[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 631 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 631

To require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint coins in commemoration 
                           of Project Apollo.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 14, 2001

   Mr. Cooksey (for himself, Mr. Cramer, and Mr. Weldon of Florida) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                           Financial Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint coins in commemoration 
                           of Project Apollo.

    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 ``Project Apollo Commemorative Coin 
Act of 2001''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Project Apollo in general, and the flight of Apollo 11 
        in particular, were milestones in the history of our Nation.
            (2) When referring to Project Apollo, historian Arthur 
        Schlesinger, Jr., observed, ``The one thing for which this 
        century will be remembered 500 years from now was: This was the 
        century when we began the exploration of space.''
            (3) Project Apollo helped demonstrate the technological and 
        economic strength of the United States at the height of the 
        cold war.
            (4) Project Apollo was an engineering triumph that 
        successfully achieved the policy goals set by President 
        Kennedy.
            (5) In only 9 years, Project Apollo advanced rocket 
        technology from the 28-foot Redstone rocket which produced 
        78,000 pounds of thrust to the 363-foot Saturn V which produced 
        7.7 million pounds of thrust, which is comparable to building a 
        modern commercial aircraft 9 years after the Wright brothers 
        built their first airplane.
            (6) The Apollo flights are among the high points of our 
        human achievement and allowed the entire world to view the 
        planet Earth in a new way.

SEC. 3. COIN SPECIFICATIONS.

    (a) Denominations.--In commemoration of the 35th anniversary of the 
Apollo 11 landing, and notwithstanding section 5112(m)(1) of title 31, 
United States Code, the Secretary of the Treasury (hereafter in this 
Act referred to as the ``Secretary'') shall mint and issue the 
following:
            (1) $5 gold coins.--Not more than 100,000 $5 coins, each of 
        which shall--
                    (A) weigh 8.359 grams;
                    (B) have a diameter of 0.850 inches; and
                    (C) contain 90 percent gold and 10 percent alloy.
            (2) $1 silver coins.--Not more than 500,000 $1 coins, each 
        of which shall--
                    (A) weigh 26.73 grams;
                    (B) have a diameter of 1.500 inches; and
                    (C) contain 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 5136 of title 31, 
United States Code, all coins minted under this Act shall be considered 
to be numismatic items.
    (d) Sources of Bullion.--The Secretary may obtain silver for 
minting coins under this Act from any available source, including 
stockpiles established under the Strategic and Critical Materials Stock 
Piling Act (Public Law 76-117; 50 U.S.C. 98, et seq.).

SEC. 4. DESIGN OF COINS.

    (a) In General.--The design of the coins minted under this Act 
shall be emblematic of the 35th anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar 
landing.
    (b) Designation and Inscriptions.--On each coin minted under this 
Act there shall be--
            (1) a designation of the value of the coin;
            (2) an inscription of the year ``2004''; and
            (3) inscriptions of the words ``Liberty'', ``In God We 
        Trust'', ``United States of America'', and ``E Pluribus Unum''.
    (c) Selection.--The design for the coins minted under this Act 
shall be selected by the Secretary after--
            (1) consultation with the Commission of Fine Arts; and
            (2) receiving the advice of 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 quality of the coins minted under this 
Act.
    (c) Commencement of Issuance.--The Secretary may issue coins minted 
under this Act beginning on January 1, 2004.
    (d) Termination of Minting.--No coins may be minted under this Act 
after December 31, 2004.

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 surcharges required by section 7(a) with respect to 
        such coins; and
            (3) the cost of designing and issuing the coins (including 
        labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, overhead expenses, 
        discounts, 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.--The Secretary shall accept prepaid orders 
received before January 1, 2004 for the coins minted under this Act. 
The sale prices with respect to such prepaid orders shall be at a 
reasonable discount.

SEC. 7. SURCHARGES.

    (a) Assessment.--Any sale by the Secretary of a coin minted under 
this Act shall include a surcharge as follows:
            (1) A surcharge of $35 per coin for the $5 coin.
            (2) A surcharge of $10 per coin for the $1 coin.
    (b) Distribution.--
            (1) In general.--Subject to section 5134(f) of title 31, 
        United States Code, the proceeds from the surcharges received 
        by the Secretary from the sale of coins issued under this Act 
        shall be paid promptly by the Secretary to the National Air and 
        Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution for the purposes 
        of--
                    (A) collecting, exhibiting, and caring for objects 
                related to Project Apollo; and
                    (B) documenting and researching the mission of 
                Project Apollo (including a collective outreach to the 
                workers associated with Project Apollo for the 
                contribution of their memories regarding Project 
                Apollo).
            (2) Audits.--The National Air and Space Museum of the 
        Smithsonian Institution shall be subject to the audit 
        requirements of section 5134(f)(2) of title 31, United States 
        Code, with regard to the amounts received by the museum under 
        paragraph (1).

SEC. 8. 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 does not result in any net cost to the United States 
Government.
    (b) Payment for Coins.--The Secretary shall not issue a coin minted 
under this Act unless the Secretary has first 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, the deposits of which 
        are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or the 
        National Credit Union Administration Board.
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