[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2594 Referred in House (RFH)]
2d Session
S. 2594
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IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 14, 2002
Referred to the Committee on Financial Services
_______________________________________________________________________
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.
Passed the Senate June 21, 2002.
Attest:
JERI THOMSON,
Secretary.