[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 87 (Thursday, June 29, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7176-S7178]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  LOUIS BRAILLE BICENTENNIAL--BRAILLE LITERACY COMMEMORATIVE COIN ACT

  Mr. McCONNELL. I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the

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immediate consideration of Calendar No. 475, S. 2321.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (S. 2321) to require the Secretary of the Treasury 
     to mint coins in commemoration of Louis Braille.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
  Mr. McCONNELL. I ask unanimous consent that the bill be read a third 
time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and 
any statements relating to the bill be printed in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The bill (S. 2321) was ordered to be engrossed for a third reading, 
read the third time and passed, as follows:

                                S. 2321

       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 ``Louis Braille Bicentennial--
     Braille Literacy Commemorative Coin Act''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

       Congress finds as follows:
       (1) Louis Braille, who invented the Braille method for 
     reading and writing by the blind that has allowed millions of 
     blind people to be literate participants in their societies, 
     was born in Coupvray, a small village near Paris, on January 
     4, 1809.
       (2) Braille lost his sight at the age of 3, after injuring 
     himself with an awl in the shop of his father Rene, a maker 
     of harnesses and other objects of leather.
       (3) A youth who was both intelligent and creative, Braille 
     was blessed with dedicated parents, a thoughtful local 
     priest, and an energetic local schoolteacher.
       (4) Braille adapted to his situation and attended local 
     school with other children of his age, an unheard-of practice 
     for a blind child of the period.
       (5) At the age of 10, when his schooling otherwise would 
     have stopped, Braille, with the aid of his priest and 
     schoolteacher, was given a scholarship by a local nobleman 
     and went to Paris to attend the Royal Institute for Blind 
     Children, where he became the youngest pupil.
       (6) At the Institute, most instruction was oral but Braille 
     found there were books for the blind, large, expensive-to-
     produce books, in which the text was of large letters 
     embossed upon the page.
       (7) Soon, Braille had read all 14 books in the school, but 
     thirsted for more.
       (8) Charles Barbier de la Serre, a captain in Napoleon's 
     army, had invented ``night writing'', a method for 
     communicating on the battlefield amidst the thick smoke of 
     combat, or at night without lighting a match (which would aid 
     enemy gunners), that used dots and dashes that were felt and 
     interpreted with the fingers. He later adapted the method for 
     use by the blind, calling it ``Sonography'', because it 
     represented words by sounds, rather than spelling.
       (9) Braille adopted the Sonography method instantly, but 
     soon recognized that the basis in sound and the large number 
     of dots, as many as 12, used to represent words was too 
     cumbersome.
       (10) By the age of 15, and using a blunt awl, the same sort 
     of tool that had blinded him, Braille had developed what is 
     essentially modern Braille, a code that uses no more than 6 
     dots in a ``cell'' of 2 columns of 3 dots each to represent 
     each letter, and contains a system of punctuation and of 
     ``contractions'' to speed writing and reading.
       (11) In contrast to the bulky books consisting of large 
     embossed letters, Braille books can contain as many as 1,000 
     characters or contractions on a standard 11-by-12-inch page 
     of heavy paper, and to this day, Braille can be punched with 
     an awl-like ``stylus'' into paper held in a metal ``slate'' 
     that is very similar to the ones that Louis Braille adapted 
     from Barbier's original ``night writing'' devices.
       (12) Also a talented organist who supported himself by 
     giving concerts, Braille went on to develop the Braille 
     representation of music, and in 1829, published the first-
     ever Braille book, a manual about how to read and write 
     music.
       (13) 8 years later, in 1837, Braille followed that 
     publication with another book detailing a system of 
     representation of mathematics.
       (14) Braille's talents were quickly recognized, and at age 
     17, he was made the first blind apprentice teacher at the 
     school, where he taught algebra, grammar, music, and 
     geography.
       (15) He and 2 blind classmates, his friends who probably 
     were the first people to learn to read and write Braille, 
     later became the first 3 blind full professors at the school.
       (16) However, despite the fact that many blind people 
     enthusiastically adopted the system of writing and reading, 
     there was great skepticism among sighted people about the 
     real usefulness of Braille's code, and even at the Royal 
     Institute, it was not taught until after his death on January 
     6, 1852.
       (17) Braille did not start to spread widely until 1868 when 
     a group of British men, later to become known as the Royal 
     National Institute for the Blind, began publicizing and 
     teaching the system.
       (18) Braille did not become the official and sole method of 
     reading and writing for blind United States citizens until 
     the 20th Century.
       (19) Helen Keller, a Braille reader of another generation, 
     said: ``Braille has been a most precious aid to me in many 
     ways. It made my going to college possible--it was the only 
     method by which I could take notes on lectures. All my 
     examination papers were copied for me in this system. I use 
     Braille as a spider uses its web--to catch thoughts that flit 
     across my mind for speeches, messages, and manuscripts.''.
       (20) While rapid technological advances in the 20th Century 
     have greatly aided the blind in many ways by speeding access 
     to information, each advance has seen a commensurate drop in 
     the teaching of Braille, to the point that only about 10 
     percent of blind students today are taught the system.
       (21) However, for the blind not to know Braille is in 
     itself a handicap, because literacy is the ability to read 
     and the ability to write and the ability to do the 2 
     interactively.
       (22) The National Federation of the Blind, the Nation's 
     oldest membership organization consisting of blind members, 
     has been a champion of the Braille code, of Braille literacy 
     for all blind people, and of the memory of Louis Braille, and 
     continues its Braille literacy efforts today through its 
     divisions emphasizing Braille literacy, education of blind 
     children, and employment of the blind.
       (23) Braille literacy aids the blind in taking responsible 
     and self-sufficient roles in society, such as employment. 
     While 70 percent of the blind are unemployed, 85 percent of 
     the employed blind are Braille-literate.

     SEC. 3. COIN SPECIFICATIONS.

       (a) In General.--The Secretary of the Treasury (hereafter 
     in this Act referred to as the ``Secretary'') shall mint and 
     issue not more than 400,000 $1 coins bearing the designs 
     specified in section 4(a), 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 5134 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.--
       (1) In general.--The design of the coins minted under this 
     Act shall be emblematic of the life and legacy of Louis 
     Braille.
       (2) Obverse.--The design on the obverse shall bear a 
     representation of the image of Louis Braille.
       (3) Reverse.--The design on the reverse shall emphasize 
     Braille literacy, and shall specifically include the word for 
     Braille in Braille code (the Braille capital sign and the 
     letters Brl) represented in a way that complies with section 
     3 of specification 800 of the National Library Service for 
     the Blind and Physically Handicapped of the Library of 
     Congress specifications for Braille, and is tactilely 
     indiscernible from printed or written Braille.
       (4) Designation and inscriptions.--On each coin minted 
     under this Act, there shall be--
       (A) a designation of the value of the coin;
       (B) an inscription of the year ``2009''; and
       (C) inscriptions of the words ``Liberty'', ``In God We 
     Trust'', ``United States of America'', and ``E Pluribus 
     Unum''.
       (b) 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 the National Federation of the 
     Blind; and
       (2) reviewed by the Citizens Coinage 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) Mint Facility.--Only 1 facility of the United States 
     Mint may be used to strike any particular quality of the 
     coins minted under this Act.
       (c) Period for Issuance.--The Secretary may issue coins 
     minted under this Act only during the 1-year period beginning 
     on January 1, 2009.

     SEC. 6. SALE OF COINS.

       (a) Sale Price.--The coins issued under this Act shall be 
     sold by the Secretary at a price equal to the sum of--
       (1) the face value of the coins;
       (2) the surcharge provided in section 7(a) with respect to 
     such coins; and
       (3) the cost of designing and issuing the coins (including 
     labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, overhead expenses, 
     marketing, and shipping).
       (b) Bulk Sales.--The Secretary shall make bulk sales of the 
     coins issued under this Act at a reasonable discount.
       (c) Prepaid Orders.--
       (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 of coins under this Act 
     shall include a surcharge of $10 per coin.

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       (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 National Federation 
     of the Blind, to further its programs to promote Braille 
     literacy.
       (c) Audits.--The National Federation of the Blind shall be 
     subject to the audit requirements of section 5134(f)(2) of 
     title 31, United States Code, with regard to the amounts 
     received by the National Federation of the Blind under 
     subsection (b).

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