Rep. Don Beyer’s efforts to secure a Congressional Gold Medal for a local civil-rights icon remain in limbo.
A piece of legislation, introduced last May, would make Joan Trumpauer Mulholland the newest recipient of Congress’s highest honor. But it is unlikely to win passage while Republicans control Congress, a staff member said.
Beyer (D-8) “continues to work on building support for the measure, but we don’t expect major advancements until political conditions in the House are more favorable,” Beyer spokesperson Izzie Taveras told ARLnow.
The measure was referred to the House Committee on Financial Services, where it remains. If no action is taken by the end of 2026, it will need to be reintroduced for the 2027-29 session.
Mulholland, 84, was active in the 1960s with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and took part in integration efforts in the D.C. area.
In 1961, she joined the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) Freedom Rides, working to integrate interstate travel facilities throughout the South. Her efforts landed her in jail multiple times, once for over 60 days in Mississippi.
The resolution notes Mulholland is deserving of a Gold Medal “in recognition of her unique and substantial contributions to American life through her life-long commitment to social justice and equality for all citizens, exhibited both through direct action, at great personal risk, and through ongoing educational activities.”
The presentation of Congressional Gold Medals can be traced back to the award bestowed on George Washington in 1776 by the Continental Congress. Fewer than 200 have been authorized since.
Both individuals and groups are eligible to receive the honor. Each medal, once approved, is uniquely designed.
Beyer’s resolution has picked up a few cosponsors, but Congress’s operating procedures require that two-thirds of both houses sign on before consideration in committee.
With that unlikely to happen this year, “Congressman Beyer’s priority remains fighting back against the Trump Administration, including against major attacks on civil rights,” Taveras told ARLnow.
Beyer has introduced 31 bills and resolutions during the current session, but none have made it past committee consideration.
Among his proposals still awaiting consideration are:
- A bill to create multi-member districts in states with more than one member of the U.S. House of Representatives; to require ranked-choice voting as the method of selecting members of Congress; and to require nonpartisan redistricting of congressional seats
- A joint resolution to remove the name of Robert E. Lee from the National Park Service’s Arlington House, which since 1955 has served as the nation’s official memorial to the Confederate general
Neither measure has picked up cosponsorship from any Republican members of the House of Representatives, suggesting they will be left to wither until the 119th Congress dissolves in early 2027.
