[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2594 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]

        S.2594

                      One Hundred Seventh Congress

                                 of the

                        United States of America


                          AT THE SECOND SESSION

         Begun and held at the City of Washington on Wednesday,
          the twenty-third day of January, two thousand and two


                                 An Act


 
  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 American 
    Eagle Silver Bullion Program, established under section 5112(e) of 
    title 31, United States Code.
        (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.

                               Speaker of the House of Representatives.

                            Vice President of the United States and    
                                               President of the Senate.