[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 164 (Sunday, December 18, 2005)]
[House]
[Pages H12189-H12192]
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. RENZI. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and concur in the 
Senate amendment to 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.
  The Clerk read as follows:

       Senate amendment:
       Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert:

     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.

       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--

[[Page H12190]]

       (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, and subsection (d), 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.
       (d) Creditable Funds.--Notwithstanding any other provision 
     of the law and recognizing the unique partnership nature of 
     the Department of Interior and the Little Rock School 
     District at the Little Rock Central High School National 
     Historic Site and the significant contributions made by the 
     Little Rock School District to preserve and maintain the 
     historic character of the high school, any non-Federal funds 
     expended by the school district (regardless of the source of 
     the funds) for improvements at the Little Rock Central High 
     School National Historic Site, to the extent such funds were 
     used for the purposes described in paragraph (1), (2), or (3) 
     of subsection (b), shall be deemed to meet the requirement of 
     funds from private sources of section 5134(f)(1)(A)(ii) of 
     title 31, United States Code, with respect to the Secretary 
     of the Interior.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Arizona (Mr. Renzi) and the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Maloney) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Arizona.


                             General Leave

  Mr. RENZI. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks on this 
legislation and to include extraneous material thereon.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Arizona?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. RENZI. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I 
rise in support of H.R. 358, the Little Rock Central High School 
Desegregation 50th Anniversary Commemorative Coin Act, which was 
introduced by the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Snyder). This 
legislation recognizes a uniquely important moment in the history of 
this Nation and the civil rights movement.
  Passage of this legislation will allow the Secretary of the Treasury 
to issue coins commemorating the 50th anniversary of the desegregation 
of Little Rock Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. The 
legislation before the House is similar to the language passed by this 
Chamber in late June, with the important addition of language that 
slightly alters the mechanism for the distribution of surcharges that 
would be generated by the sale of these coins.
  However, this bill preserves the important reforms made a decade ago 
in the Commemorative Coin Reform Act that specifies that non-Federal 
funds must be raised to match the surcharge money received. It further 
recognizes the unique partnership between the Department of Interior 
and the Little Rock School District at the Little Rock Central High 
School National Historic Site and the significant financial 
contributions made by the district to preserve and maintain the 
historic character of the high school.
  Technical language was added by the Senate, with the full agreement 
of the chairman and ranking member of the House committee of 
jurisdiction and of the author of the reform language, and in no way 
either signifies a deviation from the intent or letter of the reform 
language or establishes a precedent or practice different than that 
laid forth in the reform language that organizations which are named 
recipients of the surcharges on the sale of commemorative coins must 
show the strength of their organization and the widespread public 
support of the honored organization or project by raising 
nongovernmental funds in an amount equal to or exceeding the surcharges 
received.
  I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mrs. MALONEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 358, the Little Rock 
Commemorative Coin Act, introduced by the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. 
Snyder). This bill authorizes the Treasury to mint a dollar coin during 
the year 2007 in honor of the 50th anniversary of the desegregation of 
the Little Rock Central High School in 1957.
  Those events, which have gone down in history, were the first major 
tests of the Supreme Court's landmark 1954 decision in Brown v. Board 
of Education that segregation in schools was unconstitutional.
  None of us who were alive in 1957 will ever forget seeing those nine 
African American children walk bravely into Central High School 
surrounded by Federal troops and a raging mob. Their courage in the 
face of hatred and their resolute determination to overcome bigotry 
serves as a shining light to all of us. I don't believe any one of us 
are aware of what a historic event it was and what a history changing 
event it has become. Imagine the strength that it must have taken.
  Only days before one of the students was almost lynched when she 
attempted to enter Central on the first day of school, and the Arkansas 
National Guard kept the other African American students out. The events 
of the next few days are the stuff of legends.
  NAACP lawyer Thurgood Marshall and a future member of the Supreme 
Court obtained a Federal ruling preventing Governor Orval Faubus from 
using the National Guard to keep the nine children out of Central High. 
Although Faubus announced on TV that he would comply with the court 
order he added that the nine should stay away, and I quote from his own 
words, stay away for your own safety, end quote. Encouraged by his 
comments, a mob surrounded the school.
  Finally, at the request of Congressman Brooks Hays and Mayor Woodrow

[[Page H12191]]

Mann, President Eisenhower dispatched 1,000 troops of the 101st 
Airborne Division to Little Rock to protect the nine school children 
and federalized the Arkansas National Guard so that Faubus could not 
order them to intervene.
  Incidentally, Brooks Hays lost his next election because of the 
strong feeling of the community. It was an act of bravery on his part.
  On September 25, 1957, the Little Rock Nine, Ernest Green, Elizabeth 
Eckford, Melba Patillo, Jefferson Thomas, Carlotta Walls, Terrence 
Roberts, Gloria Ray, Thelma Mothershed and Minnijean Brown, entered 
Central High School and went to class.
  A year later, in 1958, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., attended the 
graduation of Ernest Green, the first African American student ever to 
graduate from Central High. Mr. Green is now a partner in Lehman 
Brothers. In fact, all of the Little Rock Nine went on to professional 
achievements in and strong contributing lives to their communities.
  This bill has over 300 bipartisan cosponsors and has been passed by 
the House by voice vote in June. We consider today the bill, as amended 
by the Senate, which contains a provision requested by the gentleman 
from Arkansas (Mr. Snyder) to fix a problem that we learned of after 
House passage.
  The amendment provides that the Little Rock School District can 
satisfy the statutory requirement of matching private funds through a 
local bond issue. In light of the unique circumstances of the Little 
Rock historical site, I would like to deeply thank the gentleman from 
Ohio (Mr. Oxley) and the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Frank) for 
their help in solving this problem and moving this legislation forward.
  On the 40th anniversary of the Little Rock Nine, President Clinton 
gave a Congressional Gold Medal. There was a celebration here in the 
Library of Congress, and in this Congress I had the opportunity of 
meeting many of them and congratulating them for their historic life-
changing courage that helped so many others through their courage and 
acts.

                              {time}  1530

  I urge my colleagues to support this bill.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. RENZI. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I thank the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Maloney) and particularly 
want to thank the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Snyder) for pulling 
together the support, the vast amount of support on a bipartisan basis 
to recognize the pain and suffering the Little Rock Nine have given to 
move this country forward.
  Mr. Speaker, I have no additional speakers, and I reserve the balance 
of my time.
  Mrs. MALONEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield as much time as he may consume to 
the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Snyder), the author of this important 
resolution.
  Mr. SNYDER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. 
Maloney) and the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Renzi) for their support 
and work on this bill. I also want to thank Ranking Member Frank and 
Chairman Oxley, who were both personally involved in seeing this bill 
through from the beginning to the end.
  I had occasion yesterday to call the Central High School National 
Historic site. The park headquarters is now in an old gas station that 
was there in 1957. It has been wonderfully restored. There is a new 
visitor center that is coming over the next couple of years that should 
be ready for the 50th anniversary also.
  But the person that answered the phone, I heard this young woman's 
voice and I knew right away who it was. It was Spirit Trickey, who is a 
park ranger that works at the site. Her mother was Minnie Jean Brown 
Trickey, one of the Little Rock Nine. And you talk about having a sense 
of the change. I have heard Spirit talk before in a speech with tears 
in her eyes what it has meant for her and her generation, the 
sacrifices that her mother and the other members of the Little Rock 
Nine, what their sacrifices meant to her.
  So we come here today with two purposes. One is to have these coins 
issued to remember and honor the Little Rock Nine and the sacrifices of 
them and their families, but also the very practical one, to help raise 
dollars to tell the story at the site.
  And as Mr. Renzi pointed out, the Little Rock Central High School is 
a very fine functioning school district. It is not an abandoned 
historic site. It is run by the Little Rock School District. And so we 
had this practical problem that the gentleman iterated about how do you 
do this match when the dollars are raised through tax dollars.
  And so I concur with the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Renzi). The 
intent of this legislation is not to change the underlying law. It is 
to say because of the unique situation that this site can meet its 
match for this commemorative coin dollar by matching the dollars raised 
through local and State millage taxes, not Federal dollars, but through 
local millage elections, which they have done and will continue to do.
  So I want to thank everyone that participated in this, and again 
thank Mr. Renzi and Mrs. Maloney for the passage of this bill.
  Mrs. MALONEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Davis).
  (Mr. DAVIS of Illinois asked and was given permission to revise and 
extend his remarks.)
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentlewoman 
from New York for yielding time. I also want to commend the gentleman 
from Arkansas (Mr. Snyder) for introducing this legislation. I never 
miss an opportunity to comment on anything that was taking place in 
Arkansas at that time because at that time I was a young contemporary 
of the Little Rock Nine. As they went into high school, and some were 
seniors, I was a freshman in college a few miles away down at the 
University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. Of course at that time it was 
Arkansas AM&N College. And I remember vividly Daisy Bates, the 
outstanding head of the NAACP, who actually grew up down in the little 
part of Arkansas, in rural Arkansas where I came from.
  Wiley Branton was the outstanding attorney. They were our heroes. Of 
course, as the gentlewoman from New York has indicated, all of the 
Little Rock Nine have gone on to become outstanding citizens. I have 
had the good fortune to know some of them or members of their family. I 
did student teaching at the school where Mrs. Patillo taught, who was 
Melba Patillo's mother, and so I knew her at that time. Minnie Jean 
Brown and I spent a weekend together last year down at Southern 
Illinois University, where she was a speaker at the university where 
she graduated. And all of us have seen Ernie Green throughout the 
country, as he has become a distinguished civic and business leader. Of 
course Ernie was the Undersecretary of Labor during the Carter 
Administration.
  So I simply come to urge support. Again, I commend Mr. Snyder, an 
outstanding Representative who represents all of the people in that 
great city and in that great area. And I urge its passage.
  Mrs. MALONEY. I yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas 
(Ms. Jackson-Lee), who incidentally, was born in New York State.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from 
New York (Mrs. Maloney), the esteemed and honorable and great leader, 
not only for her distinguished support of this legislation but for the 
work that we have been doing regarding Sojourner Truth. I thank the 
gentlewoman so very much for her leadership, along with a number of 
friends here on the floor. We are not debating that bill right now, but 
I do want to mention the wonderful members of the House Administration 
Committee, the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ney), and the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Millender-McDonald).
  But we are here to salute the legislation that has been offered by 
the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Snyder), H.R. 358; and I thank the 
gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Renzi) for contributing to the leadership 
for this bill now coming to the floor of the House.
  This is a story in history that so many of us grew up looking at and 
our lives and our future depended on. The outright leadership and 
heroism of the nine young people, all under the age of

[[Page H12192]]

21, who accepted the challenge of breaking the bars and the concrete 
ceiling of segregation in Little Rock, Arkansas, go a very long way to 
opening the doors of opportunity for those of us who followed. Though 
it was a secondary school and called upon the State of Arkansas to 
recognize the importance of educating all children, you can be assured 
it was a continuing journey. After the Brown v. Topeka Board of 
Education decision, this was just another milestone, if you will, to 
providing young people across America who were discriminated against 
for no other reason than for the color of their skin to have the doors 
of educational opportunity open to them.
  The vision of Mr. Snyder to put forward this coin in order to ensure 
that funding continues to protect this site goes a long way to allowing 
us to enjoy it and be, if you will, informed about it. Let me salute 
the Little Rock 9, as they are adults, and let me salute Mr. Ernie 
Green, who served in the United States Cabinet of President William 
Jefferson Clinton, for his ongoing civic leadership, along with his 
many, many other students who were part of the Little Rock 9.
  If we are a people who fail to remember our history, Mr. Speaker, we 
are doomed to repeat the past. This is a forward-thinking legislative 
initiative. I salute Mr. Snyder for his vision, and it is going to be 
exciting for the many school children around America to go and 
understand how tough it is to be able to fight against all odds, but 
how important it is to be able to accept the challenge and then win.
  With that I ask my colleagues to join in the salute and support of 
this legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the proposed legislation, 
the ``Little Rock Central High School Desegregation 50th Anniversary 
Commemorative Coin Act.''
  In September 1957, nearly half a century ago, nine African-American 
students entered Little Rock Central High School in Little Rock, 
Arkansas. The students were forced to enter the school under the 
protection of the National Guard, which had been ``federalized'' by 
President Dwight David Eisenhower. So contentious was the Brown v. 
Board of Education decision, which ruled that segregation in schools 
was unconstitutional, that Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus, had vowed to 
do everything in his power to prevent integration of Little Rock 
schools.
  The nine students, now referred to as the ``Little Rock Nine,'' were 
Ernest Green, Elizabeth Eckford, Melba Patillo, Jefferson Thomas, 
Carlotta Walls, Terrence Roberts, Gloria Ray, Themla Mothershed, and 
Minnijean Brown. The integration of these nine brave students, along 
with other heros of the time like Rosa Parks, paved the way for the 
civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. The event was perceived 
to be so important in forwarding the movement that Dr. Martin Luther 
King, Jr., attended the graduation of the Little Rock Nine from Little 
Rock Central High School in 1958.
  Part of the collected revenue of the sale of this coin--a $10 
surcharge per coin--will be used for the protection and preservation of 
resources and stories associated with the Little Rock Central High 
School National Historic Site. I believe this effort is especially 
important. Segregation and discrimination was a dark period of our 
country's history, and we must retell the stories of our history so we 
may learn from the mistakes of our past.
  Let us honor and celebrate this important historical event of half a 
century ago, but let us also remember there are still steps to be taken 
for racial equality. Let this coin remind us of the battles for freedom 
and equality of yesteryear, and the battles still being fought here and 
across the world today.
  I urge my colleagues to vote in support of this resolution.
  Mrs. MALONEY. Mr. Speaker, I do not have any further speakers. I 
congratulate Mr. Snyder for his leadership on this legislation and Mr. 
Renzi, and their leadership on many other issues.
  I yield back the balance of my time, and I urge the unanimous support 
of this important bill.
  Mr. RENZI. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  In summation, I do not deserve any credit for this. The credit really 
deserves to go to the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Snyder), the 
gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Maloney), and the delegation from 
Arkansas who really pulled together the House in a bipartisan fashion. 
I want to thank the gentleman for pulling together a community, too, 
down in Arkansas and allowing them to rally around the unique history 
of their land.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Gillmor). The question is on the motion 
offered by the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Renzi) that the House 
suspend the rules and concur in Senate amendment to the bill, H.R. 358.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the Senate amendment was 
concurred in.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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