[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1112 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1112

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

                             July 31, 1997

 Mr. Campbell (for himself, Mr. Inouye, Mr. Conrad, and Mr. Wellstone) 
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 
1997''.

SEC. 2. COIN SPECIFICATIONS.

    (a) Denominations.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 
during the 3-year period beginning on January 1, 2000, 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 inch; 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 based on the original 5-cent coin designed by 
        James Earle Fraser and minted from 1913 to 1938. Each coin 
        shall have on the obverse side a profile representation of a 
        Native American, and on the reverse side a representation of 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 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) 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) does 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) Permissible Purposes.--All surcharges received by the Secretary 
from the sale of coins issued under this Act shall be paid promptly by 
the Secretary to the National Museum of the American Indian for the 
purposes of--
            (1) commemorating the tenth anniversary of the 
        establishment of the Museum; and
            (2) supplementing the endowment and educational outreach 
        funds of the Museum.
    (b) Audits.--The Comptroller General of the United States shall 
have the right to examine such books, records, documents, and other 
data of the National Museum of the American Indian as may be related to 
the expenditures of amounts paid under subsection (a).

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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