Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 100 Part 1.djvu/468

 100 STAT. 432

PUBLIC LAW 99-298—MAY 13, 1986

Public Law 99-298 99th Congress

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joH An Act May 13, 1986 [S. 2308]

To authorize the President of the United States to award congressional gold medals to Natan (Anatoly) and Avital Shcharansky in recognition of their dedication to human rights, and to authorize the Secretary of the Treasury to sell bronze duplicates of those medals.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 31 USC 5111

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

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31 USC 5111

The Congress finds that (1) Avital Shcharansky and Natan (Anatoly) Shcharansky have displayed immense courage and commitment to the preservation of individual human rights, regarded as among the highest of ideals by the American people; (2) Natan (Anatoly) Shcharansky, a prominent founding member of the Moscow Helsinki Monitoring Group and active spokesman for the human rights denied to Soviet Jews, was ^ unjustly arrested by the Soviet Union in 1977 and imprisoned for almost nine years on the false charges of espionage and ^ treason; _ (3) Natan (Anatoly) Shcharansky, during his lengthy incarceration and isolation, was subjected to ongoing emotional and physical deprivation of the highest magnitude, yet continued to display raw courage and the noblest commitment to his rights as an individual, thereby setting an example for others whose individual freedoms are being denied; (4) freedom is the ideal held most dear by the American people, and Natan (Anatoly) Shcharansky has become a sjnnbol of that love of freedom; (5) Avital Shcharansky, while her husband was kept silent by Soviet prisons and labor camps, waged an indefatigable campaign around the world on behalf of her husband and others similarly treated; (6) Avital Shcharansky's earnest persistence and dedication to the precepts of freedom of thought, word, and deed raised the consciousness of the world while she valiantly worked for her husband's release, thus elevating human rights to a global concern; and (7) their reunion is evidence of the triumph of the human spirit against all adversities.

SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL.

(a) AWARD.—The President of the United States is authorized and requested to present, on behalf of the Congress, gold medals to Natan (Anatoly) and Avital Shcharansky in recognition of their supreme dedication and total commitment to the cause of individual human rights and freedoms. (b) DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION.—For purposes of the presentation referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury (hereafter

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