HR-9417-119
Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services.
Sponsored by Don Bacon (R-NE)
What it does
This bill would award a Congressional Gold Medal to each of the four crew members of the Artemis II mission — Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen — in recognition of their 2026 crewed lunar flyby mission. The Secretary of the Treasury would design and strike the gold medals, each depicting the four-astronaut crew. The bill also authorizes the Mint to produce and sell bronze duplicates at cost-recovery prices, with proceeds deposited into the U.S. Mint Public Enterprise Fund.
Who benefits
The four Artemis II crew members (Wiseman, Glover, Koch, Hansen) who receive the medals. The U.S. Mint, which gains a new commemorative product line that may generate collector revenue. Space exploration advocates and NASA, whose mission receives formal congressional recognition. The Canadian Space Agency and Canada, as astronaut Jeremy Hansen would be the first non-U.S. recipient of this honor for a lunar mission. Coin collectors and numismatic enthusiasts who may purchase bronze duplicates.
Who is hurt
U.S. taxpayers bear the cost of striking the gold medals, charged against the U.S. Mint Public Enterprise Fund, though this cost is expected to be modest. No group faces a direct material harm from this bill.
Supporters argue
Supporters argue that the Artemis II crew achieved the first crewed lunar flyby in 53 years, set a new record for the farthest distance any human has traveled from Earth (252,756 miles), and accomplished multiple historic firsts — including the first Black astronaut and first woman to travel beyond low Earth orbit. They contend that Congress has a long tradition of using the Congressional Gold Medal to honor extraordinary national achievements, and that this mission's scientific and symbolic significance fully meets that standard.
Opponents argue
Opponents might argue that the Congressional Gold Medal has been awarded with increasing frequency in recent decades, potentially diluting its prestige as the nation's highest civilian honor. They could contend that singling out the four crew members, while omitting the broader team of engineers, flight controllers, and support staff whose contributions were equally essential to mission success, creates an incomplete and potentially inequitable recognition — even as the bill's findings acknowledge numerous other "firsts" achieved by non-crew personnel.
Constitutional context
No significant constitutional issues are raised by this bill. Congress has broad authority to award honorary medals under its general legislative powers, and commemorative legislation of this type has never faced a serious constitutional challenge. None of the technology-related constitutional provisions — such as the Fourth Amendment digital privacy doctrine from Carpenter v. United States (2018) or the First Amendment platform rules from Moody v. NetChoice (2024) — are implicated here.
Checks and balances
Congress holds the authority to authorize and direct the award; the Secretary of the Treasury retains discretion over medal design and the striking of duplicates; no new executive agency authority is created.
Historical precedent
Congress has awarded Congressional Gold Medals to previous NASA crews, including the Apollo 11 astronauts (2011) and the crew of Apollo 13 (2014), establishing a direct precedent for honoring lunar mission participants.