Cleaver and Blunt’s bill to commemorate Negro Leagues baseball heads to Trump’s desk
One of the bills that President Donald Trump is expected to sign in his final weeks of office will direct the U.S. Treasury to issue a commemorative coin for the 100th anniversary of Negro Leagues baseball.
The legislation was championed by Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, Kansas City’s first African American mayor, Republican Sen. Roy Blunt, Missouri’s senior senator and Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, who grew up in the Kansas City area.
The National Negro League was established in Kansas City in 1920.
The city is home to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, which will receive money from the sale of the commemorative coins after the U.S. Treasury has recouped expenses. Estimated revenue from sales is $6 million over ten years, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
The Senate unanimously approved the measure Monday evening and sent it to the president. The House passed the bill earlier this year.
“Not only will this honor the legends of the Negro Leagues—some of the greatest ballplayers to ever step on a field—but it will also raise significant funding for the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City so that future generations can learn about the players, the history of the Negro Leagues, and their significance to the civil rights movement in America,” Cleaver said in a statement.
Blunt said the coin will honor the legacy that barrier-breaking athletes played in the struggle for civil rights.
“The incredible ability, excitement, and sportsmanship that baseball icons like Jackie Robinson, Satchel Paige, and Buck O’Neil brought to the game helped break down the barriers of segregation,” Blunt said in a statement.
