[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 589 Introduced in House (IH)]







108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 589

To require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint coins in commemoration 
                     of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            February 5, 2003

  Mr. Leach (for himself, Mr. Abercrombie, Mr. Andrews, Mr. Baca, Mr. 
 Ballance, Ms. Baldwin, Mr. Becerra, Mr. Bell, Ms. Berkley, Mr. Bishop 
    of Georgia, Mr. Bishop of New York, Ms. Bordallo, Mr. Brady of 
Pennsylvania, Ms. Ginny Brown-Waite of Florida, Mr. Burns, Mr. Capuano, 
 Mr. Cardoza, Mr. Carson of Oklahoma, Ms. Carson of Indiana, Mr. Case, 
  Mr. Clay, Mr. Conyers, Mr. Cooper, Mr. Costello, Mr. Cummings, Mr. 
   Davis of Alabama, Mrs. Jo Ann Davis of Virginia, Ms. DeLauro, Mr. 
   Deutsch, Mr. Dingell, Mr. Duncan, Mr. English, Mr. Etheridge, Mr. 
Evans, Mr. Faleomavaega, Mr. Fattah, Mr. Filner, Mr. Foley, Mr. Forbes, 
  Mr. Ford, Mr. Fossella, Mr. Frank of Massachusetts, Mr. Frost, Mr. 
  Gonzalez, Mr. Green of Wisconsin, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. Gutierrez, Mr. 
 Hastings of Florida, Mr. Hinchey, Mr. Holden, Mr. Honda, Mr. Israel, 
   Ms. Jackson-Lee of Texas, Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas, Mr. 
 Kanjorski, Mr. Kennedy of Rhode Island, Mr. Kildee, Mr. King of Iowa, 
    Mr. Langevin, Mr. Lantos, Mr. LaTourette, Ms. Lee, Mr. Lewis of 
    Georgia, Mr. Lipinski, Mrs. Lowey, Mr. Lynch, Ms. Majette, Mrs. 
    Maloney, Mr. Markey, Mr. Matsui, Mrs. McCarthy of New York, Ms. 
  McCollum, Mr. McDermott, Mr. McGovern, Mr. McNulty, Mr. Meehan, Ms. 
 Millender-McDonald, Mr. Moran of Virginia, Mr. Neal of Massachusetts, 
  Mrs. Northup, Ms. Norton, Mr. Oberstar, Mr. Owens, Mr. Pallone, Mr. 
 Pascrell, Mr. Payne, Mr. Petri, Mr. Platts, Mr. Portman, Mr. Rangel, 
 Mr. Regula, Mr. Reyes, Mr. Rodriguez, Mr. Rogers of Alabama, Ms. Ros-
Lehtinen, Mr. Ross, Mr. Rush, Mr. Ryan of Ohio, Mr. Sabo, Mr. Sanders, 
   Mr. Schiff, Mr. Serrano, Mr. Shays, Mr. Simmons, Mr. Skelton, Ms. 
    Slaughter, Mr. Smith of Washington, Mr. Souder, Mr. Spratt, Mr. 
Strickland, Mr. Terry, Mr. Thompson of Mississippi, Mr. Upton, Mr. Van 
 Hollen, Mr. Wamp, Ms. Watson, Mr. Waxman, Mr. Weldon of Pennsylvania, 
 Mr. Wexler, Ms. Woolsey, and Mr. Wynn) 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 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

    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 ``Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., 
Commemorative Coin Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress hereby finds as follows:
            (1) Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., dedicated his life to 
        securing the Nation's fundamental principles of liberty and 
        justice for all its citizens.
            (2) Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was the leading civil 
        rights advocate of his time, spearheading the civil rights 
        movement in the United States during the 1950's and 1960's.
            (3) Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was the keynote speaker at 
        the August, 28, 1963, March on Washington, the largest rally of 
        the civil rights movement, during which, from the steps of the 
        Lincoln Memorial and before a crowd of over 200,000 people, he 
        delivered his famous ``I Have A Dream'' speech, one of the 
        classic orations in American history.
            (4) Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was a champion of 
        nonviolence, fervently advocated nonviolent resistance as the 
        strategy to end segregation and racial discrimination in 
        America, and was awarded the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize in 
        recognition for his efforts.
            (5) All Americans should commemorate the legacy of Martin 
        Luther King, Jr., so ``that one day this Nation will rise up 
        and live out the true meaning of its creed: `We hold these 
        truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal.'''.
            (6) Efforts are underway to secure the personal papers of 
        Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., for the Library of Congress so 
        that they may be preserved and studied for generations to come.

SEC. 3. COIN SPECIFICATIONS.

    (a) Denominations.--The Secretary of the Treasury (hereafter in 
this Act referred to as the ``Secretary'') shall mint and issue the 
following coins:
            (1) $5 gold coins.--Not more than 50,000 $5 coins, 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 350,000 $1 coins, 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.
            (3) Half dollar clad coins.--Not more than 5,000,000 half 
        dollar coins which shall--
                    (A) weigh 11.34 grams;
                    (B) have a diameter of 1.205 inches; and
                    (C) be minted to the specifications for half dollar 
                coins contained in section 5112(b) of title 31, United 
                States Code.
    (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 sections 5134 and 5136 of 
title 31, United States Code, all coins minted under this Act shall be 
considered to be numismatic items.

SEC. 4. SOURCES OF BULLION.

    (a) Gold.--The Secretary shall obtain gold for minting coins under 
this Act pursuant to the authority of the Secretary under other 
provisions of law.
    (b) Silver.--The Secretary shall obtain silver for minting coins 
under this Act from any available source, including from stockpiles 
established under the Strategic and Critical Materials Stock Piling 
Act.

SEC. 5. DESIGN OF COINS.

    (a) Design Requirements.--
            (1) In general.--The design of the coins minted under this 
        Act shall be emblematic of the inspirational life and works of 
        Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
            (2) Designation and inscriptions.--On each coin minted 
        under this Act there shall be--
                    (A) a designation of the value of the coin;
                    (B) an inscription of the year ``2003''; and
                    (C) inscriptions of the words ``Liberty'', ``In God 
                We Trust'', ``United States of America'', and ``E 
                Pluribus Unum''.
    (b) Selection.--The design for the coins minted under this Act 
shall be--
            (1) selected by the Secretary after consultation with the 
        Commission of Fine Arts; and
            (2) reviewed by the Citizens Commemorative Coin Advisory 
        Committee.

SEC. 6. 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 August 28, 2003.
    (d) Termination of Minting Authority.--No coins may be minted under 
this Act after December 31, 2003.

SEC. 7. 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 surcharge provided in section 8(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, 
        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.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary shall accept prepaid orders 
        for the coins minted under this Act before the issuance of such 
        coins.
            (2) Discount.--Sale prices with respect to prepaid orders 
        under paragraph (1) shall be at a reasonable discount.
    (d) Marketing.--The Secretary, in cooperation with the Legacy Fund 
of the Library of Congress, shall develop and implement a marketing 
program to promote and sell the coins issued under this Act both within 
the United States and internationally.

SEC. 8. SURCHARGES.

    (a) In General.--All sales of coins 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.
            (3) A surcharge of $3 per coin for the half dollar coin.
    (b) Distribution.--Subject to section 5134(f) of title 31, United 
States Code, all surcharges received by the Secretary from the sale of 
coins issued under this Act shall be promptly paid by the Secretary to 
the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Legacy Fund of the Library of Congress 
to be used for the objects and purposes of such Fund.
    (c) Audits.--The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Legacy Fund 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 Fund 
under subsection (b).
                                 <all>