I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2823

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

of veterans who became disabled for life while serving in the Armed 

Forces of the United States. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 23, 2003

Mrs. KELLY 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 veterans who became disabled for 

life while serving in the Armed Forces of the United 

States.

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 ‘‘American Veterans 

5 Disabled for Life Commemorative Coin Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds as follows: 
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1 (1) The Armed Forces of the United States 

2 have answered the call and served with distinction 

3 around the world—from hitting the beaches in 

4 World War II in the Pacific and Europe, to the cold 

5 and difficult terrain in Korea, the steamy jungles of 

6 Vietnam, and the desert sands of the Middle East. 

7 (2) All Americans should commemorate those 

8 who come home having survived the ordeal of war, 

9 and solemnly honor those who made the ultimate 

10 sacrifice in giving their lives for their country. 

11 (3) All Americans should honor the millions of 

12 living disabled veterans who carry the scars of war 

13 every day, and who have made enormous personal 

14 sacrifices defending the principles of our democracy. 

15 (4) In 2000, Congress authorized the construc16 tion of the American Veterans Disabled for Life Me17 morial. 

18 (5) The United States should pay tribute to the 

19 Nation’s living disabled veterans by minting and 

20 issuing a commemorative silver dollar coin. 

21 (6) The surcharge proceeds from the sale of a 

22 commemorative coin would raise valuable funding 

23 for the construction of the American Veterans Dis24 abled for Life Memorial. 
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1 SEC. 3. COIN SPECIFICATIONS. 

2 (a) $1 SILVER COINS.—The Secretary of the Treas3 ury (hereafter in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) 

4 shall mint and issue not more than 500,000 $1 coins in 

5 commemoration of disabled American veterans, each of 

6 which shall—

7 (1) weigh 26.73 grams; 

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

9 (3) contain 90 percent silver and 10 percent 

10 copper. 

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

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

13 title 31, United States Code. 

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

15 5134 of title 31, United States Code, all coins minted 

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

17 SEC. 4. DESIGN OF COINS. 

18 (a) DESIGN REQUIREMENTS.—

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

20 minted under this Act shall be emblematic of the de21 sign selected by the Disabled Veterans’ LIFE Me22 morial Foundation for the American Veterans Dis23 abled for Life Memorial. 

24 (2) DESIGNATION AND INSCRIPTIONS.—On 

25 each coin minted under this Act, there shall be—

26 (A) a designation of the value of the coin; 
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1 (B) an inscription of the year ‘‘2005’’; and 

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

3 ‘‘In God We Trust’’, ‘‘United States of Amer4 ica’’, and ‘‘E Pluribus Unum’’. 

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

6 under this Act shall be—

7 (1) selected by the Secretary, after consultation 

8 with the Disabled Veterans’ LIFE Memorial Foun9 dation and the Commission of Fine Arts; and 

10 (2) reviewed by the Citizens Coinage Advisory 

11 Committee. 

12 SEC. 5. ISSUANCE OF COINS. 

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

14 Act shall be issued in uncirculated and proof qualities. 

15 (b) MINT FACILITY.—

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Only 1 facility of the United 

17 States Mint may be used to strike any particular 

18 quality of the coins minted under this Act. 

19 (2) USE OF THE UNITED STATES MINT AT

20 WEST POINT, NEW YORK.—It is the sense of the 

21 Congress that the coins minted under this Act 

22 should be struck at the United States Mint at West 

23 Point, New York, to the greatest extent possible. 
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1 (c) PERIOD FOR ISSUANCE.—The Secretary may 

2 issue coins under this Act only during the calendar year 

3 beginning on January 1, 2005. 

4 SEC. 6. SALE OF COINS. 

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

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

7 of—

8 (1) the face value of the coins;

9 (2) the surcharge provided in section 7 with re10 spect to such coins; and 

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

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

13 overhead expenses, marketing, and shipping). 

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

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

16 discount. 

17 (c) PREPAID ORDERS.—

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

19 prepaid orders for the coins minted under this Act 

20 before the issuance of such coins. 

21 (2) DISCOUNT.—Sale prices with respect to pre22 paid orders under paragraph (1) shall be at a rea23 sonable discount. 
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1 SEC. 7. SURCHARGES. 

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

3 Act shall include a surcharge of $10 per coin. 

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

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

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

7 shall be paid to the Disabled Veterans’ LIFE Memorial 

8 Foundation for the purpose of establishing an endowment 

9 to support the construction of American Veterans’ Dis10 abled for Life Memorial in Washington, D.C. 

11 (c) AUDITS.—The Comptroller General of the United 

12 States shall have the right to examine such books, records, 

13 documents, and other data of the Disabled Veterans’ 

14 LIFE Memorial Foundation as may be related to the ex15 penditures of amounts paid under subsection (b).

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