[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2722 Referred in Senate (RFS)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2722


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 16, 2015

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, 
                           and Urban Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT


 
 To require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint coins in recognition 
                  of the fight against breast cancer.

    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 ``Breast Cancer Awareness 
Commemorative Coin Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) Breast cancer is the most common cancer among American 
        women, except for skin cancers. Today, about 1 in 8, or 12 
        percent of, women in the United States will develop invasive 
        breast cancer during their lifetime. This is an increase from 1 
        in 11, or 9 percent of, women in 1975.
            (2) Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer 
        death in women. The chance of dying from breast cancer is about 
        1 in 36. Thanks to earlier detection, increased awareness, and 
        improved treatment, death rates from breast cancer have 
        decreased since about 1989.
            (3) There is a strong interest among the American public to 
        do more to tackle this disease. The National Cancer Institute 
        estimates $16.5 billion is spent in the United States each year 
        on breast cancer treatment. Assuming that incidence and 
        survival rates follow recent trends, it is estimated that $17.2 
        billion will be spent on breast cancer care in the United 
        States in 2014.
            (4) Finding a cure for breast cancer is a goal of the 
        United States Government.
            (5) The National Institutes of Health dedicated an 
        estimated $674 million for breast cancer research in Fiscal 
        Year 2014. In Fiscal Year 2014, the Department of Defense's 
        Breast Cancer Research Program received $120 million.
            (6) While the National Institutes of Health and the 
        Department of Defense program on Breast Cancer research remain 
        the largest funders of breast cancer research in the United 
        States, in 2013, the National Cancer Institute funding was 
        reduced by nearly $66 million since 2011. The funding level for 
        the Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program has 
        remained consistent since 2012, however this amount represents 
        a 20-percent decrease from 2011 funding levels.
            (7) Additional private sector support for breast cancer 
        research will help us find cures for breast cancer even faster.
            (8) It is estimated that in the United States 231,840 women 
        will be diagnosed with and 40,290 women will die of cancer of 
        the breast in 2015. This means that every 13 minutes a woman 
        dies of breast cancer in the United States.
            (9) However, due to disease type and lack of adequate care, 
        African-American women have the highest death rates of all 
        racial and ethnic groups overall and are at least 44 percent 
        more likely to die of breast cancer as compared to other racial 
        and ethnic groups.
            (10) Breast cancer used to be considered a disease of aging 
        but recent trends show that more aggressive forms of the 
        disease have been increasingly diagnosed in younger women.
            (11) Breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer 
        among nearly every racial and ethnic group, including African-
        American, American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian/Pacific 
        Islander, and Hispanic/Latina women.
            (12) Clinical advances, resulting from research, have led 
        to increased survival from breast cancer. Since 1990, death 
        rates from breast cancer have dropped over 34 percent.
            (13) Among men in the United States it is estimated that 
        there will be 2,350 new cases of invasive breast cancer and 440 
        breast cancer deaths in 2015.
            (14) At this time there are more than 3.1 million breast 
        cancer survivors in the United States.
            (15) It is estimated that breast cancer costs $12.5 billion 
        in lost productivity. Such productivity losses will increase 
        with projected growth rate and aging of the U.S. population if 
        cancer mortality rates stay constant in the future.
            (16) There is a better chance of survival and there are 
        more treatment options with early stage detection through 
        mammograms and clinical breast exams.
            (17) Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women 
        worldwide, with an estimated 1.7 million new cases of breast 
        cancer among women worldwide in 2012.
            (18) Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF) is considered 
        one of the most efficient cancer research charities.
            (19) Of every dollar donated to BCRF, $0.91 goes to 
        research and awareness programs--88 cents towards research and 
        3 cents towards awareness.
            (20) Founded in 1993, the BCRF has raised more than $500 
        million to fuel discoveries in tumor biology, genetics, 
        prevention, treatment, survivorship, and metastasis, making 
        BCRF one of the largest private funders of breast cancer 
        research in the world. For 2014-2015, BCRF committed $58.6 
        million in research, including $11.6 million to the 
        international Evelyn H. Lauder Founder's Fund focused on 
        metastasis, to support the work of more than 220 researchers at 
        leading medical institutions across 6 continents (25 states and 
        14 countries).

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 gold coins, 
        which shall--
                    (A) have a diameter of 0.850 inches; and
                    (B) be made of ``pink gold'' which contains not 
                less than 75 percent gold.
            (2) $1 silver coins.--Not more than 400,000 $1 coins, which 
        shall--
                    (A) weigh 26.73 grams;
                    (B) have a diameter of 1.500 inches; and
                    (C) contain not less than 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 COINS.

    (a) Design Requirements.--
            (1) In general.--The design of the coins minted under this 
        Act shall be emblematic of the fight against breast cancer.
            (2) Designation and inscriptions.--On each coin minted 
        under this Act there shall be--
                    (A) a designation of the face 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'', and ``E 
                Pluribus Unum''.
    (b) Selection.--The design for the coins minted under this Act 
shall be selected by the Secretary based on the winning design from a 
juried, compensated design competition described under subsection (c).
    (c) Design Competition.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary shall hold a competition and 
        provide compensation for its winner to design the obverse and 
        reverse of the coins minted under this Act. The competition 
        shall be judged by an expert jury chaired by the Secretary and 
        consisting of three members from the Citizens Coinage Advisory 
        Committee who shall be elected by such Committee and three 
        members from the Commission of Fine Arts who shall be elected 
        by such Commission.
            (2) Proposals.--As part of the competition described in 
        this subsection, the Secretary may accept proposals from 
        artists, engravers of the United States Mint, and members of 
        the general public, and any designs submitted for the design 
        review process described herein shall be anonymized until a 
        final selection is made.
            (3) Accompanying designs; preference for physical 
        designs.--The Secretary shall encourage three-dimensional 
        designs to be submitted as part of the proposals, and the jury 
        shall give a preference for proposals that are accompanied by a 
        three-dimensional physical design instead of, or in addition 
        to, an electronic design.
            (4) Compensation.--The Secretary shall determine 
        compensation for the winning design under this subsection, 
        which shall be not less than $5,000. The Secretary shall take 
        into account this compensation amount when determining the sale 
        price described in section 6(a).

SEC. 5. ISSUANCE OF COINS.

    (a) Quality of Coins.--Coins minted under this Act shall be issued 
in uncirculated and proof qualities.
    (b) 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 
        the 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 issued under this Act shall 
include a surcharge of--
            (1) $35 per coin for the $5 coin;
            (2) $10 per coin for the $1 coin; and
            (3) $5 per coin for the half-dollar coin.
    (b) Distribution.--Subject to section 5134(f) of title 31, United 
States Code, all surcharges which are received by the Secretary from 
the sale of coins issued under this Act shall be promptly paid by the 
Secretary to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, New York, New York, 
for the purpose of furthering breast cancer research funded by the 
Foundation.
    (c) Audits.--The surcharge recipients under subsection (b) 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 that 
subsection.
    (d) Limitations.--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 two commemorative 
coin program issuance limitation under section 5112(m)(1) of title 31, 
United States Code (as in effect on the date of the enactment of this 
Act). The Secretary of the Treasury may issue guidance to carry out 
this subsection.

            Passed the House of Representatives June 15, 2015.

            Attest:

                                                 KAREN L. HAAS,

                                                                 Clerk.