Congress·In Committee·H.R. 1277

First Rhode Island Regiment Congressional Gold Medal Act

First Rhode Island Regiment: Congressional Gold Medal

Feb 13, 2025·View on Congress.gov·Read full text

Next up: A house committeeNo action in 16 months

This bill is sitting in the House Committee on Financial Services where it was sent in February 2025. No action has been taken on this proposal since February 2025, which means it is stalled. The committee must review the bill before it can move forward to a vote.

Legislative Progress

House

Senate

President

Law

Could go either way

Commemorative bills are popular but require many cosponsors to move forward. This bill has strong initial support from the Rhode Island delegation.

How we got here

This bill’s path across every version that has carried it.

Reintroduced
Reintroduced from H.R. 8568 (118th), which died when its Congress ended.
H.R. 8568 (118th) →

Key Points

This bill proposes awarding a Congressional Gold Medal to the First Rhode Island Regiment. This unit was unique because it was one of the first in American history where Black, Indigenous, and white soldiers fought side by side.
In 1778, Rhode Island allowed enslaved men to enlist in this regiment. Those who joined were immediately freed from slavery. Nearly 200 men of African and Indigenous descent joined the unit to fight for American independence.
The regiment is remembered for its heroic actions at the Battle of Rhode Island, where they held their ground against enemy forces. They served for five years until the end of the war in 1783.
The gold medal would be kept at the Rhode Island State Library for the public to see. The U.S. Mint would also sell bronze copies of the medal to help pay for the project.

Impact Analysis

Govbase has not yet run an impact analysis on this legislation.

Milestones

2 milestones2 actions

Feb 13, 2025House

Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services.

Feb 13, 2025

Introduced in House

The bill was officially filed and given a number. It now enters the legislative queue.

No votes or news coverage recorded for this bill yet.

Source Information

Document Type

Congressional Bill

Official Title

First Rhode Island Regiment Congressional Gold Medal Act

Bill NumberHR 1277

Congress119th Congress

ChamberHouse of Representatives

Latest ActionReferred to the House Committee on Financial Services.

Data Sources

Congress.gov

Official legislative information

Read Full Bill Text

Sponsor

Cosponsors

(52)

D: 51R: 1

Analysis generated by AI. Always verify with official sources.