A bill to authorize the President to award a gold medal on behalf of the Congress to Rosa Parks in recognition of her contributions to the Nation.
Public Law 106-26 · S. 531 · 106th Congress · began in the Senate
Signed by Bill Clinton (D) on May 4, 1999 · Commemorations
Sponsor: Sen. Spencer Abraham (R-MI)
Cosponsors (82): Sen. Jeff Sessions, Sen. Carl Levin,
Passage votesYeaNay
- HouseUnanimous consent
- SenateRecorded vote: 86 yea, 0 nay86–0
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, on behalf of the Congress, to award a gold medal to Rosa Parks, in recognition of her contributions to the Nation.
Who voted for it
Every senator of the 106th Congress on the ideology compass. Highlighted: the 86 who voted yea on final passage. Faded: everyone else, including those who voted nay, did not vote, or had not yet taken office.
86 yea0 nay14 present or did not vote
Democrats who voted yea(37)
- Sen. Paul WellstoneD-MN
Sen. Barbara BoxerD-CA
Sen. Tom HarkinD-IA
Sen. Russell FeingoldD-WI
Sen. Carl LevinD-MI
Sen. Daniel AkakaD-HI
Sen. Ted KennedyD-MA
Sen. Richard DurbinD-IL- Sen. Fritz HollingsD-SC
Sen. Harry ReidD-NV
Sen. Patrick LeahyD-VT
Sen. Jay RockefellerD-WV- Sen. Tom DaschleD-SD
Sen. Patty MurrayD-WA
Sen. Byron DorganD-ND
Sen. Chuck SchumerD-NY
Sen. Daniel InouyeD-HI
Sen. Christopher DoddD-CT- Sen. John EdwardsD-NC
Sen. Ron WydenD-OR- Sen. Richard BryanD-NV
Sen. Herb KohlD-WI
Sen. Kent ConradD-ND
Sen. Tim JohnsonD-SD- Sen. Bob GrahamD-FL
- Sen. Charles RobbD-VA
- Sen. Maxwell ClelandD-GA
Sen. Robert ByrdD-WV
Sen. Evan BayhD-IN
Sen. Dianne FeinsteinD-CA
Sen. Max BaucusD-MT
Sen. Jeff BingamanD-NM
Sen. Joseph LiebermanD-CT
Sen. Mary LandrieuD-LA- Sen. Robert KerreyD-NE
Sen. Blanche LincolnD-AR- Sen. John BreauxD-LA
Republicans who voted yea(49)
Sen. Arlen SpecterR-PA- Sen. John ChafeeR-RI
Sen. Olympia SnoweR-ME
Sen. Susan CollinsR-ME- Sen. William RothR-DE
Sen. Gordon SmithR-OR- Sen. Spencer AbrahamR-MI
- Sen. Mike DeWineR-OH
Sen. Richard LugarR-IN
Sen. John WarnerR-VA
Sen. Ted StevensR-AK- Sen. Peter FitzgeraldR-IL
Sen. Pete DomeniciR-NM- Sen. Slade GortonR-WA
Sen. George VoinovichR-OH
Sen. Orrin HatchR-UT- Sen. Rick SantorumR-PA
- Sen. Ben CampbellR-CO
Sen. Chuck GrassleyR-IA
Sen. Kay HutchisonR-TX
Sen. Kit BondR-MO
Sen. Thad CochranR-MS
Sen. Chuck HagelR-NE- Sen. Conrad BurnsR-MT
Sen. Pat RobertsR-KS- Sen. Strom ThurmondR-SC
Sen. Mitch McConnellR-KY- Sen. Connie MackR-FL
- Sen. John AshcroftR-MO
- Sen. Fred ThompsonR-TN
- Sen. Frank MurkowskiR-AK
Sen. Trent LottR-MS- Sen. Paul CoverdellR-GA
Sen. Sam BrownbackR-KS
Sen. Mike CrapoR-ID- Sen. Tim HutchinsonR-AR
- Sen. Rod GramsR-MN
- Sen. Craig ThomasR-WY
Sen. Jeff SessionsR-AL
Sen. Larry CraigR-ID
Sen. Jon KylR-AZ- Sen. Don NicklesR-OK
Sen. Michael EnziR-WY
Sen. Wayne AllardR-CO
Sen. Jim BunningR-KY- Sen. Phil GrammR-TX
Sen. Jim InhofeR-OK- Sen. Jesse HelmsR-NC
- Sen. Bob SmithR-NH
Data notes
The Senate’s recorded vote on the final version of the law (roll call 88 in Voteview), matched to the vote the record cites and checked against its totals. Positions are each member’s DW-NOMINATE score for that Congress, as on the Ideology page; left to right is more liberal to more conservative. Paired and announced yea votes count as yea. Lists follow the compass, most liberal first. A name links to a profile only for members of the current Congress. A law passed by voice vote or unanimous consent has no member list, and neither does a vote Voteview has not yet recorded.
Committees
The committees the bill was sent to, and what each did with it.
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. 13 actions.
- May 4, 1999Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 106-26.
- Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
- Apr 26, 1999PresidentPresident · Presented to President.
- Apr 20, 1999FloorFloor · A similar measure H.R. 573 was laid on the table without objection.
- FloorFloor · Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
- FloorFloor · On passage Passed without objection.
- FloorFloor · Mr. Bachus asked unanimous consent to take from the Speaker's table and consider.
- FloorFloor · Considered by unanimous consent.
- Apr 19, 1999FloorFloor · Passed Senate without amendment by Yea-Nay Vote. 86-0. Record Vote No: 88.Senate roll call 88
- FloorFloor · Measure laid before Senate by unanimous consent.
- CommitteeCommittee · Discharged from Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee
- Mar 4, 1999CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee
- IntroducedIntroduced · Introduced in the Senate
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.