[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 87 (Monday, June 27, 2005)]
[House]
[Pages H5183-H5186]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    LITTLE ROCK CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL DESEGREGATION 50TH ANNIVERSARY 
                         COMMEMORATIVE COIN ACT

  Mr. DAVIS of Kentucky. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and

[[Page H5184]]

pass the bill (H.R. 358) to require the Secretary of the Treasury to 
mint coins in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the 
desegregation of the Little Rock Central High School in Little Rock, 
Arkansas, and for other purposes, as amended.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                                H.R. 358

       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 ``Little Rock Central High 
     School Desegregation 50th Anniversary Commemorative Coin 
     Act''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

       The Congress finds the following:
       (1) September 2007, marks the 50th anniversary of the 
     desegregation of Little Rock Central High School in Little 
     Rock, Arkansas.
       (2) In 1957, Little Rock Central High was the site of the 
     first major national test for the implementation of the 
     historic decision of the United States Supreme Court in 
     Brown, et al. v. Board of Education of Topeka, et al., 347 
     U.S. 483 (1954).
       (3) The courage of the ``Little Rock Nine'' (Ernest Green, 
     Elizabeth Eckford, Melba Pattillo, Jefferson Thomas, Carlotta 
     Walls, Terrence Roberts, Gloria Ray, Thelma Mothershed, and 
     Minnijean Brown) who stood in the face of violence, was 
     influential to the Civil Rights movement and changed American 
     history by providing an example on which to build greater 
     equality.
       (4) The desegregation of Little Rock Central High by the 9 
     African American students was recognized by Dr. Martin Luther 
     King, Jr. as such a significant event in the struggle for 
     civil rights that in May 1958, he attended the graduation of 
     the first African American from Little Rock Central High 
     School.
       (5) A commemorative coin will bring national and 
     international attention to the lasting legacy of this 
     important event.

     SEC. 3. COIN SPECIFICATIONS.

       (a) Denominations.--The Secretary of the Treasury 
     (hereinafter in this Act referred to as the ``Secretary'') 
     shall mint and issue not more than 500,000 $1 coins each of 
     which shall--
       (1) weigh 26.73 grams;
       (2) have a diameter of 1.500 inches; and
       (3) contain 90 percent silver and 10 percent copper.
       (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 section 5136 of 
     title 31, United States Code, all coins minted under this Act 
     shall be considered to be numismatic items.

     SEC. 4. DESIGN OF COINS.

       (a) Design Requirements.--The design of the coins minted 
     under this Act shall be emblematic of the desegregation of 
     the Little Rock Central High School and its contribution to 
     civil rights in America.
       (b) Designation and Inscriptions.--On each coin minted 
     under this Act there shall be--
       (1) a designation of the value of the coin;
       (2) an inscription of the year ``2007''; and
       (3) inscriptions of the words ``Liberty'', ``In God We 
     Trust'', ``United States of America'', and ``E Pluribus 
     Unum''.
       (c) Selection.--The design for the coins minted under this 
     Act shall be--
       (1) selected by the Secretary after consultation with the 
     Commission of Fine Arts; and
       (2) reviewed by the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee 
     established under section 5135 of title 31, United States 
     Code.

     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, 2007, 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, 2007.

     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 sum of the face value of 
     the coins, the surcharge required under section 7(a) for the 
     coins, and 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.--
       (1) In general.--The Secretary shall accept prepaid orders 
     for the coins minted under this Act before the issuance of 
     such coins.
       (2) Discount.--Sale prices with respect to prepaid orders 
     under paragraph (1) shall be at a reasonable discount.

     SEC. 7. SURCHARGES.

       (a) Surcharge Required.--All sales shall include a 
     surcharge of $10 per coin.
       (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 to the Secretary of the 
     Interior for the protection, preservation, and interpretation 
     of resources and stories associated with Little Rock Central 
     High School National Historic Site, including the following:
       (1) Site improvements at Little Rock Central High School 
     National Historic Site.
       (2) Development of interpretive and education programs and 
     historic preservation projects.
       (3) Establishment of cooperative agreements to preserve or 
     restore the historic character of the Park Street and Daisy 
     L. Gatson Bates Drive corridors adjacent to the site.
       (c) 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 (as in effect on the date of the enactment 
     of this Act). The Secretary of the Treasury may issue 
     guidance to carry out this subsection.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Kentucky (Mr. Davis) and the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Frank) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Davis).


                             General Leave

  Mr. DAVIS of Kentucky. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all 
Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend 
their remarks on this legislation, H.R. 358, and include extraneous 
material thereon.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Kentucky?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. DAVIS of Kentucky. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume, and I rise today in support of the Little Rock Central High 
School Desegregation 50th Anniversary Commemorative Coin Act sponsored 
by the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Snyder).
  Mr. Speaker, it is easy in 2005 to lose sight of how far we have come 
in fewer than 50 years of desegregation. No one will deny, and most 
also will admit, that we have much work to do. But as we approach 50 
years of separation from the mid- to late 1950s, when the real work of 
desegregation was done, it is worthwhile to pause and reflect. The bill 
of the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Snyder) gives us a perfect 
opportunity to do just that.
  A year or so ago, Congress approved awarding a Congressional Gold 
Medal for the principals of the landmark Brown v. Board of Education 
lawsuit that heralded the desegregation in the Nation's schools. Today, 
we will act on legislation to authorize a commemorative coin, noting 
the first major test of the Supreme Court's ruling in Brown.
  The nine African American students who, in the face of violence, were 
the first to desegregate Little Rock's Central High School, themselves 
earlier awarded Congressional Gold Medals, took a truly courageous 
step, later recognized by the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. when 
he attended the first graduation of African American students from the 
school a year later.
  Mr. Speaker, this legislation authorizes the striking in 2007 of as 
many as 500,000 silver $1 commemorative coins, at no cost to the 
taxpayers, with surcharges on the sale of the coins dedicated to site 
improvements at the Little Rock Central High School National Historic 
Site, to development of interpretive and educational programs at the 
site, to historic preservation projects there, and to the establishment 
of cooperative agreements to preserve or restore the historic character 
of the Park Street and Daisy L. Gatson Bates Drive corridors adjacent 
to the site.
  Mr. Speaker, this legislation has 321 cosponsors, amply demonstrating 
its broad bipartisan appeal. I urge immediate adoption.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as 
I may consume.
  I was a high school senior when the extraordinarily brave African 
American students entered Little Rock High School, and I very vividly 
remember the combination of emotions I felt: shame, that the Nation of 
which I was so proud was allowing the mistreatment of these people who 
simply sought to get an education equal to

[[Page H5185]]

that of their fellow students; admiration, beyond admiration for their 
courage; frustration at a Federal Government which was hesitant at 
first in its response; and anger at those who would betray the spirit 
of America by racially motivated assaults on these brave young people.
  This ended happily, but not nearly soon enough. It was an 
extraordinarily important event in this country, and it reminds us that 
you cannot correct evil. And we are talking here, in my judgment, about 
a great social evil that plagued our country. You cannot confront it 
halfway. You cannot confront it with the hope that if you just close 
your eyes and wish, things will get better. You have to deal directly 
with it.

                              {time}  1430

  We are a better Nation by far for the events of these past years. And 
those at Little Rock, these young people, and the adults who guided 
them and protected them in the Little Rock community, deserve the 
continuing deep gratitude of this country for what they did.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman 
from Arkansas (Mr. Snyder) who represents Little Rock and has been the 
main advocate for this legislation.
  Mr. SNYDER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this 
time, and thank the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Davis) and the 
gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Oxley) and the committee staff on both sides 
of the aisle that worked on this bill.
  Last week at American University in Cairo, Egypt, Secretary of State 
Condoleezza Rice made some remarks. Part of what she said, ``When we 
talk about democracy, though, we are referring to governments that 
protect certain basic rights for all their citizens. Among these, the 
right to speak freely, the right to associate, the right to worship as 
you wish, the freedom to educate your children, boys and girls, and 
freedom from the midnight knock of the secret police.''
  Secretary Rice continues, ``Securing these rights is the hope of 
every citizen, and the duty of every government. In my own country, the 
progress of democracy has been long and difficult. And given our 
history, the United States has no cause for false pride, and we have 
every reason for humility. After all, America was founded by 
individuals who knew that all human beings and the governments they 
create are inherently imperfect, and the United States was born half 
free and half slave. It was only in my lifetime that my government 
guaranteed the right to vote for all its people.
  ``Nevertheless, the principles enshrined in our Constitution enable 
citizens of conviction to move America closer every day to the ideal of 
democracy.'' That was Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Cairo last 
week.
  Mr. Speaker, nowhere was the march toward the ideal of democracy more 
in evidence than in the fall of 1957 in Little Rock, Arkansas. In 1957, 
Little Rock Central High School was the site of the first major 
national test for the implementation of the historic decision of the 
United States Supreme Court in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka. 
President Eisenhower issued an Executive order directing marshals and 
troops under Federal authority to aid in the compliance of Federal law 
in Little Rock, Arkansas.
  The courage of the ``Little Rock Nine,'' Ernest Green, Elizabeth 
Eckford, Melba Pattillo, Jefferson Thomas, Carlotta Walls, Terrence 
Roberts, Gloria Ray, Thelma Mothershed, and Minnijean Brown, who stood 
in the face of violence, was influential to the civil rights movement 
and changed American history by providing an example on which to build 
greater equality.
  The desegregation of Little Rock by the nine African American 
students was recognized by Dr. Martin Luther King as such a significant 
event in the struggle for civil rights that in May 1958 he attended the 
graduation of the first African American from Little Rock Central High 
School, Ernest Green.
  The 1957 crisis in Little Rock, brought about by the desegregation of 
Little Rock Central High School, was a huge part of the march towards 
freedom and opportunity in America. A 2007 commemorative coin issued by 
the U.S. Mint to honor the 50th anniversary of this important event 
will bring national and international attention to its lasting legacy.
  As indicated by the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Davis) the money 
raised from the sale of these coins pays for the cost, there is no cost 
to the taxpayers, and any moneys beyond the cost may be used to support 
the national historic site.
  We all are aware of the difficulties that some of our national parks 
now have in meeting their basic infrastructure needs, and the intent of 
this legislation is to provide supplementary funds to the care and 
maintenance of the Central Little Rock National Historic Site.
  Mr. Speaker, I recommend an aye vote on the legislation.
  Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may 
consume to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis).
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from 
Massachusetts (Mr. Frank) for yielding me this time.
  I also want to commend the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Synder) for 
his introduction of this legislation and the committee for moving it 
expeditiously to the floor so it, in fact, can be passed.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise with great pride to honor the legacy of the 
courageous Little Rock Nine. Dr. Martin Luther King once said, ``The 
sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass 
until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality.''
  One September morning in 1957, on the eve of the new school year, the 
cool winds of change brushed across the city of Little Rock, Arkansas. 
Nine young men and women decided they would not settle for discontent.
  After the landmark case, Brown v. Board of Education, which ruled in 
favor of integrated schools, these nine young men and women attended 
Little Rock Central High School. Despite the taunts, violence and 
venomous hatred endured by these youth during their tenure at Central 
High, they pressed on and pursued a dream for the millions of African 
Americans that cheered them on across the country.
  It is a very meaningful time for me because I too lived at that time 
in Arkansas. I was born in a little city in the southeastern part of 
the State. In 1957, and I guess the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. 
Frank) and I are kind of in the same age group; I, too, was a college 
freshman on the campus of the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, 
which was then known as Arkansas A&M College about 45 miles from Little 
Rock. This was our daily news, our daily activity, our daily 
occurrences.
  I have been fortunate to know many of the individuals who were 
intimately involved, such as Ernie Green. Minnijean Brown and I spent 
part of a weekend together down at Southern Illinois University last 
year. Melba Pattillo's mother was a teacher at the school where I did 
student teaching, and I have had a chance to know them. Wallie Branton, 
who was the attorney intimately involved with the NAACP, I knew him and 
his family; and Daisy Bates, who was the leader of the NAACP in 
Arkansas at that time, are all people with whom I have had an 
opportunity to interact and to get to know. They were indeed a part of 
me and I am indeed a part of them. So I take great personal pride in 
knowing that there will be recognition of this historic struggle and 
the tremendous courage displayed.
  Again, I want to commend the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Synder) for 
his legislation which brings into work this commendation which puts a 
footnote in another chapter of the historic struggle for equality and 
justice in America.
  Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as 
I may consume.
  First, I want to thank the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis) for 
those remarks. He noted he was a freshman at college during this time. 
As a senior in high school, I certainly want to pay deference to my 
elders and thank the gentleman for his remarks.
  I also note for reasons that be of no interest to anybody outside 
this Chamber, a set of decisions, procedures, and rules that we adopted 
earlier made it harder to bring this resolution to the

[[Page H5186]]

floor than Members might have thought. Had we simply been considering 
the merits of this resolution, the commemoration for one of the great 
blows for freedom and against bigotry in America, it would have been 
easy; but there were a lot of complicating factors. Members should know 
it was the diligence, the persistence, occasionally annoying, of the 
gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Synder) that got this bill to the floor. I 
am happy that we are passing this today commemorating this great event, 
and I am also happy that it is not a subject I will have to discuss 
with the gentleman from Arkansas for the next few months, it having 
occupied a great deal of my time previously. He deserves a great deal 
of credit for his diligence.
  I would just add, as the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis) and I 
remember as contemporaries, I want to say a word about social change. 
The people who integrated Central High School and the people who 
supported them, the leaders of the NAACP and the black community in 
Little Rock and in Arkansas, those who pressed a somewhat hesitant 
administration in Washington, DC to fully support them, they were not 
the moderates and centrists of their day. Some thought they were 
pushing too hard for their rights. Some thought they were being too 
obtrusive. We are very grateful that they were. I hope people will 
study this event, and the history that will come in part from this 
bill, that will be financed in part from this bill, and we hope from 
additional appropriations, will be something people will pay attention 
to so they will understand both the depths of the problem that America 
confronted and the kind of moral and mental and physical courage that 
it took to dismantle it.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. DAVIS of Kentucky. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I include for the Record an exchange of correspondence 
between the Committee on Financial Services and the Committee on Ways 
and Means.

                                         House of Representatives,


                              Committee on Financial Services,

                                    Washington, DC, June 24, 2005.
     Hon. William M. Thomas, 
     Chairman, Committee on Ways and Means, House of 
         Representatives, Longworth House Office Building, 
         Washington, DC.
       Dear Chairman Thomas: I am writing concerning H.R. 358, the 
     ``Little Rock Central High School Desegregation 50th 
     Anniversary Commemorative Coin Act,'' which will be scheduled 
     for floor consideration in the near future.
       I acknowledge your committee's jurisdictional interest in 
     this bill and request your cooperation in moving the bill to 
     the House floor expeditiously. I agree that your decision to 
     forego further action on this bill will not prejudice the 
     Committee on Ways and Means with respect to its 
     jurisdictional prerogatives on this or similar legislation. I 
     would support your request for conferees on those provisions 
     within your jurisdiction should this bill be the subject of a 
     House-Senate conference.
       I will include a copy of this letter and your response in 
     the Congressional Record when this bill is considered by the 
     House. Thank you again for your assistance.
           Yours truly,
                                                 Michael G. Oxley,
     Chairman.
                                  ____

                                         House of Representatives,


                                  Committee on Ways and Means,

                                    Washington, DC, June 24, 2005.
     Hon. Michael G. Oxley, 
     Chairman, Committee on Financial Services, Rayburn House 
         Office Building, Washington, DC.
       Dear Chairman Oxley: Thank you for your letter regarding 
     H.R. 358, the ``Little Rock Central High School Desegregation 
     50th Anniversary Commemorative Coin Act,'' which was reported 
     to the House by the Committee on Financial Services on June 
     17, 2005.
       As you noted, the Committee on Ways and Means maintains 
     jurisdiction over matters that concern raising revenue. H.R. 
     358 contains a provision that establishes a surcharge for the 
     sale of commemorative coins that are minted under the bill, 
     and thus falls within the jurisdiction of the Committee on 
     Ways and Means. However, in order to expedite this bill for 
     floor consideration, the Committee will forgo action. This is 
     being done with the understanding that it does not in any way 
     prejudice the Committee with respect to the appointment of 
     conferees or its jurisdictional prerogatives on this bill or 
     similar legislation.
       I appreciate and agree to your offer to include this 
     exchange of letters on this matter in the Congressional 
     Record during floor consideration.
           Best regards,
                                                      Bill Thomas,
                                                         Chairman.
  Mr. OXLEY. Mr. Speaker, the events of the last few weeks, culminating 
in the conviction of an 80-year-old Klansman in the infamous killing of 
three civil rights workers during 1964's ``Freedom Summer,'' serve as a 
good reminder that this country has come a long distance in just a few 
short decades.
  It is hard, from today's vantage point, to remember a time--a time 
when some of to-day's Members had not yet been born--when schools were 
segregated, when bathrooms were separate, when ``back of the bus'' was 
a place where some had to ride whether they liked it or not.
  Of course, tolerance is a job that requires constant attention and 
improvement, but we should not lose sight of the good progress we have 
made. And so today, Mr. Speaker, consideration of legislation to 
commemorate the desegregation of Little Rock Central High School is 
timely, or perhaps even overdue. Regardless, it is worthwhile for us to 
think for a minute of the courage of nine African-American youngsters 
as they stood on the steps of that school. And it is important for us 
to think of the courage of the idealistic youngsters, white and black, 
who powered the civil rights movement throughout the 1950s and early 
1960s.
  The legislation we consider today will go a long way to preserving an 
historic symbol of that desegregation fight. Surcharges on the sale of 
as many as half a million commemorative silver dollars will pay for 
preservation programs, and education programs at the site of the first 
important test of the Supreme Court's landmark desegregation ruling in 
Brown v. Board of Education.
  Mr. Speaker, as a testament to the importance of this legislation, it 
is supported broadly and on a bipartisan basis by 321 Members. I urge 
its immediate passage.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to be here today 
to be in support of the Little Rock Central High School Desegregation 
50th Anniversary Commemorative Coin Act. I would like to thank my 
colleague, Congressman Vic Snyder, for introducing this important piece 
of legislation.
  In 1957, Little Rock Central High School was the site of the first 
major national test for the implementation of the U.S. Supreme Court's 
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka decision and became the 
international symbol of the end of racially segregated public schools.
  The desegregation of Little Rock Central High by nine African 
American students was influential to the Civil Rights Movement, and 
recognized by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. as such a significant event 
in the struggle for civil rights that in May 1958, he attended the 
graduation of the first African American from Little Rock Central High 
School. Moreover, it changed American history by providing an example 
on which to build greater equality, and ultimately a better America.
  H.R. 358, the Little Rock Central High School Desegregation 50th 
Anniversary Commemorative Coin Act, will bring national and 
international attention to the lasting legacy of this important event 
by creating a commemorative coin for 2007, in recognition of the 50th 
anniversary of the desegregation of Little Rock Central High School. I 
am proud to be here today to support this bill and I urge my colleagues 
to do the same.
  Mr. DAVIS of Kentucky. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for 
time, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Radanovich). The question is on the 
motion offered by the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Davis) that the 
House suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 358, 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.

                          ____________________