[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 111 (Tuesday, September 19, 2000)]
[House]
[Pages H7804-H7806]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               2002 WINTER OLYMPIC COMMEMORATIVE COIN ACT

  Mr. BACHUS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 3679) to provide for the minting of commemorative coins to 
support the 2002 Salt Lake Olympic Winter Games and the programs of the 
United States Olympic Committee, as amended.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 3679

       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 ``2002 Winter Olympic 
     Commemorative Coin Act''.

     SEC. 2. COIN SPECIFICATIONS.

       (a) Denominations.--The Secretary of the Treasury 
     (hereinafter in this Act referred to as the ``Secretary'') 
     shall mint and issue the following coins:
       (1) Five dollar gold coins.--Not more than 80,000 $5 coins, 
     which shall weigh 8.359 grams, have a diameter of 0.850 
     inches, and contain 90 percent gold and 10 percent alloy.
       (2) One dollar silver coins.--Not more than 400,000 $1 
     coins, which shall weigh 26.73 grams, have a diameter of 
     1.500 inches, and contain 90 percent silver and 10 percent 
     copper.
       (b) Design.--The design of the coins minted under this Act 
     shall be emblematic of the participation of American athletes 
     in the 2002 Olympic Winter Games. On each coin there shall be 
     a designation of the value of the coin, an inscription of the 
     year ``2002'', and inscriptions of the words ``Liberty'', 
     ``In God We Trust'', ``United States of America'', and ``E 
     Pluribus Unum''.
       (c) Legal Tender.--The coins minted under this Act shall be 
     legal tender, as provided in section 5103 of title 31, United 
     States Code.
       (d) Numismatic Items.--For purposes of section 5134 of 
     title 31, United States Code, all coins minted under this Act 
     shall be considered to be numismatic items.

     SEC. 3. SOURCES OF BULLION.

       (a) Gold.--The Secretary shall obtain gold for minting 
     coins under this Act pursuant to the authority of the 
     Secretary under other provisions of law.
       (b) Silver.--The Secretary shall obtain silver for minting 
     coins under this Act from any available source, including 
     from stockpiles established under the Strategic and Critical 
     Materials Stock Piling Act.

     SEC. 4. SELECTION OF DESIGN.

       The design for the coins minted under this Act shall be--
       (1) selected by the Secretary after consultation with--
       (A) the Commission of Fine Arts;
       (B) the United States Olympic Committee; and
       (C) Olympic Properties of the United States--Salt Lake 
     2002, L.L.C., a Delaware limited liability company created 
     and owned by the Salt Lake Organizing Committee for the 
     Olympic Winter Games of 2002 (hereinafter in this Act 
     referred to as ``Olympic Properties of the United States''); 
     and
       (2) reviewed by the Citizens Commemorative Coin 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) Commencement of Issuance.--The Secretary may issue 
     coins minted under this Act beginning January 1, 2002, except 
     that the Secretary may initiate sales of such coins, without 
     issuance, before such date.
       (c) Termination of Minting Authority.--No coins shall be 
     minted under this Act after December 31, 2002.

     SEC. 6. SALE OF COINS.

       (a) Sale Price.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
     law, the coins issued under this Act shall be sold by the 
     Secretary at a price equal to the face value, plus the cost 
     of designing and issuing such coins (including labor, 
     materials, dies, use of machinery, overhead expenses, and 
     marketing).
       (b) Bulk Sales.--The Secretary shall make bulk sales of the 
     coins issued under this Act at a reasonable discount.
       (c) Prepaid Orders at a Discount.--The Secretary shall 
     accept prepaid orders for the coins minted under this Act 
     before the issuance of such coins. Sales under this 
     subsection shall be at a reasonable discount.

     SEC. 7. SURCHARGES.

       (a) Surcharge Required.--All sales shall include a 
     surcharge of $35 per coin for the $5 coins and $10 per coin 
     for the $1 coins.
       (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 as follows:
       (1) Salt lake organizing committee for the olympic winter 
     games of 2002.--One half to the Salt Lake Organizing 
     Committee for the Olympic Winter Games of 2002 for use in 
     staging and promoting the 2002 Salt Lake Olympic Winter 
     Games.
       (2) United states olympic committee.--One half to the 
     United States Olympic Committee for use by the Committee for 
     the objects and purposes of the Committee as established in 
     the Amateur Sports Act of 1978.
       (c) Audits.--Each organization that receives any payment 
     from the Secretary under this section shall be subject to the 
     audit requirements of section 5134(f)(2) of title 31, United 
     States Code.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Alabama (Mr. Bachus) and the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Waters) 
each will control 20 minutes.

[[Page H7805]]

  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Bachus).


                             General Leave

  Mr. BACHUS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks 
and include extraneous material on H.R. 3679, the bill under 
consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Alabama?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. BACHUS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, it is particularly fitting that this legislation comes 
before the House at this time, for the Summer Olympic Games in Sydney 
have captured our attention. Those games began only 4 days ago and are 
in full swing as we speak.
  In less than 18 months, in February of 2002, our attention will be 
focused on Salt Lake City, where the Winter Olympic Games will 
commence. Anyone who has watched the Olympic competition is thrilled 
with the tremendous athletic accomplishments of all the young people 
involved; not only our young people but those throughout the world.
  Anyone who buys a silver $1 coin or a $5 gold coin authorized by the 
legislation under consideration will have the satisfaction of knowing 
that the surcharge they pay on this coin will go to support our 
American athletes as they train for the upcoming 2002 Winter Olympics.
  The legislation under consideration is sponsored by the gentleman 
from Utah (Mr. Cook). The legislation has widespread support. It is 
cosponsored by 290 of his colleagues. A similar bill has been 
introduced in the Senate. It has the requisite 67 cosponsors and, in 
fact, has been marked up by the Senate Banking Committee.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman 
from Utah (Mr. Cook), the sponsor of the legislation.
  Mr. COOK. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. 
Bachus) for yielding me this time.
  Mr. Speaker, first of all, I would like to thank the gentleman from 
Alabama (Mr. Bachus) for his efforts in bringing H.R. 3679, the 2002 
Winter Olympic Commemorative Coin Act, to the floor today. A 
commemorative coin program has been a part of every U.S. Olympics Games 
since 1952.
  In fact, the Olympic coin has become an important Olympic tradition 
in the United States and internationally as well. It is especially 
timely that this bill should come to the House floor now as the world 
watches the Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. I am sure many of us 
have been glued to the television watching our young swimmers, like 
Jenny Thompson, Megan Quann and Tom Dolan, break records and bring home 
the gold. As America and my home State of Utah look forward to hosting 
the Olympic Winter Games in 2002, passing this coin bill is a big step 
toward preparing for that monumental international event in our own 
country and preparing our athletes to compete.
  Throughout the world, coin programs serve as national symbols of both 
morale and financial support for the games. The surcharges generated by 
this coin program will provide an important source of revenue for the 
training and support of U.S. athletes, as well as for hosting the 
Olympic Games.
  Some of my colleagues may remember some of the problems connected 
with the Atlanta Olympic Games coin program. I want to assure my 
colleagues that H.R. 3679 has been thoughtfully and carefully crafted 
to overcome and prevent those problems from occurring once again.
  This coin program has been developed in conjunction with the U.S. 
Mint and the Citizens Commemorative Coin Advisory Committee, which 
represents the Nation's coin collectors, the main purchasers of 
commemorative coins. With only 400,000 $1 silver coins and 80,000 $5 
gold coins authorized, the program is expected to sell out and raise 
over $4 million for our Olympic athletes at no cost to the taxpayers.
  Finally, I would like to thank the 290 Members of this Congress who 
joined me in celebrating the Olympic spirit by cosponsoring H.R. 3679. 
Helping our Olympic athletes achieve their dreams is something I think 
we can all be proud to support.
  Mr. BACHUS. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this bill. This bill provides for 
the minting of commemorative coins to support the 2002 Salt Lake 
Olympic Winter Games and the programs of the United States Olympic 
Committee. As we witness the joy of watching the Summer Olympics in 
Sydney, and the pride that our American athletes bring to our country, 
I am pleased to support a commemorative coin for the Winter Games of 
2002, which will be coming back to the United States.
  An act of Congress to issue this coin is consistent with the long 
tradition of issuing commemorative coins for the important events that 
shape our Nation's history, as well as for our national heroes.
  We have in the past issued commemorative coins for other Olympics 
games held in the U.S., as well as for other 1994 soccer world cups 
also held in 12 cities across the United States. As laid out in the 
legislation, the design of the commemorative coin shall be emblematic 
of the participation of American athletes in the 2002 Olympic Winter 
Games. Each coin must have a designation of the value of the coin, an 
inscription of the year 2002, and, following U.S. tradition, 
inscriptions of the words: In God We Trust, United States of America, 
and E Pluribus Unum.
  Half of the coin proceeds will go to the Salt Lake Organizing 
Committee for use in the staging and promotion of the games and the 
other half to the U.S. Olympic Committee. I certainly urge adoption of 
this bill.
  I have one comment that I would like to add. I think the Olympic 
Games are extremely important. Not only does it give us the opportunity 
to compete with other very, very fine athletes from all around the 
world, it is really a geography lesson that is learned as we watch the 
competition in various parts of the world; and I would like for the 
aborigines in Sydney to know that we are learning about them as we 
watch the games in Sydney and that their plight is not unnoticed.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. BACHUS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to reinforce what the gentleman from Utah (Mr. 
Cook) earlier said, and that this legislation is a far cry from that 
which created the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games Coin program. That program 
had multiple coins. It was overly ambitious. According to the General 
Accounting Office, it lost several million dollars.
  This legislation profited from those mistakes. The gentleman from 
Delaware (Mr. Castle), who was then chairman of the Subcommittee on 
Domestic and International Monetary Policy, made several reforms on the 
commemorative coin program. Those reforms are incorporated in this 
bill. One important reform is that no surcharges from a commemorative 
program may be paid to a beneficiary organization until the taxpayer 
has been made whole for the cost of designing and producing the coin. 
That is done in this series.
  The sponsor of this legislation, the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Cook), 
the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Cannon), and the Salt Lake Committee, all 
worked with the U.S. Olympic Committee and with the Senate and House 
Committee on Banking and Financial Services, recognizing this recent 
history and this legislation contains several changes from that 
previous commemorative coin legislation aimed at increasing the 
integrity of the program.
  The most important change, one which has been praised by the coin 
collectors, is reduction in the standard maximum mintage level, which 
should make these coins retain its value for collectors, which 
traditionally buy about 90 percent of these coins. The Olympic 
committees have also worked closely with the Mint, with the Citizens 
Commemorative Coin Advisory Committee to devise this program. I would 
like to commend both the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Cook) and the 
gentleman from Utah (Mr. Cannon) for their efforts, along with the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Waters) and the gentleman from New 
York (Mr. LaFalce) for their efforts.

[[Page H7806]]

  Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman 
from Utah (Mr. Cannon).
  Mr. CANNON. Mr. Speaker, first of all, I would like to thank the 
subcommittee chairman, the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Bachus), for his 
efforts to bring this bill to the floor, and also my colleague from 
Utah (Mr. Cook), for his hard work in moving this issue forward. As 
many of the Members know, it takes 290 cosponsors on a bill to move a 
commemorative coin bill forward, and that takes a lot of effort.
  So I would also like to thank all of my colleagues who have worked 
with us to cosponsor this bill and bring it to this stage.
  We are going to have the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City in 
February of 2002, and while in Utah we like to think of these as our 
Olympics. In fact they are America's Olympics, and it has been 
wonderful to work with our colleagues to help support that idea that 
this is the American Olympics.
  I am personally proud of the Olympics because about 80 percent of the 
venues are going to be in my district, and frankly I know there are a 
lot of Congressmen who believe they have beautiful districts, but none 
are nearly so beautiful as mine. And so we invite everyone to come to 
the Olympics and to see another one of these areas in my district like 
Moab, where we have the Great Red Rock country where people go down and 
bike.
  This commemorative coin is really about athletes; and now that we 
have the Summer Olympics going on in Sydney, it is good to consider 
just for a moment the benefits that they will get. We expect that this 
commemorative coin will raise about $6 million, which will be split 
evenly between the U.S. Olympic Committee and the Salt Lake Olympic 
Committee, and the proceeds of that money will all go to training 
athletes. So this is a great way to perpetuate the American tradition 
of winning the Olympics, as we are currently doing.
  Mr. BACHUS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, this is a good commemorative coin program. I commend it 
to the Members. It honors a great tradition, the Olympics. It honors 
and supports our great U.S. Olympic team, those athletes.
  Mr. Speaker, I simply join the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Cannon) and 
the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Cook) in urging all Members to support it.
  Mr. Speaker, I have no other requests for time, and I yield back the 
balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Bachus) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 3679, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________