[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 817 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

  1st Session
                                 S. 817

To require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint coins in commemoration 
                of Native American history and culture.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                 May 18 (legislative day, May 15), 1995

   Mr. Campbell (for himself, Mr. Cochran, Mr. Hatch, Mr. Mack, Mr. 
 DeWine, and Mr. McCain) introduced the following bill; which was read 
  twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban 
                                Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint coins in commemoration 
                of Native American history and culture.
    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 ``United States Buffalo Nickel Act of 
1995''.

SEC. 2. COIN SPECIFICATIONS.

    (a) Denominations.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 
during the 3-year period beginning on January 1, 1998, the Secretary of 
the Treasury (hereafter in this Act referred to as the ``Secretary'') 
shall mint and issue each year not more than 1,000,000 5-cent coins, 
which shall--
            (1) weigh 5 grams;
            (2) have a diameter of 0.835 inches; and
            (3) contain an alloy of 90 percent silver and 10 percent 
        copper.
    (b) Legal Tender.--The coins minted under this Act shall be legal 
tender, as provided in section 5103 of title 31, United States Code.
    (c) Numismatic Items.--For purposes of section 5134 of title 31, 
United States Code, all coins minted under this Act shall be considered 
to be numismatic items.

SEC. 3. SOURCES OF BULLION.

    The Secretary shall obtain silver for minting coins under this Act 
only from stockpiles established under the Strategic and Critical 
Materials Stockpiling Act.

SEC. 4. DESIGN OF COINS.

    (a) Design Requirements.--
            (1) In general.--The design of the coins minted under this 
        Act shall be a reproduction of the original 5-cent coin 
        designed by James Earle Fraser and minted from 1913 to 1938, 
        depicting on the obverse side a profile of a Native American, 
        and on the reverse side a buffalo.
            (2) Designations and inscriptions.--On each coin minted 
        under this Act there shall be--
                    (A) a designation of the value of the coin;
                    (B) an inscription of the year; and
                    (C) inscriptions of the words ``United States of 
                America'', ``Liberty'', and ``E Pluribus Unum''.
    (b) Selection.--The design for the coins minted under this Act 
shall be--
            (1) selected by the Secretary after consultation with the 
        Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs and the 
        Committee on Indian Affairs of the United States Senate, and 
        the Commission of Fine Arts; and
            (2) reviewed by the Citizens Commemorative Coin Advisory 
        Committee.

SEC. 5. ISSUANCE OF COINS.

    (a) Quality of Coins.--Coins minted under this Act shall be issued 
in uncirculated and proof qualities.
    (b) Mint Facility.--Only 1 facility of the United States Mint may 
be used to strike any particular combination of denomination and 
quality of the coins minted under this Act.
    (c) Commencement of Issuance.--The Secretary may issue coins minted 
under this Act beginning January 1, 1998.
    (d) Termination of Minting Authority.--No coins may be minted under 
this Act after December 31, 2000.

SEC. 6. SALE OF COINS.

    (a) Sale Price.--The coins issued under this Act shall be sold by 
the Secretary at a price equal to the sum of--
            (1) the face value of the coins;
            (2) the surcharge provided in subsection (d) with respect 
        to such coins; and
            (3) the cost of designing and issuing the coins
         (including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, overhead 
expenses, marketing, and shipping).
    (b) Bulk Sales.--The Secretary shall make bulk sales of the coins 
issued under this Act at a reasonable discount.
    (c) Prepaid Orders.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary shall accept prepaid orders 
        for the coins minted under this Act before the issuance of such 
        coins.
            (2) Discount.--Sale prices with respect to prepaid orders 
        under paragraph (1) shall be at a reasonable discount.
    (d) Surcharges.--All sales shall include a surcharge of $1.00 per 
coin.

SEC. 7. GENERAL WAIVER OF PROCUREMENT REGULATIONS.

    (a) In General.--Except as provided in subsection (b), no provision 
of law governing procurement or public contracts shall be applicable to 
the procurement of goods and services necessary for carrying out the 
provisions of this Act.
    (b) Equal Employment Opportunity.--Subsection (a) shall not relieve 
any person entering into a contract under the authority of this Act 
from complying with any law relating to equal employment opportunity.

SEC. 8. DISTRIBUTION OF SURCHARGES.

    (a) Park Maintenance and Upkeep Fund.--There shall be established 
among the depository accounts of the National Park Foundation 
(hereafter in this Act referred to as ``the Foundation''), a charitable 
and non-profit corporation established under the Act of December 18, 
1967 (81 Stat. 656; 16 U.S.C. 19en), an account to be known as the 
``Park Maintenance and Upkeep Fund'' (hereafter in this Act referred to 
as ``the Fund''). Monies deposited in the Fund shall be expended solely 
and exclusively on the maintenance, repair, and general upkeep of 
facilities including, but not limited to, buildings, trails and 
utilities, within units of the National Park System. Under no 
circumstances will monies from the Fund be used for the construction of 
new facilities.
    (b) Deposits.--Surcharges received by the Secretary from the sale 
of coins issued under this Act shall be paid promptly by the Secretary 
to the Foundation for deposit in the Fund. Surcharges shall at no time 
be considered revenues to the Treasury of the United States and shall 
not be considered a basis for offset of appropriations which would 
otherwise be made to the National Park Service.
    (c) Allocations.--The Foundation shall allocate monies from the 
Fund to units of the National Park System for the purposes enumerated 
in subsection (a). Allocations shall be made in accordance with 
criteria developed by the Foundation, to meet priority needs identified 
by the National Park Service.
    (d) Audits.--The Comptroller General of the United States shall 
have the right to examine such books, records, documents, and other 
data of the Fund as may be related to the expenditures of amounts paid 
under subsection (b).

SEC. 9. FINANCIAL ASSURANCES.

    (a) No Net Cost to the Government.--The Secretary shall take such 
actions as may be necessary to ensure that minting and issuing coins 
under this Act will not result in any net cost to the United States 
Government.
    (b) Payment for Coins.--A coin shall not be issued under this Act 
unless the Secretary has received--
            (1) full payment for the coin;
            (2) security satisfactory to the Secretary to indemnify the 
        United States for full payment; or
            (3) a guarantee of full payment satisfactory to the 
        Secretary from a depository institution whose deposits are 
        insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or the 
        National Credit Union Administration Board.
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