[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 32 (Thursday, February 17, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S801-S802]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           HARRIET TUBMAN BICENTENNIAL COMMEMORATIVE COIN ACT

  Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs be discharged and the 
Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. 697.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (S. 697) to require the Secretary of the Treasury to 
     mint commemorative coins in recognition of the Bicentennial 
     of Harriet Tubman's birth.

  There being no objection, the committee was discharged and the Senate 
proceeded to consider the bill.
  Mr. SCHUMER. I ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read 
a third time.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The bill was ordered to be engrossed for a third reading and was read 
the third time.
  Mr. SCHUMER. I know of no further debate on the bill.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there further debate?
  Hearing none, and the bill having been read the third time, the 
question is, Shall the bill pass?
  The bill (S. 697) was passed, as follows:

                                 S. 697

       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 ``Harriet Tubman Bicentennial 
     Commemorative Coin Act''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

       Congress finds the following:
       (1) Harriet Tubman was a formerly enslaved abolitionist who 
     guided about 70 people from slavery to freedom in 10 years.
       (2) Born in March 1822, Tubman was a notable abolitionist 
     who not only freed herself, but also freed others from 
     slavery.
       (3) Harriet Ross Tubman, born Araminta ``Minty'' Ross, was 
     born enslaved on the plantation of Anthony Thompson in 
     Dorchester County, Maryland.
       (4) With the help of the Underground Railroad network, in 
     the fall of 1849, Tubman escaped from Poplar Neck in Caroline 
     County, Maryland, heading north to freedom in Pennsylvania.
       (5) With the passing of the Fugitive Slave Act as part of 
     the Compromise of 1850, the operations to help enslaved 
     persons escape became dangerous and she risked her life to 
     rescue them from slavery.
       (6) Despite passage of the Compromise of 1850 and the 
     Fugitive Slave Act, Tubman

[[Page S802]]

     continued her work, escorting her refugees to Canada instead.
       (7) It was during the 1850s that Tubman made 13 trips back 
     to Maryland, guiding approximately 70 enslaved persons to the 
     North, including family members, and providing instruction to 
     about 70 more who found their way to freedom on their own.
       (8) Regardless of the arduous process of helping fugitive 
     enslaved persons escape through the Underground Railroad, not 
     a single person was recaptured under Tubman's supervision.
       (9) During 1859, Tubman aided abolitionist John Brown by 
     recruiting supporters for his raid on Harper's Ferry, a 
     planned insurrection against slaveholders in Virginia and 
     Maryland.
       (10) In the beginning of the Civil War, Tubman served as a 
     spy, cook, and nurse in South Carolina and Florida.
       (11) Tubman also recruited newly freed African-American men 
     to join regiments of African-American soldiers called United 
     States Colored Troops.
       (12) In recognition of her abilities, Tubman served as an 
     army scout and spy for Major General David Hunter and Colonel 
     James Montgomery. Harriet Tubman was inducted into the 
     Military Intelligence Corps Hall of Fame.
       (13) Tubman distinguished herself as the first woman to 
     lead an armed expedition in the Civil War, the Combahee River 
     Raid, resulting in more than 700 enslaved persons in South 
     Carolina being freed.
       (14) After the Civil War, Tubman frequently sheltered and 
     fed newly freed enslaved persons at her home on South Street 
     in Auburn, New York, which she purchased from Secretary of 
     State William Henry Seward, even though she had little money 
     herself. She found a means to an end by working as a 
     domestic, selling produce from her garden, taking in 
     donations of food, loans from friends, and raising pigs on 
     her farm.
       (15) Tubman became active in the women's movement as early 
     as 1860. She attended meetings and gave speeches in her home 
     State of New York, as well as in Boston and Washington, DC.
       (16) Tubman was an avid advocate for African-American women 
     and their civil rights. In 1896, she was invited as a speaker 
     at the first meeting of the National Association of Colored 
     Women in Washington, DC.
       (17) Although living in financial insecurity, Tubman 
     transferred a 25-acre parcel of land to the African Methodist 
     Episcopal Zion Church in 1903, which eventually became The 
     Harriet Tubman Home for the Aged and Indigent Negroes. At the 
     time, few social services existed for elderly and ill people 
     of color.
       (18) Escaping slavery, risking everything to save her 
     family and friends, aiding enslaved persons in escape from 
     slavery, leading a military raid, championing the cause of 
     women's suffrage, advocating for civil rights and access to 
     health care, Harriet Tubman is an individual that has 
     performed achievements that have had profound impacts on 
     history and culture in the United States.

     SEC. 3. COIN SPECIFICATIONS.

       (a) Denominations.--In commemoration of Harriet Tubman, the 
     Secretary of the Treasury (hereafter referred to in this Act 
     as the ``Secretary'') shall mint and issue the following 
     coins:
       (1) $5 gold coins.--Not more than 50,000 $5 coins, which 
     shall--
       (A) weigh 8.359 grams;
       (B) be struck on a planchet having a diameter of 0.850 
     inches; and
       (C) contain at least 90 percent gold.
       (2) $1 silver coins.--Not more than 400,000 $1 coins, which 
     shall--
       (A) weigh 26.73 grams;
       (B) be struck on a planchet having a diameter of 1.500 
     inches; and
       (C) contain at least 90 percent silver.
       (3) Half-dollar clad coins.--Not more than 750,000 half-
     dollar coins which shall--
       (A) weigh 11.34 grams;
       (B) have a diameter of 1.205 inches; and
       (C) be minted to the specifications for half-dollar coins 
     contained in section 5112(b) of title 31, United States Code.
       (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 sections 5134 and 
     5136 of title 31, United States Code, all coins minted under 
     this Act shall be considered to be numismatic items.

     SEC. 4. DESIGNS OF COINS.

       (a) Design Requirements.--
       (1) In general.--The designs of the coins minted under this 
     Act shall be emblematic of the legacy of Harriet Tubman as an 
     abolitionist. At least one obverse design shall bear the 
     image of Harriet Tubman.
       (2) Designation and inscriptions.--On each coin minted 
     under this Act, there shall be--
       (A) an inscription of Harriet Tubman;
       (B) a designation of the value of the coin;
       (C) an inscription of the year ``2024''; and
       (D) inscriptions of the words ``Liberty'', ``In God We 
     Trust'', ``United States of America'', and ``E Pluribus 
     Unum''.
       (b) Selection.--The designs for the coins minted under this 
     Act shall be--
       (1) selected by the Secretary, after consultation with the 
     National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati, 
     Ohio, The Harriet Tubman Home, Inc. in Auburn, New York, and 
     the Commission of the Fine Arts; 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 
     under this Act only during the period beginning on January 1, 
     2024, and ending on December 31, 2024.

     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 under section 7(a) with respect 
     to the 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 
     the coins.
       (2) Discount.--Sale prices with respect to prepaid orders 
     under paragraph (1) shall be at a reasonable discount.

     SEC. 7. SURCHARGES.

       (a) In General.--All sales of coins issued under this Act 
     shall include--
       (1) a surcharge of $35 per coin for the $5 coins;
       (2) a surcharge of $10 per coin for the $1 coins; and
       (3) a surcharge of $5 per coin for the half-dollar coin.
       (b) Distribution.--
       (1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), 
     subject to section 5134(f) of title 31, United States Code, 
     all surcharges received by the Secretary from the sale of 
     coins issued under this Act shall be promptly paid by the 
     Secretary equally to the National Underground Railroad 
     Freedom Center in Cincinnati, Ohio, and The Harriet Tubman 
     Home, Inc. in Auburn, New York, for the purpose of 
     accomplishing and advancing their missions.
       (2) Exception.--Notwithstanding section 5134(f)(1) of title 
     31, United States Code, if an entity described in paragraph 
     (1) of this subsection raises funds from private sources in 
     an amount that is less than the total amount of the proceeds 
     of the surcharge derived from the sale of the coins issued 
     under this Act, the Secretary shall promptly pay to the other 
     entity the proceeds of such surcharge.
       (c) Audits.--The National Underground Railroad Freedom 
     Center in Cincinnati, Ohio, and The Harriet Tubman Home, Inc. 
     in Auburn, New York, shall be subject to the audit 
     requirements of section 5134(f)(2) of title 31, United States 
     Code, with regard to the amounts received under subsection 
     (b).
       (d) 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. The Secretary of the Treasury may issue 
     guidance to carry out this subsection.

     SEC. 8. FINANCIAL ASSURANCES.

       The Secretary shall take such actions as may be necessary 
     to ensure that--
       (1) minting and issuing coins under this Act will not 
     result in any net cost to the United States Government; and
       (2) no funds, including applicable surcharges, are 
     disbursed to any recipient designated in section 7 until the 
     total cost of designing and issuing all of the coins 
     authorized by this Act (including labor, materials, dies, use 
     of machinery, winning design compensation, overhead expenses, 
     marketing, and shipping) is recovered by the United States 
     Treasury, consistent with sections 5112(m) and 5134(f) of 
     title 31, United States Code.

  Mr. SCHUMER. I ask unanimous consent that the motion to reconsider be 
considered made and laid upon the table.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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