[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 8]
[Senate]
[Pages 11028-11029]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




          SUPPORT OF AMERICAN EAGLE SILVER BULLION PROGRAM ACT

  Mr. REID. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Banking 
Committee be discharged from further consideration of S. 2594, and that 
the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The clerk will state the bill by title.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (S. 2594) to authorize the Secretary of the Treasury 
     to purchase silver on the open market when the silver 
     stockpile is depleted, to be used to mint coins.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
  Mr. REID. Madam President, Senator Crapo is not in the Chamber. 
Circumstances don't allow him to be here. This is something on which he 
has worked very hard. I want the Record to be very clear that this 
legislation could not have passed without his advocacy. He and I have 
worked on it for some time. It is important legislation. I want to make 
sure the Record is spread with the fact that Senator Crapo has been 
very instrumental in this effort.
  I ask unanimous consent that the bill be read the third time, passed, 
the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and that any 
statements relating to the bill be printed in the Record, all without 
intervening action or debate.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The bill (S. 2594) was read the third time and passed, as follows:

                                S. 2594

       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 ``Support of American Eagle 
     Silver Bullion Program Act''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

       Congress finds that--
       (1) the American Eagle Silver Bullion coin leads the global 
     market, and is the largest and most popular silver coin 
     program in the United States;
       (2) established in 1986, the American Eagle Silver Bullion 
     Program is the most successful silver bullion program in the 
     world;
       (3) from fiscal year 1995 through fiscal year 2001, the 
     American Eagle Silver Bullion Program generated--
       (A) revenues of $264,100,000; and
       (B) sufficient profits to significantly reduce the national 
     debt;
       (4) with the depletion of silver reserves in the Defense 
     Logistic Agency's Strategic and Critical Materials Stockpile, 
     it is necessary for the Department of the Treasury to acquire 
     silver from other sources in order to preserve the American 
     Eagle Silver Bullion Program;
       (5) with the ability to obtain silver from other sources, 
     the United States Mint can continue the highly successful 
     American Eagle Silver Bullion Program, exercising sound 
     business judgment and market acquisition practices in its 
     approach to the silver market, resulting in continuing 
     profitability of the program;
       (6) in 2001, silver was commercially produced in 12 States, 
     including, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, 
     Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, South Dakota, Utah, 
     and Washington;
       (7) Nevada is the largest silver producing State in the 
     Nation, producing--
       (A) 17,500,000 ounces of silver in 2001; and
       (B) 34 percent of United States silver production in 2000;
       (8) the mining industry in Idaho is vital to the economy of 
     the State, and the Silver Valley in northern Idaho leads the 
     world in recorded silver production, with over 1,100,000,000 
     ounces of silver produced between 1884 and 2001;
       (9) the largest, active silver producing mine in the Nation 
     is the McCoy/Cove Mine in Nevada, which produced more than 
     107,000,000 ounces of silver between 1989 and 2001;
       (10) the mining industry in Idaho--
       (A) employs more than 3,000 people;
       (B) contributes more than $900,000,000 to the Idaho 
     economy; and
       (C) produces $70,000,000 worth of silver per year;

[[Page 11029]]

       (11) the silver mines of the Comstock lode, the premier 
     silver producing deposit in Nevada, brought people and wealth 
     to the region, paving the way for statehood in 1864, and 
     giving Nevada its nickname as ``the Silver State'';
       (12) mines in the Silver Valley--
       (A) represent an important part of the mining history of 
     Idaho and the United States; and
       (B) have served in the past as key components of the United 
     States war effort; and
       (13) silver has been mined in Nevada throughout its 
     history, with every significant metal mining camp in Nevada 
     producing some silver.

     SEC. 3. PURCHASE OF SILVER BY THE SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY.

       (a) Purchase of Silver.--
       (1) In general.--Section 5116(b)(2) of title 31, United 
     States Code, is amended by inserting after the second 
     sentence the following: ``At such time as the silver 
     stockpile is depleted, the Secretary shall obtain silver as 
     described in paragraph (1) to mint coins authorized under 
     section 5112(e). If it is not economically feasible to obtain 
     such silver, the Secretary may obtain silver for coins 
     authorized under section 5112(e) from other available 
     sources. The Secretary shall not pay more than the average 
     world price for silver under any circumstances. As used in 
     this paragraph, the term `average world price' means the 
     price determined by a widely recognized commodity exchange at 
     the time the silver is obtained by the Secretary.''.
       (2) Rulemaking authority.--The Secretary of the Treasury 
     shall issue regulations to implement the amendments made by 
     paragraph (1).
       (b) Study Required.--
       (1) Study.--The Secretary of the Treasury shall conduct a 
     study of the impact on the United States silver market of the 
     American Eagle Silver Bullion Program, established under 
     section 5112(e) of title 31, United States Code.
       (2) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
     enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Treasury shall 
     submit a report of the study conducted under paragraph (1) to 
     the chairman and ranking minority member of--
       (A) the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of 
     the Senate; and
       (B) the Committee on Financial Services of the House of 
     Representatives.
       (c) Annual Report.--
       (1) In general.--The Director of the United States Mint 
     shall prepare and submit to Congress an annual report on the 
     purchases of silver made pursuant to this Act and the 
     amendments made by this Act.
       (2) Concurrent submission.--The report required by 
     paragraph (1) may be incorporated into the annual report of 
     the Director of the United States Mint on the operations of 
     the mint and assay offices, referred to in section 1329 of 
     title 44, United States Code.

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