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Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in House · Feb 14, 2025
Sarah Keys Evans Congressional Gold Medal Act
This bill provides for the award of a Congressional Gold Medal to Sarah Keys Evans in recognition of her achievements relating to the desegregation of passengers on interstate buses in the 1950s.
People & committees
Rep. Davis, Donald G. [D-NC-1] · D–NC
Legislative record
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Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We also preserved the text version used in the PlainBill explanation below.
No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.
Source last updated: Oct 14, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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PlainBill explanation
Based on the full Introduced in House · 2025-02-14 text. This explanation has not received human editorial review. This overview describes the proposal’s major provisions; it does not establish what its real-world effects would be.
This bill would honor Sarah Keys Evans with a Congressional Gold Medal recognizing her achievements. It would require congressional leaders to arrange the presentation and the Treasury Secretary to design and produce the medal. Treasury could also make bronze copies and sell them at prices sufficient to cover their production costs. These are proposed requirements and permissions, not evidence of an enacted award.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements for the presentation, on behalf of the Congress, of a gold medal of appropriate design to Mrs. Sarah Keys Evans, in recognition of her achievements.
the Secretary of the Treasury (referred to in this Act as the Secretary) shall strike a gold medal with suitable emblems, devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the Secretary.
(a) Striking of duplicates Under such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, the Secretary may strike duplicates in bronze of the gold medal struck under section 3. (b) Selling of duplicates The Secretary may sell such duplicates under subsection (a) at a price sufficient to cover the costs of such duplicates, including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses.
The proposed law would be called the Sarah Keys Evans Congressional Gold Medal Act.
This Act may be cited as the Sarah Keys Evans Congressional Gold Medal Act.
The bill's findings describe Evans as an Army veteran and civil rights pioneer. They credit her refusal to surrender her bus seat with prompting a case in which the Interstate Commerce Commission ruled against racial segregation on interstate buses. These statements provide Congress's stated rationale for the honor.
Congress finds the following:
Sarah Keys, an Army veteran and civil rights pioneer, is a living example that change is possible if we are willing to stand up and fight for what is right.
Her refusal to give up her seat on an interstate charter bus prompted the landmark court case, Sarah Keys v. Carolina Coach Company, in which the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) outlawed the segregation of Black passengers in buses traveling across State lines.
The House Speaker and the Senate president pro tempore would have to arrange presentation of the gold medal to Evans on Congress's behalf.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements for the presentation, on behalf of the Congress, of a gold medal of appropriate design to Mrs. Sarah Keys Evans, in recognition of her achievements.
The Treasury Secretary would have to manufacture the gold medal and choose its symbols, design elements, and inscriptions.
For purposes of the presentation under subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury (referred to in this Act as the Secretary) shall strike a gold medal with suitable emblems, devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the Secretary.
Treasury could, but would not have to, make bronze copies under regulations the Secretary may issue. It could sell those copies at prices sufficient to cover labor, materials, dies used to shape the medals, machinery use, and overhead.
Under such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, the Secretary may strike duplicates in bronze of the gold medal struck under section 3.
The Secretary may sell such duplicates under subsection (a) at a price sufficient to cover the costs of such duplicates, including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses.
All medals made under the bill would be classified as national medals under the cited federal law and as numismatic items—items associated with coin and medal collecting—for another cited provision.
(a) National medals Medals struck under this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United States Code. (b) Numismatic items For purposes of section 5134 of title 31, United States Code, all medals struck under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic items.
The supplied action snapshot, updated October 14, 2026, records introduction in the House and referral to the House Committee on Financial Services on February 14, 2025.
Source snapshot updated 2026-10-14T08:05:21Z. 2025-02-14: Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services. 2025-02-14: Introduced in House
A closer look
Reviewed version: Introduced in House · 2025-02-14. These findings describe provisions and who may benefit; they are not judgments of waste, corruption, or motive.
This review covers the supplied bill text. “None identified” does not rule out provisions in later versions or accompanying reports and disclosures.
Provisions outside the bill’s main subject, or policy changes attached to appropriations.
None identified in the reviewed text
No unrelated provision or policy change attached to appropriations was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version and does not establish absence in other versions or accompanying materials.
Spending directed to particular recipients or places outside ordinary competitive or formula-based allocation.
None identified in the reviewed text
No congressionally directed spending allocation meeting the earmark definition was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version; formal earmark status in accompanying materials remains unestablished.
Narrow exceptions, exemptions, or preferential treatment that warrant a closer look.
Findings to examine
The text provides a named individual with a specific honorary benefit central to the bill's purpose. This classification does not imply improper treatment.
Sarah Keys Evans is the specifically named recipient of a gold medal presented on Congress's behalf. This individualized honor is the bill's main policy.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements for the presentation, on behalf of the Congress, of a gold medal of appropriate design to Mrs. Sarah Keys Evans, in recognition of her achievements.
Full text preserved for this analysis. Legislative record snapshot: Oct 14, 2026. How PlainBill uses AI