Hidden Figures Congressional Gold Medal Act
Public Law 116-68 · H.R. 1396 · 116th Congress · began in the House
Signed by Donald Trump (R) on Nov 8, 2019 · Commemorations
Sponsor: Rep. Eddie Johnson (D-TX-30)
Cosponsors (314): Rep. Frank Lucas, Rep. Daniel Lipinski,
Passage votes
- HouseVoice vote
- 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.
Hidden Figures Congressional Gold Medal Act
(Sec. 3) This bill requires the Speaker of the House of Representatives and President pro tempore of the Senate to arrange for the presentation of
• one Congressional Gold Medal to Katherine Johnson, in recognition of her service to the United States as a mathematician;
• one Congressional Gold Medal to Dr. Christine Darden, for her service to the United States as an aeronautical engineer;
• two Congressional Gold Medals in commemoration of the lives of Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson, in recognition of their service to the United States during the Space Race; and
• one Congressional Gold Medal in recognition of all the women who served as computers, mathematicians, and engineers at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) between the 1930s and the 1970s.
(Sec. 4) The Department of the Treasury may strike and sell bronze duplicates of these medals.
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.
Related bills
1 bill the Library of Congress relates to this one.
S. 590Identical billRelated bill
Hidden Figures Congressional Gold Medal Act
Data notes
Related bills are identified by the Congressional Research Service, the House and the Senate: companion and identical bills, bills with similar text, bills that were folded into this law, and rules that brought it to the floor. A bill that is itself a public law in this site’s data links here; the others link to Congress.gov.
Timeline
From introduction to signing, newest first: the committees, the floor and the president. 14 actions.
- Nov 8, 2019Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 116-68.
- Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
- Oct 29, 2019FloorFloor · Presented to President.
- Oct 21, 2019FloorFloor · Message on Senate action sent to the House.
- Oct 17, 2019FloorFloor · Passed Senate without amendment by Unanimous Consent.
- Sep 23, 2019CalendarCalendar · Received in the Senate. Read twice. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 214.
- Sep 19, 2019FloorFloor · Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
- FloorFloor · On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote.
- FloorFloor · DEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on H.R. 1396.
- FloorFloor · Considered under suspension of the rules.
- FloorFloor · Mr. San Nicolas moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended.
- Mar 11, 2019CommitteeCommittee · Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR E284)
- Feb 27, 2019CommitteeCommittee · Referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committee on House Administration, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
- IntroducedIntroduced · Introduced in House
Data notes
Every action the Library of Congress lists for the bill, from introduction to signing, plus the dated committee hearings. The source lists many steps twice (the chamber’s own entry and the Library of Congress copy, or a presidential and a became-law entry with the same words); those are shown once. Amendments are listed in their own section.
Amendments
No amendments to this bill are on record.
Data notes
Amendments offered to this bill in either chamber, as the Library of Congress records them: each with a status read from its last recorded step: agreed to, rejected, withdrawn, ruled out of order, fell with another amendment, or offered with no vote recorded (most Senate amendments are only ever offered). The wording of each amendment is the source’s. Amendments to amendments and amendments to other bills are not listed.
Official record
The bill’s full text is on Congress.gov. Data through Oct 7, 2026.