on their phones or cards to pay their bills, we should not be pouring
millions and millions of taxpayer dollars into a coin that is now
rarely used.
  This is not a partisan idea. As has been said, countries from all
across the world--Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and others--have
stopped using and producing low-value coins without any issues or
problems for the population.
  This bill provides clarity by giving businesses the option, not the
requirement, to round cash transactions to the nearest nickel when
exact change isn't available.
  It also ensures that existing pennies, more than 114 billion of them,
will also remain legal tender. Folks can keep those pennies if they
have them at home.
  Now, the government should stop spending nearly 4 cents to make 1
cent coins.
  The Common Cents Act eliminates a wasteful, obsolete coin while
protecting pennies as legal tender. Let's stop throwing good money
after the bad and pass the Common Cents Act.
  Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman
from Oklahoma (Mr. Lucas), our chairman of the Task Force on Monetary
Policy, Treasury Market Resilience, and Economic Prosperity. In my
experience of being chairman of the committee on which he serves, he is
a man who always comes to the committee and plans on throwing his 2
cents into every debate.
  Mr. LUCAS. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate those comments by the chairman.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the Common Cents Act.
This bill has been over a year in the making with my colleagues Mrs.
McClain and Mr. Garcia from California, and I am proud of the product
that we put forward today.
  The 1 cent piece, or the penny as it is commonly known, does indeed
cost almost 4 cents to produce, and 2024 was the 19th consecutive year
the U.S. Government lost money keeping the 1 cent piece in circulation.
  That is why this year, the President rightly ordered the Department
of the Treasury to stop wasting hard-earned taxpayer money to produce
the coin and why we are excited to move forward in codifying this
action.
  The Common Cents Act also gives flexibility to the Mint to produce a
nickel with cheaper materials. In 1866, Congress mandated the nickel be
produced from an alloy of copper and nickel, and we haven't updated the
composition since. This bill gives the Mint the flexibility to produce
a cheaper coin, while retaining Congress' responsibility of coining
money.
  Finally, the bill provides certainty for businesses in their cash
transactions with customers without mandating price controls from the
government.
  We are also proud to boast the endorsements of the National Retail
Federation, the National Grocers Association, the United Steelworkers
International Union, and the American Bankers Association, among many
others.
  I must take one moment and note with the passing of the 1 cent piece,
it is a coin that was mandated in the 1792 Mint Act, a coin that when
it was originally produced in 1793 by the United States Mint in that
very fledgling facility in Philadelphia, represented 1 cent of pure
copper.

                              {time}  1500

  Over time, with inflation and the changing consumer patterns, we went
to the smaller 1-cent piece we now use in 1857. Now, all of this time
later, the 1-cent piece has passed its prime and time.
  Yet, it was a coin that was important to commerce from the founding
of the country. It was an important coin because every American at
least had a few cents in their pocket, even in the toughest times, over
the last 200 years.
  Now we move forward. Again, I thank my colleagues on both sides of
the aisle on the Financial Services Committee for making these wise
decisions in codifying it.
  Mr. LYNCH. Mr. Speaker, I congratulate Mrs. McClain and Mr. Garcia
for their good work. The administration has already ceased penny
production, but this legislation does the necessary work of providing
meaningful guidance for consumers and businesses across the country.
  Mr. Speaker, I again urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I
yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my
time.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Massachusetts and the
minority for helping to make this a strong bipartisan bill to do
something that is common sense, with no pun intended. In fact, for all
of the good reasons that Mr. Lucas and Mrs. McClain outlined, this is
the right decision at the right time for the American people.
  Mr. Speaker, I remind both the bankers across the country, the
retailers, and all of the consumers out there that, as noted by Mr.
Garcia, there are well over 100 billion pennies floating around out
there in jars and drawers and cash registers across the country. You
may still use those pennies until your heart is content.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge a ``yes'' vote on this bill, and I yield back the
balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Hill) that the House suspend the rules and
pass the bill, H.R. 3074, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  The title of the bill was amended so as to read: ``A bill to direct
the Secretary of the Treasury to stop minting the penny, to permit cash
transactions to be rounded up or down to the nearest five cents, and
for other purposes''.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                 FAILING BANK ACQUISITION FAIRNESS ACT

  Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and
pass the bill (H.R. 6556) to prohibit the use of certain concentration
limit exceptions with respect to mergers involving a failed bank unless
the applicable agency determines such use is necessary to prevent
significant economic disruption or significant adverse effects on
financial stability, and for other purposes, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 6556