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Lance Corporal Dustin Sekula Congressional Gold Medal Act
To award the Congressional Gold Medal posthumously to Edinburg, Texas war hero Lance Corporal Dustin Sekula, in recognition of his heroic life.
Summary
This bill authorizes the posthumous presentation of a Congressional Gold Medal to Lance Corporal Dustin Sekula, a Marine from Edinburg, Texas, who was killed by enemy fire in Iraq in 2004 and was the first Edinburg native to die in Operation Iraqi Freedom. The Secretary of the Treasury shall strike the gold medal with appropriate design and present it to Sekula's family on behalf of Congress. The Secretary may also produce and sell duplicate bronze medals, with proceeds from sales going into the U.S. Mint Public Enterprise Fund to help cover the costs of creating the original medal.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
1 cosponsor
Money behind the sponsor
Top reported contributors to Monica De La Cruz’s campaign committee (2024 cycle) — who funds the bill’s sponsor, not a claim about this bill. Data from FEC.
- SELF EMPLOYED $88,998
- NULL $50,988
- RIO FRESH INC $14,200
- ELLIOTT INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT $13,200
- BRODIE GENERATIONAL CAPITAL PARTNERS $13,200
Organizations whose employees gave the most — itemized individual contributions grouped by the donor’s reported employer (FEC Schedule A). Full finance for Monica De La Cruz → · Outside spending →
Actions (2)
- May 21, 2026 Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services. · house
- May 21, 2026 Introduced in House
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 21, 2026
Ms. De La Cruz (for herself and Mr. McCaul) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services
A BILL
To award the Congressional Gold Medal posthumously to Edinburg, Texas war hero Lance Corporal Dustin Sekula, in recognition of his heroic life.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Lance Corporal Dustin Sekula Congressional Gold Medal Act”.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds that:
(1) Dustin Sekula was born on June 8, 1985, in Edinburg, Texas, and graduated from Edinburg North High School in 2003.
(2) Dustin was a kind, loyal, and loving son and brother.
(3) Dustin was skilled at ranching and loved roping steers. He used his high school lunch period to practice roping on a fake steer.
(4) Dustin turned down an agriculture college scholarship to join the Marines and serve his country at the age of 17.
(5) At 18, an infantry mortarman of the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, Dustin died due to injuries sustained from enemy fire in Al Anbar Province, Iraq, on April 1, 2004.
(6) More than 1,000 people filled Trinity Worship Center for his funeral service.
(7) Dustin is buried in Palm Valley Memorial Gardens in Pharr, Texas.
(8) The Dustin Sekula Memorial Library (DMSML) located in Edinburg, Texas, is named after Marine Lance Corporal Dustin Michael Sekula.
(9) He was the first Edinburg native to be killed during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
(10) He is not forgotten.
SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL.
(a) Presentation Authorized.—The Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements for the posthumous presentation, to the family of Lance Corporal Dustin Sekula on behalf of the Congress, of a gold medal of appropriate design in commemoration of Lance Corporal Dustin Sekula, Edinburg, Texas war hero, in recognition of his heroic life.
(b) Design and Striking.—For purposes of the presentation referred to in 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.
SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS.
The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in bronze of the gold medal struck under section 3, at a price sufficient to cover the cost thereof, including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses.
SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS.
(a) National Medals.—The 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 sections 5134 and 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all medals struck under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic items.
SEC. 6. AUTHORITY TO USE FUND AMOUNTS; PROCEEDS OF SALE.
(a) Authority To Use Fund Amounts.—There is authorized to be charged against the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund such amounts as may be necessary to pay for the costs of the medals struck under this Act.
(b) Proceeds of Sale.—Amounts received from the sale of duplicate bronze medals authorized under section 4 shall be deposited into the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund. <all>
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