[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.