I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2614

To reform the commemorative coin programs of the United States Mint

in order to protect the integrity of such programs and prevent losses

of Government funds, to authorize the United States Mint to mint

and issue platinum and gold bullion coins, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

NOVEMBER 10, 1995

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

Committee on Banking and Financial Services

A BILL

To reform the commemorative coin programs of the United

States Mint in order to protect the integrity of such

programs and prevent losses of Government funds, to

authorize the United States Mint to mint and issue platinum and gold bullion coins, 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 ‘‘Commemorative Coin

5 Authorization and Reform Act of 1995’’.
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1 TITLE I—COMMEMORATIVE

2 COIN PROGRAM REFORM

3 SEC. 101. RECOVERY OF MINT EXPENSES REQUIRED BE4 FORE PAYMENT OF SURCHARGES TO ANY RE5 CIPIENT ORGANIZATION.

6 (a) CLARIFICATION OF LAW RELATING TO DEPOSIT

7 OF SURCHARGES IN THE NUMISMATIC PUBLIC ENTER8 PRISE FUND.—Section 5134(c)(2) of title 31, United

9 States Code, is amended by inserting ‘‘, including amounts

10 attributable to any surcharge imposed with respect to the

11 sale of any numismatic item’’ before the period.

12 (b) CONDITIONS ON PAYMENT OF SURCHARGES TO

13 RECIPIENT ORGANIZATIONS.—Section 5134 of title 31,

14 United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the

15 following new subsection:

16 ‘‘(f) CONDITIONS ON PAYMENT OF SURCHARGES TO

17 RECIPIENT ORGANIZATIONS.—

18 ‘‘(1) PAYMENT OF SURCHARGES.—Notwith19 standing any other provision of law, no amount de20 rived from the proceeds of any surcharge imposed on

21 the sale of any numismatic item shall be paid from

22 the fund to any designated recipient organization

23 unless—

24 ‘‘(A) all numismatic operation and pro25 gram costs allocable to the program under
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1 which such numismatic item is produced and

2 sold have been recovered; and

3 ‘‘(B) the designated recipient organization

4 submits an audited financial statement which

5 demonstrates to the satisfaction of the Sec6 retary of the Treasury that, with respect to all

7 projects or purposes for which the proceeds of

8 such surcharge may be used, the organization

9 has raised funds from private sources for such

10 projects and purposes in an amount which is

11 equal to or greater than the maximum amount

12 the organization may receive from the proceeds

13 of such surcharge.

14 ‘‘(2) ANNUAL AUDITS.—

15 ‘‘(A) ANNUAL AUDITS OF RECIPIENTS RE16 QUIRED.—Each designated recipient organiza17 tion which receives any payment from the fund

18 of any amount derived from the proceeds of any

19 surcharge imposed on the sale of any numis20 matic item shall provide, as a condition for re21 ceiving any such amount, for an annual audit,

22 in accordance with generally accepted govern23 ment auditing standards by an independent

24 public accountant selected by the organization,

25 of all such payments to the organization begin-
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1 ning in the first fiscal year of the organization

2 in which any such amount is received and con3 tinuing until all amounts received by such orga4 nization from the fund with respect to such sur5 charges are fully expended or placed in trust.

6 ‘‘(B) MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS FOR AN7 NUAL AUDITS.—At a minimum, each audit of a

8 designated recipient organization pursuant to

9 subparagraph (A) shall report—

10 ‘‘(i) the amount of payments received

11 by the designated recipient organization

12 from the fund during the fiscal year of the

13 organization for which the audit is con14 ducted which are derived from the proceeds

15 of any surcharge imposed on the sale of

16 any numismatic item;

17 ‘‘(ii) the amount expended by the des18 ignated recipient organization from the

19 proceeds of such surcharges during the fis20 cal year of the organization for which the

21 audit is conducted; and

22 ‘‘(iii) whether all expenditures by the

23 designated recipient organization during

24 the fiscal year of the organization for

25 which the audit is conducted from the pro-
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1 ceeds of such surcharges were for author2 ized purposes.

3 ‘‘(C) RESPONSIBILITY OF ORGANIZATION

4 TO ACCOUNT FOR EXPENDITURES OF SUR5 CHARGES.—Each designated recipient organiza6 tion which receives any payment from the fund

7 of any amount derived from the proceeds of any

8 surcharge imposed on the sale of any numis9 matic item shall take appropriate steps, as a

10 condition for receiving any such payment, to en11 sure that the receipt of the payment and the ex12 penditure of the proceeds of such surcharge by

13 the organization in each fiscal year of the orga14 nization can be accounted for separately from

15 all other revenues and expenditures of the orga16 nization.

17 ‘‘(D) SUBMISSION OF AUDIT REPORT.—

18 Not later than 90 days after the end of any fis19 cal year of a designated recipient organization

20 for which an audit is required under subpara21 graph (A), the organization shall—

22 ‘‘(i) submit a copy of the report to the

23 Secretary of the Treasury; and

24 ‘‘(ii) make a copy of the report avail25 able to the public.
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1 ‘‘(E) USE OF SURCHARGES FOR AUDITS.—

2 Any designated recipient organization which re3 ceives any payment from the fund of any

4 amount derived from the proceeds of any sur5 charge imposed on the sale of any numismatic

6 item may use the amount received to pay the

7 cost of an audit required under subparagraph

8 (A).

9 ‘‘(F) WAIVER OF PARAGRAPH.—The Sec10 retary of the Treasury may waive the applica11 tion of any subparagraph of this paragraph to

12 any designated recipient organization for any

13 fiscal year after taking into account the amount

14 of surcharges which such organization received

15 or expended during such year.

16 ‘‘(G) NONAPPLICABILITY TO FEDERAL EN17 TITIES.—This paragraph shall not apply to any

18 Federal agency or department or any independ19 ent establishment in the executive branch which

20 receives any payment from the fund of any

21 amount derived from the proceeds of any sur22 charge imposed on the sale of any numismatic

23 item.

24 ‘‘(H) AVAILABILITY OF BOOKS AND

25 RECORDS.—An organization which receives any
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1 payment from the fund of any amount derived

2 from the proceeds of any surcharge imposed on

3 the sale of any numismatic item shall provide,

4 as a condition for receiving any such payment,

5 to the Inspector General of the Department of

6 the Treasury or the Comptroller General of the

7 United States, upon the request of such Inspec8 tor General or the Comptroller General, all

9 books, records, and workpapers belonging to or

10 used by the organization, or by any independent

11 public accountant who audited the organization

12 in accordance with subparagraph (A), which

13 may relate to the receipt or expenditure of any

14 such amount by the organization.

15 ‘‘(3) USE OF AGENTS OR ATTORNEYS TO IN16 FLUENCE COMMEMORATIVE COIN LEGISLATION.—No

17 portion of any payment from the fund to any des18 ignated recipient organization of any amount derived

19 from the proceeds of any surcharge imposed on the

20 sale of any numismatic item may be used, directly

21 or indirectly, by the organization to compensate any

22 agent or attorney for services rendered to support or

23 influence in any way legislative action of the Con24 gress relating to such numismatic item.
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1 ‘‘(4) DESIGNATED RECIPIENT ORGANIZATION

2 DEFINED.—For purposes of this subsection, the

3 term ‘designated recipient organization’ means any

4 organization designated, under any provision of law,

5 as the recipient of any surcharge imposed on the

6 sale of any numismatic item.’’.

7 (c) SCOPE OF APPLICATION.—The amendments

8 made by this section shall apply with respect to the pro9 ceeds of any surcharge imposed on the sale of any numis10 matic item which are deposited in the Numismatic Public

11 Enterprise Fund after the date of the enactment of this

12 Act.

13 (d) REPEAL OF EXISTING RECIPIENT REPORT RE14 QUIREMENT.—Section 303 of Public Law 103—186 (31

15 U.S.C. 5112 note) is hereby repealed.

16 SEC. 102. CITIZENS COMMEMORATIVE COIN ADVISORY

17 COMMITTEE.

18 (a) FIXED TERMS FOR MEMBERS.—Section

19 5135(a)(4) of title 31, United States Code, is amended

20 to read as follows:

21 ‘‘(4) TERMS.—Each member appointed under

22 clause (i) or (iii) of paragraph (3)(A) shall be ap23 pointed for a term of 4 years.’’.
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1 (b) CHAIRPERSON.—Section 5135(a) of title 31,

2 United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the

3 following new paragraph:

4 ‘‘(6) CHAIRPERSON.—The Chairperson of the

5 Advisory Committee shall be elected by the members

6 of the Advisory Committee from among such mem7 bers.’’.

8 SEC. 104. COMMEMORATIVE CIRCULATING COIN PROGRAM.

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Citizens Commemorative

10 Coin Advisory Committee shall develop a recommendation

11 for a multiyear commemorative coin program involving the

12 circulating coins of the United States which would super13 sede other commemorative coin programs for the years the

14 commemorative circulating coin program is in effect.

15 (b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Citizens Com16 memorative Coin Advisory Committee shall submit a re17 port to the Congress before the end of the 6-month period

18 beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act on the

19 recommendations developed by the committee pursuant to

20 subsection (a), together with such recommendations for

21 legislative or administrative action as the committee deter22 mines to be necessary or appropriate with respect to such

23 recommendations.
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1 TITLE II—PLATINUM AND GOLD

2 BULLION COINS

3 SEC. 201. PLATINUM COINS.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 5112 of title 31, United

5 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the follow6 ing new subsection:

7 ‘‘(k) PLATINUM COINS.—

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other

9 provision of law, the Secretary of the Treasury may

10 mint and issue platinum coins in such quantity and

11 of such variety as the Secretary determines to be ap12 propriate.

13 ‘‘(2) SPECIFICATIONS.—Platinum coins minted

14 under this subsection shall meet such specifications

15 with respect to diameter, weight, design, and

16 fineness as the Secretary, in the Secretary’s discre17 tion, may prescribe from time to time.

18 ‘‘(3) LEGAL TENDER.—The coins minted under

19 this subsection shall be legal tender, as provided in

20 section 5103 of title 31, United States Code.

21 ‘‘(4) NUMISMATIC ITEMS.—For purposes of sec22 tion 5134 of title 31, United States Code, all coins

23 minted under this subsection shall be considered to

24 be numismatic items.
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1 ‘‘(5) DESIGNATIONS AND INSCRIPTIONS.—On

2 each coin minted under this subsection, there shall

3 be—

4 ‘‘(A) a designation of the value of the coin

5 and the weight of the platinum content of the

6 coin;

7 ‘‘(B) an inscription of the year in which

8 the coin is minted or issued; and

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

10 ‘In God We Trust’, ‘United States of America’,

11 and ‘E Pluribus Unum’.

12 ‘‘(6) SALE PRICE.—

13 ‘‘(A) BULLION.—The bullion versions of

14 the coins issued under this Act shall be sold by

15 the Secretary at a price equal to the sum of—

16 ‘‘(i) the market value of the bullion at

17 the time of the sale; and

18 ‘‘(ii) the cost of minting, marketing,

19 and distributing the coins (including labor,

20 materials, dies, use of machinery, and pro21 motional and overhead expenses).

22 ‘‘(B) PROOF VERSIONS.—Proof versions of

23 the coins issued under this Act may be sold by

24 the Secretary at a price equal to the sum of—
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1 ‘‘(i) the cost of designing and issuing

2 the coins (including labor, materials, dies,

3 use of machinery, overhead expenses, mar4 keting, and shipping); and

5 ‘‘(ii) a reasonable profit.

6 ‘‘(7) BULK SALES.—The Secretary may make

7 bulk sales of the coins issued under this subsection

8 at a reasonable discount.’’.

9 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—

10 Section 5112(j)(1) of title 31, United States Code, is

11 amended by inserting ‘‘, (i), or (k)’’ after ‘‘subsection (e)’’.

12 SEC. 202. AMERICAN EAGLE GOLD COINS AUTHORIZED

13 TO BE PRODUCED IN 2 OR MORE DESIGNS,

14 WEIGHTS, DIAMETERS, OR FINENESSES

15 SIMULTANEOUSLY.

16 Section 5112(i)(4) of title 31, United States Code,

17 is amended by adding at the end the following new sub18 paragraph:

19 ‘‘(C) CONTINUED MINTING TO STATUTORY

20 SPECIFICATIONS AFTER DETERMINATION TO

21 MINT COINS TO CHANGED SPECIFICATIONS.—

22 Notwithstanding any other provision of this sec23 tion, the Secretary may continue to mint and

24 issue coins in accordance with the specifications

25 contained in paragraphs (7), (8), (9), and (10)
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1 of subsection (a) and paragraph (1)(A) of this

2 subsection at the same time the Secretary is

3 minting and issuing other coins under this sub4 section in accordance with such specifications,

5 varieties, quantities, designations, and inscrip6 tions as the Secretary may determine to be ap7 propriate.’’.

8 TITLE III—MINT MANAGERIAL

9 STAFFING REFORM

10 SEC. 301. MODERNIZATION OF THE MANAGEMENT STRUC11 TURE.

12 Section 5131 of title 31, United States Code, is

13 amended—

14 (1) by striking subsection (c); and

15 (2) by redesignating subsection (d) as sub16 section (c).

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