Sponsors (68)
Official title: Award a Congressional Gold Medal, collectively, to the First Rhode Island Regiment, in recognition of their dedicated service during the Revolutionary War.
Introduced February 13, 2025 by Sheldon Whitehouse · Last progress June 15, 2026
The bill honors and publicly preserves the First Rhode Island Regiment while enabling a self-funded Mint program to sell commemorative duplicates, trading broader public recognition and administrative clarity for potential costs and price/availability risks borne by the State Library, collectors, the Mint, and ultimately taxpayers.
Taxpayers and federal operations: the bill lets the U.S. Mint use its Public Enterprise Fund and directs duplicate-sales revenue back to the Mint so the medal program is intended to be self-funded and less likely to need new annual appropriations.
Students, schools, and the public in Rhode Island: the Congressional Gold Medal and its story will be publicly recognized and displayed at the Rhode Island State Library, improving understanding of the First Rhode Island Regiment's multiracial service and honoring veterans' legacy.
Middle‑class families and the general public: the bill authorizes affordable bronze duplicates to be sold to the public, increasing access to a commemorative item tied to the award.
Buyers and collectors: requiring sales to cover production costs and classifying the medals under numismatic rules could raise prices or limit availability, making duplicates less affordable or harder to obtain.
Taxpayers and Mint operations: if sales are lower than expected the Mint or Treasury may need to absorb costs, triggering transfers, budget adjustments, or higher prices for other numismatic products.
Rhode Island State Library (and state/local budgets): the bill authorizes display of the medal but provides no federal funding for long‑term conservation or exhibit costs, which may impose material expenses on the library or state government.
Based on analysis of 6 sections of legislative text.
Congress authorizes a Congressional Gold Medal for the First Rhode Island Regiment, directs minting and custody at the Rhode Island State Library, and allows sale of bronze duplicates.
Creates and directs the design and awarding of a single Congressional Gold Medal to honor the First Rhode Island Regiment for its service in the American Revolution, recognizing the regiment’s integrated composition and actions at the Battle of Rhode Island. The bill directs the Secretary of the Treasury to strike the medal, requires that the original be given to the Rhode Island State Library for display and research access, allows sale of bronze duplicates to cover production costs, and sets financial and numismatic treatment for the medals and proceeds.