[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 88 (Thursday, June 27, 2002)]
[House]
[Pages H4320-H4321]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          SUPPORT OF AMERICAN EAGLE SILVER BULLION PROGRAM ACT

  Mr. TIBERI. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee 
on Financial Services be discharged from further consideration of the 
Senate bill (S. 2594) to authorize the Secretary of the Treasury to 
purchase silver on the open market when the silver stockpile is 
depleted, to be used to mint coins, and ask for its immediate 
consideration in the House.
  The Clerk read the title of the Senate bill.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Thornberry). Is there objection to the 
request of the gentleman from Ohio?
  There was no objection.
  The Clerk read the Senate bill, as follows:

                                S. 2594

       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 ``Support of American Eagle 
     Silver Bullion Program Act''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

       Congress finds that--
       (1) the American Eagle Silver Bullion coin leads the global 
     market, and is the largest and most popular silver coin 
     program in the United States;
       (2) established in 1986, the American Eagle Silver Bullion 
     Program is the most successful silver bullion program in the 
     world;
       (3) from fiscal year 1995 through fiscal year 2001, the 
     American Eagle Silver Bullion Program generated--
       (A) revenues of $264,100,000; and
       (B) sufficient profits to significantly reduce the national 
     debt;

[[Page H4321]]

       (4) with the depletion of silver reserves in the Defense 
     Logistic Agency's Strategic and Critical Materials Stockpile, 
     it is necessary for the Department of the Treasury to acquire 
     silver from other sources in order to preserve the American 
     Eagle Silver Bullion Program;
       (5) with the ability to obtain silver from other sources, 
     the United States Mint can continue the highly successful 
     American Eagle Silver Bullion Program, exercising sound 
     business judgment and market acquisition practices in its 
     approach to the silver market, resulting in continuing 
     profitability of the program;
       (6) in 2001, silver was commercially produced in 12 States, 
     including, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, 
     Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, South Dakota, Utah, 
     and Washington;
       (7) Nevada is the largest silver producing State in the 
     Nation, producing--
       (A) 17,500,000 ounces of silver in 2001; and
       (B) 34 percent of United States silver production in 2000;
       (8) the mining industry in Idaho is vital to the economy of 
     the State, and the Silver Valley in northern Idaho leads the 
     world in recorded silver production, with over 1,100,000,000 
     ounces of silver produced between 1884 and 2001;
       (9) the largest, active silver producing mine in the Nation 
     is the McCoy/Cove Mine in Nevada, which produced more than 
     107,000,000 ounces of silver between 1989 and 2001;
       (10) the mining industry in Idaho--
       (A) employs more than 3,000 people;
       (B) contributes more than $900,000,000 to the Idaho 
     economy; and
       (C) produces $70,000,000 worth of silver per year;
       (11) the silver mines of the Comstock lode, the premier 
     silver producing deposit in Nevada, brought people and wealth 
     to the region, paving the way for statehood in 1864, and 
     giving Nevada its nickname as ``the Silver State'';
       (12) mines in the Silver Valley--
       (A) represent an important part of the mining history of 
     Idaho and the United States; and
       (B) have served in the past as key components of the United 
     States war effort; and
       (13) silver has been mined in Nevada throughout its 
     history, with every significant metal mining camp in Nevada 
     producing some silver.

     SEC. 3. PURCHASE OF SILVER BY THE SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY.

       (a) Purchase of Silver.--
       (1) In general.--Section 5116(b)(2) of title 31, United 
     States Code, is amended by inserting after the second 
     sentence the following: ``At such time as the silver 
     stockpile is depleted, the Secretary shall obtain silver as 
     described in paragraph (1) to mint coins authorized under 
     section 5112(e). If it is not economically feasible to obtain 
     such silver, the Secretary may obtain silver for coins 
     authorized under section 5112(e) from other available 
     sources. The Secretary shall not pay more than the average 
     world price for silver under any circumstances. As used in 
     this paragraph, the term `average world price' means the 
     price determined by a widely recognized commodity exchange at 
     the time the silver is obtained by the Secretary.''.
       (2) Rulemaking authority.--The Secretary of the Treasury 
     shall issue regulations to implement the amendments made by 
     paragraph (1).
       (b) Study Required.--
       (1) Study.--The Secretary of the Treasury shall conduct a 
     study of the impact on the United States silver market of the 
     American Eagle Silver Bullion Program, established under 
     section 5112(e) of title 31, United States Code.
       (2) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
     enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Treasury shall 
     submit a report of the study conducted under paragraph (1) to 
     the chairman and ranking minority member of--
       (A) the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of 
     the Senate; and
       (B) the Committee on Financial Services of the House of 
     Representatives.
       (c) Annual Report.--
       (1) In general.--The Director of the United States Mint 
     shall prepare and submit to Congress an annual report on the 
     purchases of silver made pursuant to this Act and the 
     amendments made by this Act.
       (2) Concurrent submission.--The report required by 
     paragraph (1) may be incorporated into the annual report of 
     the Director of the United States Mint on the operations of 
     the mint and assay offices, referred to in section 1329 of 
     title 44, United States Code.

  Mr. OXLEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of S. 2594, the 
Support of American Eagle Silver Bullion Program Act.
  The language is identical to language introduced in the House by the 
gentleman from Idaho, Mr. Otter, as H.R. 4971, and virtually identical 
to language passed 417-1 by the House Tuesday in H.R. 4846, a larger 
bill authored by the gentleman from Oklahoma, Mr. Lucas.
  Mr. Speaker, the American Silver Eagle coin program is the most 
successful silver bullion coin program in the world. Since its 
introduction in 1983, nearly 115 million of the one-troy-ounce silver 
coins have been sold. The coin now controls roughly 80 percent of the 
silver bullion coin market in the world.
  The silver for the coin is .999 fine, much more pure than the old 
``cartwheel'' silver dollars, such as the Morgan dollar, that used to 
be issued by the United States and which were 90 percent pure.
  Silver for the coin has come since the coin's inception from the 
United States strategic stockpile of silver, as mandated in law. 
However, a decade ago Congress, noting reduced need, ordered that 
stockpile and several others sold off, and earlier this month the last 
of the stockpile was delivered to processors for refining and to be 
turned into the blanks from which the coins eventually will be struck. 
While the United States Mint will have adequate coin blanks to meet 
demand for several weeks yet, I am told the refiners will have to start 
layoffs of key staff shortly after the Fourth of July if this 
legislation is not immediately passed and sent to the President.
  Mr. Speaker, the silver industry is important to the economy of the 
United States, and preservation of jobs is an important foal of the 
Financial Services Committee, especially as this Nation's economy comes 
out of the doldrums in which it has stood for more than a year. To that 
end I believe we must pass this legislation and do so quickly, and I 
ask its immediate approval.
  The Senate bill was ordered to be read a third time, was read the 
third time, and passed, and a motion to reconsider was laid on the 
table.

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