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Bill in Congress would award special medals to ‘Miracle On Ice’ U.S. hockey team that won 1980 Olympic gold medal

Members of the gold medal 1980 “Miracle on Ice” U.S. Olympic hockey team are honored prior to an NHL game between the Golden Knights and Florida Panthers on Feb. 22, 2020, in Las Vegas. (AP file photo)

WASHINGTON (AP) — A bill to award Congressional Gold Medals to the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” Olympic hockey team was reintroduced in the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate on Wednesday.

The ongoing effort, which included the bill being first introduced in October, needed to be submitted for consideration again in the 119th Congress.

Rep. Pete Stauber, R-Minn., reintroduced the Miracle on Ice Congressional Gold Medal Act in the House along with co-sponsors Reps. Lisa McClain, R-Mich., Mike Quigley, D-Ill., and Bill Keating, D-Mass. Sens. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., and Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., reintroduced it in the Senate.

USA Hockey executive director Pat Kelleher said he encourages fans to contact their congressional representatives to express their support for the bill’s passage. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said the league enthusiastically supports the legislation.

February marks the 45th anniversary of the Americans beating the heavily favored Soviet Union on the way to the gold medal on home ice in Lake Placid, New York.

In this Feb. 21, 2015, file photo, Buzz Schneider, second from right, of the 1980 U.S. Olympic ice hockey team, speaks during a "Relive the Miracle" reunion at Herb Brooks Arena in Lake Placid, N.Y. Schneider is joined by former teammates John Harrington, left, Phil Verchota, second from left, and Rob McClanahan, right. The United States upset the mighty Soviets in a breathtaking moment freighted with the tension of the Cold War. After four decades, nobody is willing to stop talking about perhaps the greatest David over Goliath moment in the history of sports. (AP file photo)

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