[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1842 Received in Senate (RDS)]
<DOC>
117th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 1842
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 27, 2022
Received
_______________________________________________________________________
AN ACT
To require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint commemorative coins in
recognition of the Bicentennial of Harriet Tubman's birth.
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 ``Harriet Tubman Bicentennial
Commemorative Coin Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Harriet Tubman was a formerly enslaved abolitionist who
guided about 70 people from slavery to freedom in 10 years.
(2) Born in March 1822, Tubman was a notable abolitionist
who not only freed herself, but also freed others from slavery.
(3) Harriet Ross Tubman, born Araminta ``Minty'' Ross, was
born enslaved on the plantation of Anthony Thompson in
Dorchester County, Maryland.
(4) With the help of the Underground Railroad network, in
the fall of 1849, Tubman escaped from Poplar Neck in Caroline
County, Maryland, heading north to freedom in Pennsylvania.
(5) With the passing of the Fugitive Slave Act as part of
the Compromise of 1850, the operations to help enslaved persons
escape became dangerous and she risked her life to rescue them
from slavery.
(6) Despite passage of the Compromise of 1850 and the
Fugitive Slave Act, Tubman continued her work, escorting her
refugees to Canada instead.
(7) It was during the 1850s that Tubman made 13 trips back
to Maryland, guiding approximately 70 enslaved persons to the
North, including family members, and providing instruction to
about 70 more who found their way to freedom on their own.
(8) Regardless of the arduous process of helping fugitive
enslaved persons escape through the Underground Railroad, not a
single person was recaptured under Tubman's supervision.
(9) During 1859, Tubman aided abolitionist John Brown by
recruiting supporters for his raid on Harper's Ferry, a planned
insurrection against slaveholders in Virginia and Maryland.
(10) In the beginning of the Civil War, Tubman served as a
spy, cook, and nurse in South Carolina and Florida.
(11) Tubman also recruited newly freed African-American men
to join regiments of African-American soldiers called United
States Colored Troops.
(12) In recognition of her abilities, Tubman served as an
army scout and spy for Major General David Hunter and Colonel
James Montgomery. Harriet Tubman was inducted into the Military
Intelligence Corps Hall of Fame.
(13) Tubman distinguished herself as the first woman to
lead an armed expedition in the Civil War, the Combahee River
Raid, resulting in more than 700 enslaved persons in South
Carolina being freed.
(14) After the Civil War, Tubman frequently sheltered and
fed newly freed enslaved persons at her home on South Street in
Auburn, New York, which she purchased from Secretary of State
William Henry Seward, even though she had little money herself.
She found a means to an end by working as a domestic, selling
produce from her garden, taking in donations of food, loans
from friends, and raising pigs on her farm.
(15) Tubman became active in the women's movement as early
as 1860. She attended meetings and gave speeches in her home
State of New York, as well as in Boston and Washington, D.C.
(16) Tubman was an avid advocate for African-American women
and their civil rights. In 1896, she was invited as a speaker
at the first meeting of the National Association of Colored
Women in Washington, D.C.
(17) Although living in financial insecurity, Tubman
transferred a 25-acre parcel of land to the African Methodist
Episcopal Zion Church in 1903, which eventually became The
Harriet Tubman Home for the Aged and Indigent Negroes. At the
time, few social services existed for elderly and ill people of
color.
(18) Escaping slavery, risking everything to save her
family and friends, aiding enslaved persons in escape from
slavery, leading a military raid, championing the cause of
women's suffrage, advocating for civil rights and access to
health care, Harriet Tubman is an individual that has performed
achievements that have had profound impacts on history and
culture in the United States.
SEC. 3. COIN SPECIFICATIONS.
(a) Denominations.--In commemoration of Harriet Tubman, the
Secretary of the Treasury (hereafter referred to in this Act as the
``Secretary'') shall mint and issue the following coins:
(1) $5 gold coins.--Not more than 50,000 $5 coins, which
shall--
(A) weigh 8.359 grams;
(B) be struck on a planchet having a diameter of
0.850 inches; and
(C) contain at least 90 percent gold.
(2) $1 silver coins.--Not more than 400,000 $1 coins, which
shall--
(A) weigh 26.73 grams;
(B) be struck on a planchet having 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. DESIGNS OF COINS.
(a) Design Requirements.--
(1) In general.--The designs of the coins minted under this
Act shall be emblematic of the legacy of Harriet Tubman as an
abolitionist. At least one obverse design shall bear the image
of Harriet Tubman.
(2) Designation and inscriptions.--On each coin minted
under this Act, there shall be--
(A) an inscription of Harriet Tubman;
(B) a designation of the value of the coin;
(C) an inscription of the year ``2024''; and
(D) inscriptions of the words ``Liberty'', ``In God
We Trust'', ``United States of America'', and ``E
Pluribus Unum''.
(b) Selection.--The designs for the coins minted under this Act
shall be--
(1) selected by the Secretary, after consultation with the
National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati,
Ohio, The Harriet Tubman Home, Inc. in Auburn, New York, and
the Commission of the Fine Arts; and
(2) 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 Facility.--Only 1 facility of the United States Mint may
be used to strike any particular quality of the coins minted under this
Act.
(c) Period for Issuance.--The Secretary may issue coins under this
Act only during the period beginning on January 1, 2024, and ending on
December 31, 2024.
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 under 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 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--
(1) a surcharge of $35 per coin for the $5 coins;
(2) a surcharge of $10 per coin for the $1 coins; and
(3) a surcharge of $5 per coin for the half-dollar coin.
(b) Distribution.--
(1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2),
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
equally to the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in
Cincinnati, Ohio, and The Harriet Tubman Home, Inc. in Auburn,
New York, for the purpose of accomplishing and advancing their
missions.
(2) Exception.--Notwithstanding section 5134(f)(1) of title
31, United States Code, if an entity described in paragraph (1)
of this subsection raises funds from private sources in an
amount that is less than the total amount of the proceeds of
the surcharge derived from the sale of the coins issued under
this Act, the Secretary shall promptly pay to the other entity
the proceeds of such surcharge.
(c) Audits.--The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in
Cincinnati, Ohio, and The Harriet Tubman Home, Inc. in Auburn, New
York, 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 of the Treasury 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, are
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, winning design compensation, 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.
Passed the House of Representatives July 26, 2022.
Attest:
CHERYL L. JOHNSON,
Clerk.