II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1187

To require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint coins in commemoration

of the bicentennial of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JUNE 7, 1999

Mr. DORGAN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred

to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs

A BILL

To require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint coins

in commemoration of the bicentennial of the Lewis and

Clark Expedition, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Lewis and Clark Expe5 dition Bicentennial Commemorative Coin Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds that—

8 (1) the expedition commanded by Meriwether

9 Lewis and William Clark, which came to be called

10 ‘‘The Corps of Discovery’’, was one of the most re-
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1 markable and productive scientific and military ex2 ploring expeditions in all American history;

3 (2) President Thomas Jefferson gave Lewis and

4 Clark the mission to ‘‘explore the Missouri River &

5 such principal stream of it, as, by its course and

6 communication with the waters of the Pacific Ocean,

7 whether the Columbia, Oregon, Colorado, or any

8 other river may offer the most direct and practical

9 water communication across this continent for the

10 purposes of commerce’’;

11 (3) the Expedition, in response to President

12 Jefferson’s directive, greatly advanced our geo13 graphical knowledge of the continent and prepared

14 the way for the extension of the American fur trade

15 with American Indian tribes throughout the land;

16 (4) President Jefferson directed the explorers to

17 take note of and carefully record the natural re18 sources of the newly acquired territory known as

19 Louisiana, as well as diligently report on the native

20 inhabitants of the land;

21 (5) the Expedition departed St. Louis, Missouri

22 on May 14, 1804;

23 (6) the Expedition held its first meeting with

24 American Indians at Council Bluff near present-day

25 Fort Calhoun, Nebraska, in August 1804, spent its
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1 first winter at Fort Mandan, North Dakota, crossed

2 the Rocky Mountains by the mouth of the Columbia

3 River in mid-November of that year, and wintered at

4 Fort Clatsop, near the present-day city of Astoria,

5 Oregon;

6 (7) the Expedition returned to St. Louis, Mis7 souri, on September 23, 1806, after a 28-month

8 journey covering 8,000 miles during which it tra9 versed 11 future States: Illinois, Missouri, Kansas,

10 Nebraska, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Mon11 tana, Idaho, Washington, and Oregon;

12 (8) accounts from the journals of Lewis and

13 Clark and the detailed maps that were prepared by

14 the Expedition enhance knowledge of the western

15 continent and routes for commerce;

16 (9) the Expedition significantly enhanced ami17 cable relationships between the United States and

18 the autonomous American Indian nations, and the

19 friendship and respect fostered between American

20 Indian tribes and the Expedition represents the best

21 of diplomacy and relationships between divergent na22 tions and cultures; and

23 (10) the Lewis and Clark Expedition has been

24 called the most perfect expedition of its kind in the
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1 history of the world and paved the way for the

2 United States to become a great world power.

3 SEC. 3. COIN SPECIFICATIONS.

4 (a) DENOMINATION.—In commemoration of the bi5 centennial of the Lewis and Clark expedition, the Sec6 retary of the Treasury (hereafter in this Act referred to

7 as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall mint and issue not more than

8 500,000 $1 coins, each of which shall—

9 (1) weigh 26.73 grams;

10 (2) have a diameter of 1.500 inches; and

11 (3) contain 90 percent silver and 10 percent

12 copper.

13 (b) LEGAL TENDER.—The coins minted under this

14 Act shall be legal tender, as provided in section 5103 of

15 title 31, United States Code.

16 (c) NUMISMATIC ITEMS.—For purposes of section

17 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all coins minted

18 under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic items.

19 SEC. 4. SOURCES OF BULLION.

20 The Secretary may obtain silver for minting coins

21 under this Act from any available source, including stock22 piles established under the Strategic and Critical Mate23 rials Stock Piling Act.

24 SEC. 5. DESIGN OF COINS.

25 (a) DESIGN REQUIREMENTS.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The design of the coins

2 minted under this Act shall be emblematic of the ex3 pedition of Lewis and Clark.

4 (2) DESIGNATION AND INSCRIPTIONS.—On

5 each coin minted under this Act there shall be—

6 (A) a designation of the value of the coin;

7 (B) an inscription of the year ‘‘2004’’ and

8 the years ‘‘1804–1806’’; and

9 (C) inscriptions of the words ‘‘Liberty’’,

10 ‘‘In God We Trust’’, ‘‘United States of Amer11 ica’’, and ‘‘E Pluribus Unum’’.

12 (3) OBVERSE OF COIN.—The obverse of each

13 coin minted under this Act shall bear the likeness of

14 Meriwether Lewis and William Clark.

15 (4) GENERAL DESIGN.—In designing the coin

16 minted under this Act, the Secretary shall also con17 sider incorporating appropriate elements from the

18 Jefferson Peace and Friendship Medal, which Lewis

19 and Clark presented to the Chiefs of the various In20 dian tribes they encountered and shall consider rec21 ognizing Native American culture.

22 (b) SELECTION.—The design for the coins minted

23 under this Act shall be selected by the Secretary after con24 sultation with the Commission of Fine Arts and shall be
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1 reviewed by the Citizens Commemorative Coin Advisory

2 Committee.

3 SEC. 6. ISSUANCE OF COINS.

4 (a) QUALITY OF COINS.—Coins minted under this

5 Act shall be issued in uncirculated and proof qualities.

6 (b) MINT FACILITY.—Only 1 facility of the United

7 States Mint may be used to strike any particular quality

8 of the coins minted under this Act.

9 (c) PERIOD FOR ISSUANCE.—The Secretary may

10 issue coins minted under this Act only during the period

11 beginning on January 1, 2004, and ending on December

12 31, 2004.

13 SEC. 7. SALE OF COINS.

14 (a) SALE PRICE.—The coins issued under this Act

15 shall be sold by the Secretary at a price equal to the sum

16 of—

17 (1) the face value of the coins;

18 (2) the surcharge provided in subsection (d)

19 with respect to such coins; and

20 (3) the cost of designing and issuing the coins

21 (including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery,

22 overhead expenses, marketing, and shipping).

23 (b) BULK SALES.—The Secretary shall make bulk

24 sales of the coins issued under this Act at a reasonable

25 discount.
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1 (c) PREPAID ORDERS.—

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall accept

3 prepaid orders for the coins minted under this Act

4 before the issuance of such coins.

5 (2) DISCOUNT.—Sale prices with respect to pre6 paid orders under paragraph (1) shall be at a rea7 sonable discount.

8 (d) SURCHARGES.—All sales of coins minted under

9 this Act shall include a surcharge of $10 per coin.

10 SEC. 8. DISTRIBUTION OF SURCHARGES.

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to section 5134(f) of title

12 31, United States Code, the proceeds from the surcharges

13 received by the Secretary from the sale of coins issued

14 under this Act shall be promptly paid by the Secretary

15 as follows:

16 (1) NATIONAL LEWIS AND CLARK BICENTENNIAL COUNCIL.—2 17 ⁄3 to the National Lewis and Clark

18 Bicentennial Council, for activities associated with

19 commemorating the bicentennial of the Expedition.

(2) NATIONAL PARK SERVICE.—1 20 ⁄3 to the Na21 tional Park Service for activities associated with

22 commemorating the bicentennial of the Lewis and

23 Clark Expedition.

24 (b) AUDITS.—Each organization that receives any

25 payment from the Secretary under this section shall be
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1 subject to the audit requirements of section 5134(f)(2) of

2 title 31, United States Code.

3 SEC. 9. FINANCIAL ASSURANCES.

4 (a) NO NET COST TO THE GOVERNMENT.—The Sec5 retary shall take such actions as may be necessary to en6 sure that minting and issuing coins under this Act will

7 not result in any net cost to the United States Govern8 ment.

9 (b) PAYMENT FOR COINS.—A coin shall not be issued

10 under this Act unless the Secretary has received—

11 (1) full payment for the coin;

12 (2) security satisfactory to the Secretary to in13 demnify the United States for full payment; or

14 (3) a guarantee of full payment satisfactory to

15 the Secretary from a depository institution whose

16 deposits are insured by the Federal Deposit Insur17 ance Corporation or the National Credit Union Ad18 ministration Board.

Æ