[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4971 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4971

 To authorize the Secretary of the Treasury to purchase silver on the 
 open market when the silver stockpile is depleted, to be used to mint 
                                 coins.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 20, 2002

 Mr. Otter (for himself, Mr. Gibbons, and Mr. Simpson) introduced the 
   following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial 
                                Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To authorize the Secretary of the Treasury to purchase silver on the 
 open market when the silver stockpile is depleted, to be used to mint 
                                 coins.

    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 ``Support of American Eagle Silver 
Bullion Program Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) the American Eagle silver bullion coin leads the global 
        market, and is the largest and most popular silver coin program 
        in the United States;
            (2) established in 1986, the American Eagle silver bullion 
        program is the most successful silver bullion program in the 
        world;
            (3) from fiscal year 1995 through fiscal year 2001, the 
        American Eagle silver bullion program generated--
                    (A) revenues of $264,100,000; and
                    (B) sufficient profits to significantly reduce the 
                national debt;
            (4) with the depletion of silver reserves in the Defense 
        Logistic Agency's Strategic and Critical Materials Stockpile, 
        it is necessary for the Department of the Treasury to acquire 
        silver from other sources in order to preserve the American 
        Eagle silver bullion program;
            (5) with the ability to obtain silver from other sources, 
        the United States Mint can continue the highly successful 
        American Eagle silver bullion program, exercising sound 
        business judgment and market acquisition practices in its 
        approach to the silver market, resulting in continuing 
        profitability of the program;
            (6) in 2001, silver was commercially produced in 12 States, 
        including, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, 
        Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, South Dakota, Utah, and 
        Washington;
            (7) Nevada is the largest silver producing State in the 
        Nation, producing--
                    (A) 17,500,000 ounces of silver in 2001; and
                    (B) 34 percent of United States silver production 
                in 2000;
            (8) the mining industry in Idaho is vital to the economy of 
        the State, and the Silver Valley in northern Idaho leads the 
        world in recorded silver production, with over 1,100,000,000 
        ounces of silver produced between 1884 and 2001;
            (9) the largest, active silver producing mine in the Nation 
        is the McCoy/Cove Mine in Nevada, which produced more than 
        107,000,000 ounces of silver between 1989 and 2001;
            (10) the mining industry in Idaho--
                    (A) employs more than 3,000 people;
                    (B) contributes more than $900,000,000 to the Idaho 
                economy; and
                    (C) produces $70,000,000 worth of silver per year;
            (11) the silver mines of the Comstock lode, the premier 
        silver producing deposit in Nevada, brought people and wealth 
        to the region, paving the way for statehood in 1864, and giving 
        Nevada its nickname as ``the Silver State'';
            (12) mines in the Silver Valley--
                    (A) represent an important part of the mining 
                history of Idaho and the United States; and
                    (B) have served in the past as key components of 
                the United States war effort; and
            (13) silver has been mined in Nevada throughout its 
        history, with every significant metal mining camp in Nevada 
        producing some silver.

SEC. 3. PURCHASE OF SILVER BY THE SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY.

    (a) Purchase of Silver.--
            (1) In general.--Section 5116(b)(2) of title 31, United 
        States Code, is amended by inserting after the second sentence 
        the following: ``At such time as the silver stockpile is 
        depleted, the Secretary shall obtain silver as described in 
        paragraph (1) to mint coins authorized under section 5112(e). 
        If it is not economically feasible to obtain such silver, the 
        Secretary may obtain silver for coins authorized under section 
        5112(e) from other available sources. The Secretary shall not 
        pay more than the average world price for silver under any 
        circumstances. As used in this paragraph, the term `average 
        world price' means the price determined by a widely recognized 
        commodity exchange at the time the silver is obtained by the 
        Secretary.''.
            (2) Rulemaking authority.--The Secretary of the Treasury 
        shall issue regulations to implement the amendments made by 
        paragraph (1).
    (b) Study Required.--
            (1) Study.--The Secretary of the Treasury shall conduct a 
        study of the impact on the United States silver market of the 
        coins minted and issued under section 5112(e) of title 31, 
        United States Code, commonly referred to as the ``American 
        Eagle silver bullion program''.
            (2) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Treasury shall 
        submit a report of the study conducted under paragraph (1) to 
        the chairman and ranking minority member of--
                    (A) the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban 
                Affairs of the Senate; and
                    (B) the Committee on Financial Services of the 
                House of Representatives.
    (c) Annual Report.--
            (1) In general.--The Director of the United States Mint 
        shall prepare and submit to Congress an annual report on the 
        purchases of silver made pursuant to this Act and the 
        amendments made by this Act.
            (2) Concurrent submission.--The report required by 
        paragraph (1) may be incorporated into the annual report of the 
        Director of the United States Mint on the operations of the 
        mint and assay offices, referred to in section 1329 of title 
        44, United States Code.
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