H.R. 945: To award a Congressional Gold Medal to the Freedom Riders, collectively, in recognition of their unique contribution to Civil Rights, which inspired a revolutionary movement for equality in interstate travel.

H.R. 945 is a Congressional Gold Medal bill for the Freedom Riders, the civil rights activists who challenged segregated interstate travel in 1961. The bill's findings trace that story from the Supreme Court's 1960 ruling against segregated bus and rail stations to the riders' campaign to test whether that ruling would actually be enforced.

The bill's findings name the 13 original riders selected by CORE and note that the first group included seven Black riders and six White riders. According to the bill, they left Washington on May 4, 1961, headed to New Orleans, sat together across racial lines, and entered spaces marked for White and Black travelers to directly challenge Jim Crow rules.

The findings also document the violence they faced. The bill says John Lewis was severely beaten in South Carolina, Hank Thomas was jailed and turned over to a mob, and on Mother's Day 1961 one bus was firebombed in Anniston, Alabama. It also says many riders were later arrested in Mississippi and imprisoned at Parchman Prison under brutal conditions, including strip searches, chain gang labor, and lights kept on 24 hours a day.

What the bill actually does is narrower than the history it recounts. It authorizes one Congressional Gold Medal for the Freedom Riders collectively, directs the Treasury Secretary to strike it, and sends it to the Smithsonian for display and research after presentation.

H.R. 945 also lets the Mint make bronze duplicates for sale, but only at prices that cover production costs. The bill does not name a dollar amount for the medal; instead, it allows costs to be paid from the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund, with duplicate-sales revenue going back into that same fund.