[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 136 (Friday, September 27, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11550-S11551]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. PELL (for himself and Mr. HATFIELD):
  S. 2147. A bill to require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint 
coins in commemoration of the bicentennial of the Library of Congress; 
to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.


                 the library of congress commemorative

  Mr. PELL. Mr. President, at the request of the Library of Congress I 
am introducing, for myself and for the senior Senator from Oregon [Mr. 
Hatfield], the Library of Congress Commemorative Coin Act, in 
recognition of the 200th anniversary of the Library of Congress, which 
will occur in the year 2000.
  Established in 1800, the Library of Congress is our Nation's oldest 
national cultural institution and has become the largest repository of 
recorded knowledge in the world. It stands as a symbol of the vital 
connection between knowledge and democracy.
  The Library of Congress Commemorative Coin Act authorizes the 
Secretary of the Treasury to issue, in year 2000, 500,000 silver 
dollars and 500,000 half dollar coins commemorating the anniversary. 
The proceeds of the sale of the coins will support not only the 
observance of the bicentennial of the Library's creation, but also 
digitization projects that will share the resources of the Library with 
the Nation's schools and libraries.
  James Madison said ``Learned institutions ought to be the favorite 
objects of every free people. They throw the light over the public mind 
which is the best security against crafty and dangerous encroachments 
on the public liberty.'' This bill commemorates the fact that the 
Library of Congress for two centuries has fulfilled James Madison's 
hope by dispensing the light of

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knowledge over the Congress, the Nation, and the world.
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