[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1683 Introduced in House (IH)]
114th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1683
To require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint coins in commemoration
of the United States Coast Guard.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 26, 2015
Mr. Courtney (for himself, Mr. Hunter, Mr. Bishop of Georgia, Ms.
Bordallo, Ms. Brown of Florida, Mr. Cartwright, Mr. Cleaver, Mr.
Connolly, Mr. Cummings, Mr. Delaney, Mr. Michael F. Doyle of
Pennsylvania, Ms. Edwards, Mr. Franks of Arizona, Mr. Guthrie, Mr.
Himes, Ms. Kaptur, Mr. Lance, Mr. Larson of Connecticut, Mr. Levin, Mr.
Lipinski, Mr. Loebsack, Mr. Meeks, Ms. Pingree, Mr. Pittenger, Mr.
Pocan, Mr. Ryan of Ohio, Mr. Austin Scott of Georgia, Mr. Walz, Mr.
Crowley, Mr. Van Hollen, Mr. Ruiz, Mr. Tonko, Ms. McCollum, Mr. Forbes,
Mr. Cole, Mr. Foster, Ms. Brownley of California, Ms. Clark of
Massachusetts, Mr. Takano, Ms. Eshoo, Mr. McGovern, Ms. Matsui, Mr.
Pierluisi, Mr. Butterfield, Mr. Harper, Ms. DelBene, Mr. Israel, Mr.
Thompson of Pennsylvania, Mr. Ross, Ms. Gabbard, Mr. Welch, Ms. Esty,
Mrs. Walorski, Mr. Rogers of Kentucky, Mr. Huffman, Mr. Coffman, Mr.
Kennedy, Mr. Sensenbrenner, Mr. O'Rourke, Mr. Fitzpatrick, Mr.
McDermott, Ms. Sewell of Alabama, Mr. Meehan, Mr. Price of North
Carolina, Ms. Norton, Mr. Honda, Mr. Palazzo, Ms. Clarke of New York,
Mr. Smith of Washington, Mr. Lamborn, Ms. Speier, Mrs. Bustos, Ms.
Tsongas, Mrs. Kirkpatrick, Mr. Jones, Mr. Boustany, Mr. David Scott of
Georgia, Mr. Heck of Washington, Mr. Dent, Mr. Ruppersberger, Mr.
Latta, Mr. Serrano, Mr. Gibson, Mr. Jeffries, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. Sires,
Mr. Scott of Virginia, Ms. Hahn, Ms. Roybal-Allard, Mr. Thompson of
Mississippi, Mrs. Beatty, Mr. Chabot, Mr. Cooper, Mr. Rush, Mr. Sablan,
Mr. Garamendi, Mrs. Lowey, Ms. DeLauro, Mr. Conaway, Mr. Perlmutter,
Mr. Yarmuth, Mr. Kinzinger of Illinois, Mrs. Hartzler, Mr. Valadao, Mr.
Long, Mr. Visclosky, and Mr. Wittman) 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 the United States Coast Guard.
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 ``United States Coast Guard
Commemorative Coin Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) The United States Coast Guard was founded on August 4,
1790, as the Revenue Cutter Service under the United States
Department of the Treasury.
(2) Congress created the Coast Guard on January 28, 1915,
by merging the Revenue Cutter Service and the United States
Lifesaving Service, was moved to the Department of
Transportation in 1967, and on February 25, 2003, became part
of the Department of Homeland Security.
(3) Although the smallest of the uniformed services, today
the United States Coast Guard conducts a wide variety of
missions to protect the public, the environment, and the United
States economic and security interests in any maritime region,
including international waters and America's coasts, ports, and
inland waterways.
(4) Every day, the United States Coast Guard plays a broad
and important role in homeland security, law enforcement,
search and rescue, marine environmental pollution response, and
the maintenance of river, intra-coastal and offshore aids to
navigation (ATON).
(5) The United States Coast Guard is our Nation's oldest
seagoing military service, staying true to their motto, Semper
Paratus or ``Always Ready,'' for 225 years.
(6) The United States Coast Guard is supported by 57,600
Active Duty, Reserve, and Civilian personnel, who in 2013
responded to 17,000 search and rescue cases saving 7,400 lives,
conducted over 21,000 waterborne patrols of maritime
infrastructure and resources, performed 32,500 maritime
security response activities (including 21,000 waterborne
patrols of critical maritime infrastructure and resources,
2,000 escorts of high-capacity passenger vessels, 8,400
security boardings in and around U.S. ports), removed $3
billion worth of illegal drugs, patrolled 4.5 million miles of
maritime borders for immigration enforcement, and maintained
49,000 navigation aids ensuring the smooth transit of $1.8
trillion worth of goods over 25,000 miles of our Nation's
waterways.
(7) Section 213 of Public Law 108-293 states that ``The
Commandant may establish a National Coast Guard Museum, on
lands which will be federally owned and administered by the
Coast Guard, and are located in New London, Connecticut, at, or
in close proximity to, the Coast Guard Academy''.
(8) The National Coast Guard Museum Association, a
nonprofit association dedicated to improve public understanding
of the history, service and missions of the Coast Guard, is
working with the United States Coast Guard, the City of New
London, the State of Connecticut, and a range of local,
regional, and national stakeholders to develop, plan and raise
capital for the National Coast Guard Museum, to be located in
New London, Connecticut.
(9) The United States Coast Guard is the only military
service without a national museum through which to share its
history and legacy with the American public.
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 100,000 $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 500,000 $1 coins, which
shall--
(A) weigh 26.73 grams;
(B) have a diameter of 1.500 inches; and
(C) contain at least 90 percent silver.
(3) Half dollar clad coins.--Not more than 750,000 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. DESIGN OF COIN.
(a) Design Requirements.--
(1) In general.--The design of the coins minted under this
Act shall be emblematic of the traditions, history, and
heritage of the United States Coast Guard, and its role in
securing our Nation since 1790.
(2) Designations 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 ``2018''; and
(C) inscriptions of the words ``Liberty'', ``In God
We Trust'', ``United States of America'', ``E Pluribus
Unum'', and ``Semper Paratus''.
(b) Selection.--The design for the coins minted under this Act
shall--
(1) contain motifs that specifically honor the United
States Coastguardsman of both today and yesterday, in wartime
and in peace, such designs to be consistent with the traditions
and heritage of the United States Coast Guard, the mission and
goals of the National Coast Guard Museum, and the missions and
goals of the National Coast Guard Museum Association;
(2) be selected by the Secretary, after consultation with
the Secretary of Homeland Security, the National Coast Guard
Museum Association, and the Commission of Fine Arts; and
(3) be reviewed by the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee.
SEC. 5. ISSUANCE OF COINS.
(a) Quality of Coins.--Coins minted under this Act shall be issued
in uncirculated and proof qualities.
(b) Mint Facilities.--For each of the 3 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) Period for Issuance.--The Secretary may issue coins minted
under this Act only during the 1-year period beginning on January 1,
2018.
SEC. 6. 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 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) 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.
SEC. 7. 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 $5 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 National Coast Guard Museum Association to help finance the design,
construction, operations, and maintenance of the National Coast Guard
Museum.
(c) Audits.--The National Coast Guard Museum Association 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) Limitation.--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.
SEC. 8. FINANCIAL ASSURANCES.
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.
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