[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2744 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







108th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2744

To authorize the minting and issuance of a Presidential $1 coin series.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 22, 2004

     Mr. Sununu (for himself, Mr. Reid, Mrs. Dole, and Mr. Harkin) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
            Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To authorize the minting and issuance of a Presidential $1 coin series.

    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 ``Presidential $1 Coin Act of 2004''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) there are sectors of the United States economy, 
        including public transportation, parking meters, vending 
        machines, and low-dollar value transactions, in which the use 
        of a $1 coin is both useful and desirable for keeping costs and 
        prices down;
            (2) for a variety of reasons, the new $1 coin introduced in 
        2000 has not been widely sought after by the public, leading to 
        higher costs for merchants and higher prices for consumers;
            (3) the success of the 50 States Commemorative Coin Program 
        for circulating quarter dollars shows that a rotating design on 
        a United States circulating coin radically increases demand for 
        the coin, rapidly pulling it through the economy;
            (4) the 50 States Commemorative Coin Program also has been 
        an educational tool, teaching both Americans and visitors 
        something about each State for which a quarter has been issued;
            (5) a national survey and study by the General Accounting 
        Office has indicated that many Americans who do not seek, or 
        who reject, the new $1 coin for use in commerce would actively 
        seek the coin if an attractive, educational rotating design 
        were to be struck on the coin;
            (6) the President is the leader of our tripartite 
        government and the President's spouse has often set the social 
        tone for the White House while spearheading and highlighting 
        important issues for the country;
            (7) many people cannot name all of the former Presidents, 
        and fewer can name their spouses or accurately place each 
        President in the proper time period of American history;
            (8) First Spouses have not generally been recognized on 
        American coinage;
            (9) Sacagawea, as currently represented on the new $1 coin, 
        is an important symbol of American history;
            (10) in order to revitalize the design of United States 
        coinage and return circulating coinage to its position as a 
        necessary means of exchange in commerce and an object of 
        aesthetic beauty in its own right, it is appropriate to move 
        many of the mottos and emblems, the inscription of the year, 
        and the so-called ``mint marks'' that currently appear on the 2 
        faces of each circulating coin to the edge of the coin, which 
        would allow larger and more dramatic artwork on the coins 
        reminiscent of the so-called ``Golden Age of Coinage'' in the 
        United States, at the beginning of the 20th century, initiated 
        by President Theodore Roosevelt, with the assistance of noted 
        sculptors and medallic artists James Earle Fraser and Augustus 
        St. Gaudens;
            (11) placing inscriptions on the edge of coins, known as 
        edge-incusing, is a hallmark of modern coinage and is common in 
        large-volume production of coinage elsewhere in the world, such 
        as the 2,700,000,000 2-Euro coins in circulation and coins of 
        the People's Republic of China, but it has not been done on a 
        large scale in United States coinage in recent years;
            (12) bullion coins are a valuable tool for the investor 
        and, in some cases, an important aspect of coin collecting;
            (13) although the Congress has authorized the Secretary of 
        the Treasury to issue gold coins with a purity of 99.99 
        percent, the Secretary has not done so; and
            (14) by commencing the issuance of the Presidential $1 
        coins in 2006, coins issued in uncirculated or proof qualities 
        that commemorate the Presidency of Thomas Jefferson may 
        appropriately be sold in sets with the coins of similar 
        qualities that are issued in 2006 and commemorate the Lewis and 
        Clark expedition, together with $1 coins that bear the image of 
        Sacagawea and are struck for numismatic purposes under section 
        5112(n)(1)(B) of title 31, United States Code (as amended by 
        section 3 of this Act).

SEC. 3. PRESIDENTIAL $1 COIN PROGRAM.

    Section 5112 of title 31, United States Code, is amended by adding 
at the end the following:
    ``(n) Design and Issuance of Circulating $1 Coins Honoring the 
Presidents of the United States.--
            ``(1) Issuance beginning in 2006.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Notwithstanding subsection (d), 
                and subject to subparagraph (B), all $1 coins issued on 
                and after January 1, 2006, shall have a design on the 
                obverse selected in accordance with paragraph (2)(B), 
                which is emblematic of a deceased former President of 
                the United States, and a design on the reverse selected 
                in accordance with paragraph (2)(A).
                    ``(B) Continuity provision.--Notwithstanding 
                subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall continue to mint 
                and issue $1 coins which bear any design in effect 
                before the issuance of coins as required under this 
                subsection, including any $1 coin issued in accordance 
with subsection (d)(1).
            ``(2) Design requirements.--The $1 coins issued in 
        accordance with this subsection shall meet the following design 
        requirements:
                    ``(A) Coin reverse.--The design on the reverse 
                shall bear--
                            ``(i) a likeness of the Statue of Liberty 
                        extending to the rim of the coin and large 
                        enough to provide a dramatic representation of 
                        Liberty, while not being large enough to create 
                        the impression of a `2-headed' coin;
                            ``(ii) the inscription `$1'; and
                            ``(iii) the inscription `United States of 
                        America'.
                    ``(B) Coin obverse.--The design on the obverse 
                shall contain the name and likeness of a deceased 
                former President of the United States and basic 
                information about that President, including the dates 
                or years of the term of office of such President and a 
                number indicating the order of the period of service of 
                that President.
                    ``(C) Edge-incused inscriptions.--The inscription 
                of the year of minting or issuance of the coin and the 
                inscriptions `E Pluribus Unum' and `In God We Trust' 
                shall be edge-incused into the coin.
                    ``(D) Inscriptions of `liberty'.--Notwithstanding 
                the second sentence of subsection (d)(1), because the 
                use of a design bearing the likeness of the Statue of 
                Liberty on the reverse of the coins issued under this 
                subsection adequately conveys the concept of Liberty, 
                the inscription of `Liberty' shall not appear on the 
                coins.
                    ``(E) Limitation in series to deceased 
                presidents.--No coin issued under this subsection may 
                bear the image of a living former or current President, 
                or of any deceased former President during the 2-year 
                period following the date of the death of that 
                President.
                    ``(F) Consistent design specifications.--To the 
                extent possible, and except as otherwise provided in 
                this subsection, design specifications for coins issued 
                under this subsection shall be consistent with those 
                applicable to $1 coins issued before the date of 
                enactment of this subsection, as determined appropriate 
                by the Secretary.
            ``(3) Issuance of coins commemorating presidents.--
                    ``(A) Order of issuance.--The coins issued under 
                this subsection shall be issued in the order of the 
                period of service of each deceased former President, 
                beginning with President George Washington.
                    ``(B) Treatment of period of service.--
                            ``(i) In general.--Subject to clause (ii), 
                        only 1 coin design shall be issued for a period 
                        of service for any President, regardless of the 
                        number of consecutive terms of office the 
                        President served.
                            ``(ii) Nonconsecutive terms.--If a former 
                        President served during 2 or more 
                        nonconsecutive periods of service, a coin shall 
                        be issued under this subsection for each such 
                        nonconsecutive period of service.
            ``(4) Issuance of coins commemorating 4 presidents during 
        each year of the period.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The designs for the $1 coins 
                issued in accordance with this subsection during each 
                calendar year, beginning with 2006, shall be emblematic 
                of 4 deceased former Presidents, issued in the order 
                established under paragraph (3).
                    ``(B) Number of each of 4 circulating coin designs 
                in each year.--The Secretary shall prescribe, on the 
                basis of such factors as the Secretary determines to be 
                appropriate, the number of $1 coins that shall be 
                issued with each of the designs selected for each 
                calendar year.
            ``(5) Issuance of numismatic coins.--The Secretary may mint 
        and issue such number of $1 coins of each design selected under 
        this subsection in uncirculated and proof qualities as the 
        Secretary determines to be appropriate.
            ``(6) References.--References in this section and other 
        provisions of law to the `Presidential $1 Coin Program' shall 
        be construed to refer to this subsection.''.

SEC. 4. FIRST SPOUSE COMMEMORATIVE COIN PROGRAM.

    Section 5112 of title 31, United States Code, as amended by this 
Act, is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(o) First Spouse Commemorative Coin Program.--
            ``(1) In general.--During the same period in which the $1 
        coins are issued under subsection (n), the Secretary of the 
        Treasury shall issue commemorative coins under this subsection 
        that are emblematic of the spouse of each deceased former 
        President of the United States honored under subsection (n).
            ``(2) Specifications.--Notwithstanding subsection (a)(9), 
        the coins issued under this subsection shall--
                    ``(A) have the same diameter as the $1 coins 
                described in subsection (n);
                    ``(B) weigh 0.5 ounce; and
                    ``(C) contain 99.99 percent pure gold.
            ``(3) Design requirements.--
                    ``(A) Coin obverse.--The design on the obverse of 
                each coin issued under this subsection shall contain--
                            ``(i) the name and likeness of the person 
                        who was the spouse of a United States President 
                        during that President's period of service as 
                        President;
                            ``(ii) an inscription of the years during 
                        which such person was the spouse of a President 
during that President's period of service as President; and
                            ``(iii) the number indicating the order of 
                        the President's period of service as President.
                    ``(B) Coin reverse.--The design on the reverse of 
                each coin issued under this subsection shall bear--
                            ``(i) images emblematic of the life and 
                        work of the First Spouse whose image is borne 
                        on the obverse; and
                            ``(ii) the inscription `United States of 
                        America'.
                    ``(C) Designated denomination.--Each coin issued 
                under this subsection shall bear, on the reverse, an 
                inscription of the nominal denomination of the coin, 
                which shall be `$10'.
                    ``(D) Design in case of no first spouse.--In the 
                case of any President who served without a spouse--
                            ``(i) the image on the obverse of the 
                        commemorative coin corresponding to the $1 coin 
                        relating to such President shall be an image 
                        emblematic of the concept of `Liberty'--
                                    ``(I) as represented on a United 
                                States coin issued during the period of 
                                service of such President; or
                                    ``(II) as represented, in the case 
                                of former President Chester Alan 
                                Arthur, by a design incorporating the 
                                name and likeness of Alice Paul, a 
                                leading strategist in the suffrage 
                                movement, who was instrumental in 
                                gaining women the right to vote upon 
                                the adoption of the 19th Amendment to 
                                the Constitution of the United States, 
                                and thus participated in the election 
                                of future Presidents, and who was born 
                                on January 11, 1885, during the term of 
                                President Arthur; and
                            ``(ii) the reverse of such commemorative 
                        coin shall be of a design representative of 
                        themes of such President, except that in the 
                        case of the commemorative coin referred to in 
                        clause (i)(II) the reverse of such coin shall 
                        be representative of the suffrage movement.
                    ``(E) Design and coin for each spouse.--A separate 
                coin shall be designed and issued under this section 
                for each person who was the spouse of a President 
                during any portion of a term of office of such 
                President.
                    ``(F) Inscriptions.--Each commemorative coin issued 
                under this subsection shall bear the inscription of the 
                year of minting or issuance of the coin and such other 
                inscriptions as the Secretary may determine to be 
                appropriate.
            ``(4) Sale of commemorative coins.--Each commemorative coin 
        issued under this subsection shall be sold for an amount the 
        Secretary of the Treasury determines to be appropriate that is 
        equal to or greater than the sum of--
                    ``(A) the face value of the coins; and
                    ``(B) the cost of designing and issuing the coins 
                (including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, 
                overhead expenses, marketing, and shipping).
            ``(5) Issuance of coins commemorating first spouses.--The 
        commemorative coins issued under this subsection with respect 
        to any spouse of a President shall be issued on the same 
        schedule as the $1 coin issued under subsection (n) with 
        respect to such President.
            ``(6) Quality of coins.--The commemorative coins issued 
        under this subsection shall be issued in both proof and 
        uncirculated qualities.
            ``(7) Source of gold bullion.--The Secretary shall acquire 
        gold for the coins issued under this subsection by purchase of 
        only newly mined gold from the United States, or a territory or 
        possession of the United States. The Secretary shall pay not 
        more than the average world price for the gold.''.

SEC. 5. REMOVAL OF BARRIERS TO CIRCULATION.

    Section 5112 of title 31, United States Code, as amended by this 
Act, is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(p) Removal of Barriers to Circulation of $1 Coin.--
            ``(1) Acceptance by agencies and instrumentalities.--
        Beginning January 1, 2005, all agencies and instrumentalities 
        of the United States, the United States Postal Service, all 
        nonappropriated fund instrumentalities established under title 
        10, all transportation and transit systems and entities that 
        receive operational subsidies or any disbursement of funds from 
        the Federal Government, such as funds from the Federal Highway 
        Trust Fund, including the Mass Transit Account, and all 
        entities that operate any business, including vending machines, 
        on any premises owned by the United States or under the control 
        of any agency or instrumentality of the United States, 
        including the legislative and judicial branches of the Federal 
        Government, shall take such action as may be appropriate to 
        ensure that by the end of the 1-year period beginning on such 
        date--
                    ``(A) any business operations conducted by any such 
                agency, instrumentality, system, or entity that involve 
                coins or currency shall be fully capable of accepting 
                and dispensing $1 coins in connection with such 
                operations; and
                    ``(B) signs and notices denoting such capability 
                will be prominently displayed on the premises where 
                coins or currency are accepted or dispensed, including 
                on each vending machine.
            ``(2) Publicity.--The Director of the United States Mint, 
        shall work closely with consumer groups, media outlets, and 
        schools to ensure an adequate amount of news coverage, and 
        other means of increasing public awareness, to ensure that 
        consumers know of the availability of the coin.
            ``(3) Coordination.--The Board of Governors of the Federal 
        Reserve System and the Secretary of the Treasury shall take 
        steps to ensure that an adequate supply of $1 coins is 
        available for commerce and collectors at such places and in 
        such quantities as are appropriate, by--
                    ``(A) meeting, at least monthly on a regular basis, 
                with a coin users group that includes representatives 
                of merchants who would benefit from the increased usage 
                of $1 coins, vending machine and other coin acceptor 
                manufacturers, vending machine owners and operators, 
                transit officials, municipal parking officials, 
                depository institutions, coin and currency handlers, 
                armored-car operators, and coin collectors and dealers 
                to accurately gauge demand for coins and to anticipate 
                and eliminate obstacles to the easy and efficient 
                distribution and circulation of coins issued under the 
                Presidential $1 Coin Program, as well as all other 
                circulating coins;
                    ``(B) submitting a semiannual report to the 
                Congress containing an assessment of the remaining 
                obstacles to the efficient and timely circulation of 
                coins, and particularly coins issued under the 
                Presidential $1 Coin Program, together with such 
                recommendations for legislative action as the Board and 
                the Secretary may determine to be appropriate;
                    ``(C) ensuring that as many vending machines and 
                other automated coin-accepting devices in the United 
                States as possible accept coins issued under the 
                Presidential $1 Coin Program and carry notices of such 
                acceptability;
                    ``(D) ensuring that--
                            ``(i) all institutions that want unmixed 
                        supplies of each design of $1 coins are able to 
                        obtain such unmixed supplies; and
                            ``(ii) circulating coins will be available 
                        for ordinary commerce in packaging of sizes and 
                        types appropriate for and useful to ordinary 
                        commerce, including rolled coins;
                    ``(E) working closely with any agency, 
                instrumentality, system, or entity referred to in 
                paragraph (1) to facilitate compliance with the 
                requirements of such paragraph; and
                    ``(F) identifying, analyzing, and overcoming 
                barriers to the robust circulation of $1 coins, 
                including the use of demand prediction, improved 
                methods of distribution and circulation, and improved 
                public education and awareness campaigns.
            ``(4) Bullion dealers.--The Director of the United States 
        Mint shall take all steps necessary to ensure that a maximum 
        number of reputable, reliable, and responsible dealers are 
        qualified to offer for sale all bullion coins struck and issued 
        by the United States Mint.
            ``(5) Sequestration.--At such time as the Board of 
        Governors of the Federal Reserve System determines to be 
        appropriate, after consultation with the Secretary of the 
        Treasury and the submission of notice to Congress, the Board 
        shall separate and sequester, and not put back into 
        circulation, any $1 coin that comes into the possession of the 
        Board or any Federal reserve bank, and that does not bear--
                    ``(A) a design specified under subsection (n); or
                    ``(B) a design selected by the Secretary of the 
                Treasury pursuant to subsection (d)(1) before the date 
                of enactment of this subsection.''.

SEC. 6. GOLD BULLION COINS.

    Section 5112 of title 31, United States Code, as amended by this 
Act, is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a), by adding at the end the following:
            ``(11) A twenty dollar gold coin that is an appropriate 
        size and thickness, as determined by the Secretary, weighs 1 
        ounce, and contains 99.99 percent pure gold.''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(q) Gold Bullion Coins.--
            ``(1) In general.--Not later than 6 months after the date 
        of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Treasury shall 
        commence striking and issuing for sale such number of $20 gold 
        bullion coins as the Secretary may determine to be appropriate, 
        not to exceed 500,000 in any year.
            ``(2) Initial design.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Except as provided under 
                subparagraph (B), the obverse and reverse of the gold 
                bullion coins struck under this subsection during the 
                first year of issuance shall bear the original designs 
                by James Earle Fraser, which appear on the 5-cent coin 
                commonly referred to as the `Buffalo nickel' or the 
                `1913 Type 1'.
                    ``(B) Variations.--The coins referred to in 
                subparagraph (A) shall--
                            ``(i) have inscriptions of the weight of 
                        the coin and the nominal denomination of the 
                        coin incused in that portion of the design on 
                        the reverse of the coin commonly known as the 
                        `grassy mound'; and
                            ``(ii) bear such other inscriptions as the 
                        Secretary determines to be appropriate.
            ``(3) Subsequent designs.--After the 1-year period 
        described to in paragraph (2), the Secretary may--
                    ``(A) after consulting with the Commission of Fine 
                Arts, and subject to the review of the Citizens Coinage 
                Advisory Committee, change the design on the obverse or 
                reverse of gold bullion coins struck under this 
                subsection; and
                    ``(B) change the maximum number of coins issued in 
                any year.
            ``(4) Source of gold bullion.--The Secretary shall obtain 
        gold for minting coins under this subsection only by purchase 
        of newly mined gold from the United States, or a territory or 
        possession of the United States. The Secretary shall pay not 
        more than the average world price for the gold.
            ``(5) Sale of coins.--Each gold bullion coin issued under 
        this subsection shall be sold for an amount the Secretary 
        determines to be appropriate, but not less than the sum of--
                    ``(A) the face value of the coins; and
                    ``(B) the cost of designing and issuing the coins, 
                including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, 
                overhead expenses, marketing, and shipping.''.

SEC. 7. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) the American tradition of not issuing a coin with the 
        image of a living person has served the country well and 
        deserves to be continued as a general practice;
            (2) the full circulation potential and cost-savings benefit 
        projections for the Presidential $1 Coin Program are not likely 
        to be achieved unless the coins are delivered in ways useful to 
        ordinary commerce;
            (3) the coins issued in connection with such Program should 
        not be introduced with an overly expensive taxpayer-funded 
        public relations campaign;
            (4) in order for the Presidential $1 Coin Program to 
        achieve maximum success--
                    (A) the coin should be as attractive as possible; 
                and
                    (B) the Director of the United States Mint should 
                take all reasonable steps to ensure that the coins 
                described in section 5112(n) of title 31, United States 
                Code, remain tarnish-free for as long as possible 
                without incurring undue expense; and
            (5) if the Secretary of the Treasury determines to include 
        on any $1 coin minted under such Program a mark denoting the 
        United States Mint facility at which the coin was struck, such 
        mark should be edge-incused.
                                 <all>