I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5537 

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

of Conan, the military working dog of the United States Special Operations Forces. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 23, 2019 

Mr. WATKINS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint coins 

in commemoration of Conan, the military working dog 

of the United States Special Operations Forces. 

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 ‘‘Conan Commemorative 

5 Coin Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 

8 (1) Conan, a Belgian Malinois, has worked with 

9 the United States Special Operations Forces for four 


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1 years and has taken part in approximately 50 mis2 sions; 

3 (2) Conan served the United States coura4 geously on October 26, 2019, in northwestern Syria, 

5 during a dangerous and daring nighttime raid that 

6 resulted in the death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the 

7 leader of the world’s most violent terror organiza8 tion, ISIS; 

9 (3) with skill, determination, and bravery, 

10 Conan chased Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi into a dead11 end tunnel where the ISIS leader ignited his suicide 

12 vest, killing himself and his three children; 

13 (4) the heroic actions of Conan were critical to 

14 the success of the mission of the United States to 

15 kill the world’s most wanted terrorist; 

16 (5) Conan sacrificed physical well-being and 

17 sustained injuries for the success of the mission and 

18 in doing so, not a single American soldier was in19 jured during the operation; and 

20 (6) Conan is an American hero that has made 

21 the world a better and safer place. 

22 SEC. 3. COIN SPECIFICATIONS. 

23 (a) DENOMINATIONS.—The Secretary of the Treas24 ury (hereafter in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) 

25 shall mint and issue the following coins in commemoration 


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1 of Conan, the military working dog of the United States 

2 Special Operations Forces: 

3 (1) $5 GOLD COINS.—Not more than 100,000 

4 $5 coins, which shall— 

5 (A) weigh 8.359 grams; 

6 (B) have a diameter of 0.850 inches; and 

7 (C) contain not less than 90 percent gold. 

8 (2) $1 SILVER COINS.—Not more than 350,000 

9 $1 coins, which shall— 

10 (A) weigh 26.73 grams; 

11 (B) have a diameter of 1.500 inches; and 

12 (C) contain not less than 90 percent silver. 

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 sections 

17 5134 and 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all coins 

18 minted under this Act shall be considered to be numis19 matic items. 

20 SEC. 4. DESIGN OF COINS. 

21 (a) DESIGN REQUIREMENTS.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—The design of the coins 

23 minted under this Act shall be emblematic of the life 

24 and legacy of Conan. 


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1 (2) DESIGN AND INSCRIPTIONS.—On each coin 

2 minted under this Act there shall be— 

3 (A) an image of Conan, based on the pho4 tograph of Conan released by President Trump 

5 on Twitter on October 28, 2019, at 4:02 p.m.; 

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

7 (C) an inscription of the year 2022; and 

8 (D) inscriptions of the words ‘‘Liberty’’, 

9 ‘‘In God We Trust’’, ‘‘United States of Amer10 ica’’, and ‘‘E Pluribus Unum’’. 

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

12 under this Act shall be— 

13 (1) selected by the Secretary, in consultation 

14 with the Commission of Fine Arts; and 

15 (2) reviewed by the Citizens Coinage Advisory 

16 Committee. 

17 SEC. 5. ISSUANCE OF COINS. 

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

19 Act shall be issued in uncirculated and proof qualities. 

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

21 States Mint may be used to strike any particular quality 

22 of the coins minted under this Act. 

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

24 issue coins minted under this Act only during the 1-year 

25 period beginning on January 1, 2022. 


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1 SEC. 6. SALE OF COINS. 

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

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

4 of— 

5 (1) the face value of the coins; 

6 (2) the surcharge provided in section 7(a) with 

7 respect to such coins; and 

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

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

10 overhead expenses, marketing, and shipping). 

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

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

13 discount. 

14 (c) PREPAID ORDERS.— 

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

16 prepaid orders for the coins minted under this Act 

17 before the issuance of such coins. 

18 (2) DISCOUNT.—Sale prices with respect to pre19 paid orders under paragraph (1) shall be at a rea20 sonable discount. 

21 SEC. 7. SURCHARGES. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—All sales of coins issued under this 

23 Act shall include a surcharge of— 

24 (1) $35 per coin for the $5 coin; and 

25 (2) $10 per coin for the $1 coin. 


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1 (b) DISTRIBUTION.—Subject to section 5134(f) of 

2 title 31, United States Code, all surcharges received by 

3 the Secretary from the sale of coins issued under this Act 

4 shall be transferred to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 

5 where they may be used, without further appropriation, 

6 for the purpose of providing additional funds to the service 

7 dog veterinary health benefit pursuant to section 1714 of 

8 title 38, United States Code, or other similar provisions 

9 of law administered by the Secretary. 

10 (c) LIMITATIONS.—Notwithstanding subsection (a), 

11 no surcharge may be included with respect to the issuance 

12 under this Act of any coin during a calendar year if, as 

13 of the time of such issuance, the issuance of such coin 

14 would result in the number of commemorative coin pro15 grams issued during such year to exceed the annual 2 

16 commemorative coin program issuance limitation under 

17 section 5112(m)(1) of title 31, United States Code (as in 

18 effect on the date of the enactment of this Act). The Sec19 retary of the Treasury may issue guidance to carry out 

20 this subsection. 

21 (d) EXEMPTIONS.—Paragraphs (1)(A)(ii) and (2) of 

22 section 5134(f) of title 31, United States Code, shall not 

23 apply to surcharges under this Act. 

Æ 


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