Congress honors 200,000 African American Civil War soldiers with gold medal
S. 498 — United States Colored Troops Congressional Gold Medal Act · Filed by Cory Booker (D-NJ) · 3 cosponsors · Introduced Feb 10, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill authorizes Congress to award a posthumous Congressional Gold Medal to African Americans who served with Union forces during the Civil War, collectively recognizing their bravery and service. The medal will be designed and struck by the U.S. Mint, displayed at the Smithsonian Institution, and duplicate bronze versions may be sold to cover costs.
Why we flagged it
This is a straightforward Congressional Gold Medal bill honoring a collective group for historical service. It is purely commemorative in nature with no regulatory, appropriations, or policy-change components.
What the text implies
- The bill's placement in the Senate Banking Committee (rather than a more typical commemorative committee) may reflect procedural routing but has no substantive impact on the measure itself.
- By authorizing duplicate bronze medals for sale, the bill creates a modest revenue stream to the U.S. Mint Public Enterprise Fund, offsetting federal costs—a transparent cost-recovery mechanism.
Who it affects
This is a commemorative measure that honors a historically marginalized group's contributions to the nation. It carries no direct cost to ordinary citizens (the Mint's costs are covered by bronze medal sales), and it serves the public interest by ensuring historical recognition and education about African American Civil War service.
Named in the bill
U.S. Mint, Smithsonian Institution, U.S. Colored Troops (USCT), Union Army, Union Navy, African American Civil War Museum
Where it stands
3 cosponsors: 3 Democrats.
- Feb 10, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- Feb 10, 2025 — Referred to Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the full bill text on Jun 8, 2026; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-10-20.
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