[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 46 (Wednesday, April 12, 2000)]
[House]
[Page H2172]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN COMMEMORATIVE COIN ACT OF 
                                  2000

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Lucas) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. LUCAS of Oklahoma. Mr. Speaker, my home State of Oklahoma has a 
strong heritage in our Nation's Native American history and culture. In 
fact, the name ``Oklahoma'' means ``Land of the Red People'' in the 
Choctaw language. So nowhere else in this country is there more 
appreciation than in Oklahoma that a museum dedicated to preserving 
this legacy is being constructed in Washington, D.C.
  The National Museum of the American Indian was established as an act 
of Congress in 1989 to serve as a permanent repository of Native 
American culture. The groundbreaking took place in September of 1999, 
and it is scheduled to open in the summer of 2002.
  Because of the historic significance and importance of this museum to 
the people of Oklahoma, I am introducing a bill today that will 
commemorate its opening. The National Museum of the American Indian 
Commemorative Coin Act of 2000 will call for the minting of a special 
$1 silver coin intended to raise funds for the museum and celebrate its 
completion.
  As part of the highly respected Smithsonian institution, which is now 
the world's largest museum complex, the National Museum of the American 
Indian will collect, preserve, and exhibit Native American objects of 
artistic, historical, literary, anthropological, and scientific 
interest. Also important is that it will provide for Native American 
research and study programs.
  The coin my bill proposes will be of proof quality and be minted only 
in the year 2001. Sales of the coin could continue until the date that 
the stock is depleted. The coin would be of no net cost to the American 
taxpayer, and the proceeds from its sale will go towards funding the 
opening of the National Museum of the American Indian. The proceeds 
would also help supplement the museum's endowment and educational 
outreach funds.
  Based on past sales of coins of this nature, we are likely perhaps to 
raise roughly in the range of $3.5 million for the museum. The coin 
will be modeled after the original 5 cent buffalo nickel designed by 
James Earl Fraser and minted from 1913 to 1938, which portrays a 
profile representation of a Native American on the obverse, and an 
American buffalo, American bison, on the coin's reverse side.
  Mr. Speaker, as an Oklahoman, I was proud to have led the effort in 
Congress to designate the Roger Mills County site of the November, 1868 
Battle of the Washita, yes, some might more accurately describe it as a 
massacre, as a national historic site. This site in Western Oklahoma, 
where Lieutenant Colonel George Custer and the 7th U.S. cavalry 
attacked the Cheyenne Peace Chief Black Kettle's village.
  Now I am pleased to introduce the National Museum of the American 
Indian Commemorative Coin Act of 2000. A like version of this bill is 
already making its way through the Senate, having been introduced there 
by United States Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell of Colorado and 
Senator Daniel Inouye of Hawaii.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my fellow colleagues in the House to take this 
opportunity to recognize the importance to our Nation of the National 
Museum of the American Indian by becoming a cosponsor of my bill.

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