[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2185 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2185

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


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            October 20, 2015

 Ms. Heitkamp (for herself, Ms. Ayotte, Ms. Collins, Mrs. Capito, Mr. 
Hoeven, Mrs. Feinstein, Ms. Klobuchar, Ms. Hirono, and Mrs. Gillibrand) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
            Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 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.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) breast cancer is the most common cancer among women of 
        the United States, except for skin cancers;
            (2) today, about 1 in 8, or 12 percent of, women in the 
        United States will develop invasive breast cancer, which is an 
        increase from 1 in 11, or 9 percent of, women in 1975;
            (3) breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer 
        death in women;
            (4) the chance of dying from breast cancer is about 1 in 
        36;
            (5) thanks to earlier detection, increased awareness, and 
        improved treatment, death rates from breast cancer have 
        decreased since 1989;
            (6) there is a strong interest among the people of the 
        United States to do more to tackle breast cancer;
            (7) the National Cancer Institute estimates that 
        $18,100,000,000 was spent in the United States on breast cancer 
        care in 2014;
            (8) finding a cure for breast cancer is a goal of the 
        United States Government;
            (9) the National Institutes of Health dedicated an 
        estimated $674,000,000 for breast cancer research in fiscal 
        year 2014;
            (10) in fiscal year 2014, the Breast Cancer Research 
        Program of the Department of Defense received $120,000,000;
            (11) 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, funding for the National Cancer Institute was reduced 
        by nearly $66,000,000 between 2011 and 2013;
            (12) the funding level for the Department of Defense Breast 
        Cancer Research Program has remained consistent since 2012, but 
        this amount represents a 20-percent decrease from 2011 funding 
        levels;
            (13) additional private sector support for breast cancer 
        research will help find cures for breast cancer even faster;
            (14) it is estimated that, in the United States, 231,840 
        women will be diagnosed with, and 40,290 women will die of, 
        breast cancer in 2015;
            (15) on average, every 13 minutes a woman dies of breast 
        cancer in the United States;
            (16) 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 than women of other racial 
        and ethnic groups;
            (17) 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;
            (18) 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;
            (19) clinical advances resulting from research have led to 
        increased survival rates from breast cancer;
            (20) since 1990, death rates from breast cancer have 
        dropped more than 34 percent;
            (21) it is estimated that there will be 2,350 new cases of 
        invasive breast cancer and 440 breast cancer deaths among men 
        in the United States in 2015;
            (22) at this time there are more than 3,100,000 breast 
        cancer survivors in the United States;
            (23) it is estimated that breast cancer costs 
        $12,500,000,000 in lost productivity;
            (24) the losses of productivity due to breast cancer will 
        increase with the projected growth rate and aging of the 
        population of the United States if cancer mortality rates stay 
        constant in the future;
            (25) there is a better chance of survival, and there are 
        more treatment options available, with early stage detection 
        through mammograms and clinical breast exams;
            (26) breast cancer is the most common cancer in women 
        worldwide, with an estimated 1,700,000 new cases of breast 
        cancer among women worldwide in 2012;
            (27) the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (hereafter in 
        this Act referred to as ``BCRF'') is considered one of the most 
        efficient cancer research charities;
            (28) of every dollar donated to BCRF, 91 cents goes to 
        research and awareness programs, 88 cents towards research and 
        3 cents towards awareness;
            (29) founded in 1993, BCRF has raised more than 
        $500,000,000 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; and
            (30) in 2014 and 2015, BCRF committed $58,600,000 in 
        research, including $11,600,000 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, including 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 the winner of the competition 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 3 members from the Citizens 
        Coinage Advisory Committee who shall be elected by the 
        Committee and 3 members from the Commission of Fine Arts who 
        shall be elected by the 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 3-dimensional designs 
        to be submitted as part of the proposals, and the jury shall 
        give a preference for proposals that are accompanied by a 3-
        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--
                    (A) labor;
                    (B) materials;
                    (C) dies;
                    (D) use of machinery;
                    (E) overhead expenses;
                    (F) marketing; and
                    (G) 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 the 
        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 research funded by the Foundation.
    (c) Audits.--The surcharge recipient 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, at the time of the issuance, the issuance of 
the coin would result in the number of commemorative coin programs 
issued during that year to exceed the commemorative coin program 
restriction 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 
may issue guidance to carry out this subsection.
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