[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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