1.This Act may be cited as the
March of Dimes Commemorative Coin Act
of 2012
.
2.The Congress finds the following:
(1)President Franklin
Roosevelt’s personal struggle with polio led him to create the National
Foundation for Infantile Paralysis (now known as the March of Dimes) on January
3, 1938, at a time when polio was on the rise.
(2)The Foundation
established patient aid programs and funded research for polio vaccines
developed by Jonas Salk, MD, and Albert Sabin, MD.
(3)Tested in a
massive field trial in 1954 that involved 1.8 million schoolchildren known as
polio pioneers, the Salk vaccine was licensed for use on April 12,
1955 as safe, effective, and potent. The Salk and Sabin polio
vaccines funded by the March of Dimes ended the polio epidemic in the United
States.
(4)With its original
mission accomplished, the Foundation turned its focus to preventing birth
defects, prematurity, and infant mortality in 1958. The Foundation began to
fund research into the genetic, prenatal, and environmental causes of over
3,000 birth defects.
(5)The Foundation’s
investment in research has led to 13 scientists winning the Nobel Prize since
1954, including Dr. James Watson’s discovery of the double helix.
(6)Virginia Apgar,
MD, creator of the Apgar Score, helped develop the Foundation’s mission for
birth defects prevention; joining the Foundation as the head of its new birth
defects division in 1959.
(7)In the 1960s, the
Foundation created over 100 birth defects treatment centers, and then turned
its attention to assisting in the development of Neonatal Intensive Care Units,
or NICUs.
(8)With March of
Dimes support, a Committee on Perinatal Health released Toward Improving the
Outcome of Pregnancy in 1976, which included recommendations that led to the
regionalization of perinatal health care in the United States.
(9)Since 1998, the
March of Dimes has advocated for and witnessed the passage of the Birth Defects
Prevention Act, Children’s Health Act, PREEMIE Act, and Newborn Screening Save
Lives Act.
(10)In 2003, the
March of Dimes launched a Prematurity Campaign to increase awareness about and
reduce the incidence of preterm birth, infant mortality, birth defects, and
lifelong disabilities and disorders.
(11)The March of
Dimes actively promotes programs for and funds research into newborn screening,
pulmonary surfactant therapy, maternal nutrition, smoking cessation, folic acid
consumption to prevent neural tube defects, increased access to maternity care,
and similar programs to improve maternal and infant health.
3.
(a)In recognition and
celebration of the founding and proud service of the March of Dimes, the
Secretary of the Treasury (hereafter in this Act referred to as the
Secretary) shall mint and issue not more than 500,000 $1 coins,
which shall—
(1)weigh 26.73
grams;
(2)have a diameter of
1.500 inches; and
(3)contain 90 percent
silver and 10 percent copper.
(b)The coins minted under this Act shall be legal tender, as
provided in section
5103 of title 31, United States Code.
(c)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.
4.
(a)
(1)The design of the coins minted under this Act shall be
emblematic of the mission and programs of the March of Dimes, and its
distinguished record of generating Americans’ support to protect our children’s
health.
(2)Designation and
inscriptionsOn each coin minted under this Act, there shall
be—
(A)a designation of
the value of the coin;
(B)an inscription of
the year 2015; and
(C)inscriptions of
the words Liberty, In God We Trust, United
States of America, and E Pluribus Unum.
(b)The
design for the coins minted under this Act shall—
(1)contain motifs
that represent the past, present, and future of the March of Dimes and its role
as champion for all babies, such designs to be consistent with the traditions
and heritage of the March of Dimes;
(2)be selected by the
Secretary, after consultation with the March of Dimes and the Commission of
Fine Arts; and
(3)be reviewed by the
Citizens Coin Advisory Committee.
5.
(a)Coins minted under this Act shall be issued in uncirculated
and proof qualities.
(b)For the coins minted
under this Act, at least 1 facility of the United States Mint shall be used to
strike proof quality coins, while at least 1 other such facility shall be used
to strike the uncirculated quality coins.
(c)The Secretary of the Treasury may issue coins minted
under this Act only during the 1-year period beginning on January 1,
2015.
6.
(a)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 7(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)The Secretary shall make bulk sales of the coins issued
under this Act at a reasonable discount.
(c)
(1)The Secretary shall accept prepaid orders for the coins
minted under this Act before the issuance of such coins.
(2)Sale
prices with respect to prepaid orders under paragraph (1) shall be at a
reasonable discount.
7.
(a)All sales of coins minted under this Act shall include a
surcharge of $10 per coin.
(b)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 March of Dimes to help finance research,
education, and services aimed at improving the health of women, infants, and
children.
(c)The
March of Dimes shall be subject to the audit requirements of
section
5134(f)(2) of title 31, United States Code, with regard to the
amounts received under subsection (b).
(d)Notwithstanding
subsection (a), no surcharge may be included with respect to the issuance under
this Act of any coin during a calendar year if, as of the time of such
issuance, the issuance of such coin would result in the number of commemorative
coin programs issued during such year to exceed the annual 2 commemorative coin
program issuance limitation under
section
5112(m)(1) of title 31, United States Code. The Secretary may
issue guidance to carry out this subsection.
8.The Secretary shall
take such actions as may be necessary to ensure that—
(1)minting and
issuing coins under this Act will not result in any net cost to the United
States Government; and
(2)no funds,
including applicable surcharges, shall be disbursed to any recipient designated
in section 7 until the total cost of designing and issuing all of the coins
authorized by this Act (including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery,
overhead expenses, marketing, and shipping) is recovered by the United States
Treasury, consistent with sections
5112(m) and
5134(f) of title 31, United States
Code.
9.The budgetary
effects of this Act, for the purpose of complying with the Statutory
Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, shall be determined by reference to the latest
statement titled Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation for this
Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional Record by the Chairman of the
Committee on the Budget of the House of Representatives, provided that such
statement has been submitted prior to the vote on passage.
Passed the House of
Representatives August 1, 2012.
Karen L. Haas,
Clerk