Sponsors (36)
The bill formally recognizes and preserves the Revolutionary War service of the First Rhode Island Regiment—boosting historical recognition and public access to commemorative medals—while remaining largely symbolic and carrying modest fiscal and administrative risks if sales or Mint funding do not fully cover production costs.
Veterans and racial-ethnic and Indigenous communities receive formal federal recognition: the bill honors the First Rhode Island Regiment and highlights Black and Indigenous soldiers' Revolutionary War service, preserving their place in national memory.
Students, historians, and the public gain improved access to the medal and related history because the gold medal is placed in the Rhode Island State Library for display and research.
Collectors and the public can obtain commemorative bronze duplicates (officially produced and sold), increasing public access to an affordable commemorative item and broadening engagement with the history honored by the medal.
Most Americans receive no material benefit because the bill is primarily symbolic and creates no substantive public programs or services.
Taxpayers could still incur modest costs or fiscal risks if commemorative spending, administrative costs, or lower-than-expected sales require Treasury or Mint funds to cover shortfalls.
Using the Mint's Public Enterprise Fund for production may reduce balances available for other Mint activities or require future transfers/seigniorage adjustments, potentially shifting costs within federal operations.
Based on analysis of 6 sections of legislative text.
Authorizes a Congressional gold medal for the First Rhode Island Regiment, directs its striking and display at the Rhode Island State Library, and permits sale of bronze duplicates to cover costs.
Authorizes Congress to award a single Congressional gold medal to the First Rhode Island Regiment for its Revolutionary War service, directs the U.S. Mint to design and strike the gold medal, and assigns the medal to the Rhode Island State Library for display and research access. It also allows the Mint to strike and sell bronze duplicates to cover production costs, treats the medals as national numismatic items under existing law, and permits the Mint to use its Public Enterprise Fund to cover production costs while returning duplicate-sale proceeds to that fund. The bill records historical findings about the Regiment’s recruitment (including enlistees who were formerly enslaved and Indigenous soldiers), its combat service, and postwar treatment of veterans. Fiscal effects are limited and managed through the U.S. Mint’s existing fund rather than new appropriations.
Introduced February 13, 2025 by Gabe Amo · Last progress February 13, 2025