IIB 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 2040 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 2, 2008 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 

Urban Affairs 

AN ACT 

To require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint coins 

in commemoration of the semicentennial of the enactment of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. 

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


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Civil Rights Act of 

3 1964 Commemorative Coin Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 The Congress hereby finds as follows: 

6 (1) On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks’ brave 

7 act of defiance, refusing to give up her seat to a 

8 white person on a segregated bus in Montgomery, 

9 Alabama, galvanized the modern civil rights move10 ment and led to the desegregation of the South. 

11 (2) On February 1, 1960, 4 college students, 

12 Joseph McNeil, Franklin McCain, David Richmond, 

13 and Ezell Blair, Jr., asked to be served at a lunch 

14 counter in Greensboro, North Carolina, and lunch 

15 counter sit-ins began to occur throughout the South 

16 to challenge segregation in places of public accom17 modation. 

18 (3) On May 4, 1961, the Freedom Rides into 

19 the South began to test new court orders barring 

20 segregation in interstate transportation, and riders 

21 were jailed and beaten by mobs in several places, in22 cluding Birmingham and Montgomery, Alabama. 

23 (4) Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was the lead24 ing civil rights advocate of the time, spearheading 

25 the civil rights movement in the United States dur26 ing the 1950s and 1960s with the goal of nonviolent 


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1 social change and full civil rights for African Ameri2 cans. 

3 (5) On August 28, 1963, Dr. Martin Luther 

4 King, Jr., led over 250,000 civil rights supporters in 

5 the March on Washington and delivered his famous 

6 ‘‘I Have A Dream’’ speech to raise awareness and 

7 support for civil rights legislation. 

8 (6) Mrs. Coretta Scott King, a leading partici9 pant in the American civil rights movement, was 

10 side-by-side with her husband, Dr. Martin Luther 

11 King, Jr., during many civil rights marches, orga12 nized Freedom Concerts to draw attention to the 

13 Movement, and worked in her own right to create an 

14 America in which all people have equal rights. 

15 (7) The mass movement sparked by Rosa Parks 

16 and led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., among oth17 ers, called upon the Congress and Presidents John 

18 F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson to pass civil 

19 rights legislation which culminated in the enactment 

20 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. 

21 (8) The Civil Rights Act of 1964 greatly ex22 panded civil rights protections, outlawing racial dis23 crimination and segregation in public places and 

24 places of public accommodation, in federally funded 

25 programs, and employment and encouraging desegVerDate Aug 31 2005 04:00 Apr 03, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2040.RFS H2040

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1 regation in public schools, and has served as a model 

2 for subsequent anti-discrimination laws. 

3 (9) We are an eminently better Nation because 

4 of Rosa Parks, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and all 

5 those men and women who have confronted, and 

6 continue to confront, injustice and inequality wher7 ever they see it. 

8 (10) Equality in education was one of the cor9 nerstones of the civil rights movement. 

10 (11) On September 10, 1961, Dr. Martin Lu11 ther King, Jr., wrote that African American ‘‘stu12 dents are coming to understand that education and 

13 learning have become tools for shaping the future 

14 and not devices of privilege for an exclusive few’’. 

15 (12) Over its long and distinguished history, 

16 the United Negro College Fund has provided schol17 arships and operating funds to its member colleges 

18 that have enabled more than 300,000 young African 

19 Americans to earn college degrees and become suc20 cessful members of society. 

21 (13) Those graduates include Dr. Martin Lu22 ther King, Jr., as well as leaders in the fields of edu23 cation, science, medicine, law, entertainment, lit24 erature, the military, and politics who have made 


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1 major contributions to the civil rights movement and 

2 the creation of a more equitable society. 

3 (14) Congress has an obligation to lead Amer4 ica’s continued struggle to fight discrimination and 

5 ensure equal rights for all. 

6 (15) The year 2014 will mark the 

7 semicentennial of the passage of the Civil Rights Act 

8 of 1964. 

9 SEC. 3. COIN SPECIFICATIONS. 

10 (a) DENOMINATIONS.—The Secretary of the Treas11 ury (hereinafter in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) 

12 shall mint and issue not more than 350,000 $1 coins each 

13 of which shall— 

14 (1) weigh 26.73 grams; 

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

16 (3) contain 90 percent silver and 10 percent 

17 copper. 

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

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

20 title 31, United States Code. 

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

22 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all coins minted 

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


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1 SEC. 4. DESIGN OF COINS. 

2 (a) DESIGN REQUIREMENTS.—The design of the 

3 coins minted under this Act shall be emblematic of the 

4 enactment of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and its con5 tribution to civil rights in America. 

6 (b) DESIGNATION AND INSCRIPTIONS.—On each coin 

7 minted under this Act there shall be— 

8 (1) a designation of the value of the coin; 

9 (2) an inscription of the year ‘‘2014’’; and 

10 (3) inscriptions of the words ‘‘Liberty’’, ‘‘In 

11 God We Trust’’, ‘‘United States of America’’, and 

12 ‘‘E Pluribus Unum’’. 

13 (c) SELECTION.—The design for the coins minted 

14 under this Act shall be— 

15 (1) selected by the Secretary after consultation 

16 with the Commission of Fine Arts; and 

17 (2) reviewed by the Citizens Coinage Advisory 

18 Committee established under section 5135 of title 

19 31, United States Code. 

20 SEC. 5. ISSUANCE OF COINS. 

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

22 Act shall be issued in uncirculated and proof qualities. 

23 (b) COMMENCEMENT OF ISSUANCE.—The Secretary 

24 may issue coins minted under this Act beginning January 

25 1, 2014, except that the Secretary may initiate sales of 

26 such coins, without issuance, before such date. 


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1 (c) TERMINATION OF MINTING AUTHORITY.—No 

2 coins shall be minted under this Act after December 31, 

3 2014. 

4 SEC. 6. SALE OF COINS. 

5 (a) SALE PRICE.—Notwithstanding any other provi6 sion of law, the coins issued under this Act shall be sold 

7 by the Secretary at a price equal to the sum of the face 

8 value of the coins, the surcharge required under section 

9 7(a) for the coins, and the cost of designing and issuing 

10 such coins (including labor, materials, dies, use of machin11 ery, overhead expenses, and marketing). 

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

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

14 discount. 

15 (c) PREPAID ORDERS AT A DISCOUNT.— 

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

17 prepaid orders for the coins minted under this Act 

18 before the issuance of such coins. 

19 (2) DISCOUNT.—Sale prices with respect to pre20 paid orders under paragraph (1) shall be at a rea21 sonable discount. 

22 SEC. 7. SURCHARGES. 

23 (a) SURCHARGE REQUIRED.—All sales shall include 

24 a surcharge of $10 per coin. 


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

2 title 31, United States Code, all surcharges which are re3 ceived by the Secretary from the sale of coins issued under 

4 this Act shall be promptly paid by the Secretary to the 

5 United Negro College Fund (UNCF) to carry out the pur6 poses of the Fund, including providing scholarships and 

7 internships for minority students and operating funds and 

8 technology enhancement services for 39 member histori9 cally black colleges and universities. 

10 (c) AUDITS.—The United Negro College Fund shall 

11 be subject to the audit requirements of section 5134(f)(2) 

12 of title 31, United States Code, with regard to the 

13 amounts received by the Fund under subsection (b). 

14 (d) LIMITATION.—Notwithstanding subsection (a), 

15 no surcharge may be included with respect to the issuance 

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

17 of the time of such issuance, the issuance of such coin 

18 would result in the number of commemorative coin pro19 grams issued during such year to exceed the annual 2 

20 commemorative coin program issuance limitation under 

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

22 effect on the date of the enactment of this Act). The SecVerDate Aug 31 2005 04:00 Apr 03, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2040.RFS H2040

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1 retary of the Treasury may issue guidance to carry out 

2 this subsection. 

Passed the House of Representatives April 1, 2008. 

Attest: LORRAINE C. MILLER, 

Clerk. 


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