A bill authorizing the President of the United States to present a gold medal to the American Red Cross.
Public Law 96-138 · H.R. 4259 · 96th Congress · began in the House
Signed by Jimmy Carter (D) on Dec 12, 1979 · Commemorations
Sponsor: Rep. Frank Annunzio (D-IL-11)
Cosponsors (11): Rep. Walter Fauntroy, Rep. Parren Mitchell,
Passage votes
- HouseMethod not stated
- SenateMethod not stated
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 present a specially struck gold medal to the American Red Cross.
Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to make bronze duplicates of such medal for public sale.
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. 12 actions.
- Dec 12, 1979Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
- PresidentPresident · Public Law 96-138.
- Dec 7, 1979PresidentPresident · Measure presented to President.
- Dec 6, 1979PresidentPresident · Measure enrolled in Senate.
- Dec 5, 1979PresidentPresident · Measure enrolled in House.
- Dec 4, 1979FloorFloor · Measure passed Senate.
- Nov 28, 1979CommitteeCommittee · Reported by Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee
- Oct 16, 1979CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee
- Oct 15, 1979FloorFloor · Measure passed House.
- FloorFloor · Measure called up under motion to suspend rules and pass in House.
- May 31, 1979CommitteeCommittee · 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.