizes the President to present a gold medal to Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew in recognition of his outstanding and enduring contributions to religious understanding and peace.
Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to strike duplicate medals in bronze.
Authorizes appropriations from the Numismatic Public Enterprise Fund, where sales proceeds shall be deposited.
Committees
The committees the bill was sent to, and what each did with it.
Financial Services Committee · House · discharged from, referred toSubcommittee: Domestic and International Monetary Policy Subcommittee
Data notes
A committee links to its page only where it exists in the current Congress; older and renamed committees are named without a link.
Timeline
From introduction to signing, newest first: the committees, the floor and the president. 12 actions.
- Oct 6, 1997Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 105-51.
- Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
- Sep 25, 1997PresidentPresident · Presented to President.
- Sep 24, 1997FloorFloor · Passed Senate without amendment by Unanimous Consent.
- Sep 17, 1997FloorFloor · Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
- FloorFloor · On passage Passed without objection.
- FloorFloor · Mr. Leach asked unanimous consent to discharge from committee and consider.
- FloorFloor · Considered by unanimous consent.
- CommitteeCommittee · Discharged from House Financial Services Committee
- Jul 30, 1997CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Domestic and International Monetary Policy Subcommittee of the House Financial Services Committee
- Jul 24, 1997CommitteeCommittee · Referred to House Financial Services Committee
- IntroducedIntroduced · Introduced in the House
Data notes
Shows the introduction, each committee and subcommittee step the source dates (referral, hearings, markup, report, discharge), and the floor, conference, presidential and became-law steps. Calendar placements, messages between the chambers, amendments and committee report numbers are not shown for laws before the 108th Congress. Two entries the source lists twice are shown once.
Official record
The bill’s full text and every action, including introduction and committee steps, are on Congress.gov. Data through Oct 7, 2026.