I

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 5397

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

of veterans of the Armed Forces of the United States and to use

the proceeds of surcharges imposed on the sale of such coins to fund

the transportation of veterans to and from hospitals administered by

the Secretary of Veterans Affairs.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

OCTOBER 5, 2000

Mr. INSLEE (for himself, Mr. LAFALCE, Mr. EVANS, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mr.

ACKERMAN, Mr. ANDREWS, Mr. BAIRD, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. BARRETT of

Nebraska, Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland, Mr. BECERRA, Ms. BERKLEY,

Mr. BERRY, Mr. BILBRAY, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. BOEHLERT, Mr.

BONIOR, Mrs. BONO, Mr. BORSKI, Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania, Ms.

BROWN of Florida, Mr. BROWN of Ohio, Mr. CANNON, Mrs. CAPPS, Mr.

CAPUANO, Ms. CARSON, Mrs. CHRISTENSEN, Mrs. CLAYTON, Mr.

CONDIT, Mr. COYNE, Mr. CRAMER, Ms. DANNER, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois,

Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. DICKS, Mr. DINGELL, Mr. DIXON, Mr. ETHERIDGE,

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA, Mr. FARR of California, Mr. FILNER, Mr. FORBES,

Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. FROST, Mr. GEJDENSON, Mr.

GALLEGLY, Mr. GILLMOR, Mr. GONZALEZ, Mr. GOODLATTE, Mr. GORDON, Mr. GREEN of Texas, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr. HALL of Texas, Mr.

HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. HOLDEN, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, Mr. JEFFERSON, Mr. JENKINS, Mrs. JONES of Ohio, Mr. JONES of

North Carolina, Ms. KAPTUR, Mrs. KELLY, Mr. KENNEDY of Rhode Island, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. KIND, Mr. KLINK, Mr. KUCINICH, Mr. LARSON,

Mr. LATOURETTE, Ms. LEE, Mr. LEVIN, Ms. LOFGREN, Mrs. LOWEY,

Mrs. MCCARTHY of New York, Ms. MCCARTHY of Missouri, Mr.

MCDERMOTT, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. MCINTYRE, Ms. MCKINNEY, Mr.

MCNULTY, Mrs. MALONEY of New York, Mr. MARTINEZ, Mr. MASCARA,

Mr. MATSUI, Mr. MEEHAN, Mrs. MEEK of Florida, Mr. MEEKS of New

York, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. METCALF, Mr. MICA, Ms. MILLENDERMCDONALD, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, Mr. MOORE, Mr.

MORAN of Virginia, Mr. MURTHA, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. NEAL of Massachusetts, Mr. NEY, Ms. NORTON, Mr. OBERSTAR, Mr. OBEY, Mr.

ORTIZ, Mr. OWENS, Mr. PACKARD, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. PASCRELL, Mr.

PAYNE, Ms. PELOSI, Mr. PETERSON of Minnesota, Mr. PETERSON of

Pennsylvania, Mr. PHELPS, Mr. POMEROY, Mr. PRICE of North Carolina,

Mr. RAHALL, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. REYES, Mr. RODRIGUEZ, Mr. ROHR-
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ABACHER, Mr. ROMERO-BARCELO ́

, Mrs. ROUKEMA, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. RUSH, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. SANDLIN, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr.

SCOTT, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. SHAYS, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. SHOWS, Ms.

SLAUGHTER, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Mr.

SNYDER, Mr. SPRATT, Ms. STABENOW, Mr. STARK, Mr. STEARNS, Mr.

STRICKLAND, Mr. STUPAK, Mr. SWEENEY, Mrs. TAUSCHER, Mr. TAYLOR

of Mississippi, Mr. THOMPSON of California, Mr. THUNE, Mr. TIERNEY,

Mr. TOWNS, Mr. UDALL of Colorado, Mr. WALDEN of Oregon, Mr.

WAMP, Ms. WATERS, Mr. WEYGAND, Mr. WISE, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. WU,

and Mr. WYNN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Banking and Financial Services

A BILL

To require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint coins

in commemoration of veterans of the Armed Forces of

the United States and to use the proceeds of surcharges

imposed on the sale of such coins to fund the transportation of veterans to and from hospitals administered

by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs.

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 ‘‘Veterans Commemora5 tion Act of 2000’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds as follows:

8 (1) The United States is indebted to those who

9 served this nation in times of war.

10 (2) The United States must meet its obligations

11 to veterans.
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1 (3) The Congress has the responsibility to fulfill

2 those obligations to veterans.

3 (4) The Congress recognizes the unique service

4 that the Disabled American Veterans’ transportation

5 program provides to veterans.

6 (5) The Congress would like to offer the oppor7 tunity for all persons to voluntarily participate in

8 raising funds for the transportation of veterans to

9 and from veterans’ hospitals.

10 (6) The Congress understands the importance

11 of Executive Order Numbered 5398, signed by

12 President Herbert Hoover on July 21, 1930, which

13 created the Veterans Administration at a time when

14 there were 54 hospitals, 4,700,000 living veterans,

15 and 31,600 employees.

16 (7) It is appropriate to authorize coins com17 memorating the service of veterans of the Armed

18 Forces of the United States and provide for the use

19 of the proceeds of surcharges imposed on the sale of

20 the coins to fund the transportation of veterans to

21 and from hospitals administered by the Secretary of

22 Veterans Affairs.

23 SEC. 3. COIN SPECIFICATIONS.

24 (a) $1 SILVER COINS.—
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1 (1) DESIGNATIONS.—The Secretary of the

2 Treasury (hereafter in this Act referred to as the

3 ‘‘Secretary’’) shall mint and issue not more than

4 500,000 $1 coins to commemorate veterans of the

5 United States Armed Services.

6 (2) SIZE, WEIGHT, AND COMPOSITION.—Each

7 coin issued under paragraph (1) shall—

8 (A) weigh 26.73 grams;

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

10 (C) contain 90 percent silver and 10 per11 cent copper.

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

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

14 title 31, United States Code.

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

16 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all coins minted

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

18 SEC. 4. SOURCES OF BULLION.

19 The Secretary may obtain silver for minting coins

20 under this Act from any available source, including stock21 piles established under the Strategic and Critical Mate22 rials Stock Piling Act.

23 SEC. 5. DESIGN OF COINS.

24 (a) DESIGN REQUIREMENTS.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The design of each coin

2 minted under this Act shall be emblematic of the

3 service of veterans of the Armed Forces of the

4 United States.

5 (2) DESIGNATION AND INSCRIPTIONS.—On

6 each coin minted under this Act there shall be—

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

8 (B) an inscription of the year ‘‘2005’’; and

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

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

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

13 under this Act shall be—

14 (1) selected by the Secretary after consultation

15 with the Disabled American Veterans and the Com16 mission of Fine Arts; and

17 (2) reviewed by the Citizens Commemorative

18 Coin Advisory Committee.

19 SEC. 6. ISSUANCE OF COINS.

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

21 Act shall be issued in uncirculated and proof qualities.

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

23 States Mint may be used to strike any particular quality

24 of the coins minted under this Act.
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1 (c) COMMENCEMENT OF ISSUANCE.—The Secretary

2 may issue coins minted under this Act beginning January

3 1, 2005.

4 (d) TERMINATION OF MINTING AUTHORITY.—No

5 coins may be minted under this Act after December 31,

6 2005.

7 SEC. 7. SALE OF COINS.

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

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

10 of—

11 (1) the face value of the coins;

12 (2) the surcharge provided in section 8(a) with

13 respect to such coins; and

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

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

16 overhead expenses, marketing, and shipping).

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

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

19 discount.

20 (c) PREPAID ORDERS.—

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

22 prepaid orders for the coins minted under this Act

23 before the issuance of such coins.
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1 (2) DISCOUNT.—Sale prices with respect to pre2 paid orders under paragraph (1) shall be at a rea3 sonable discount.

4 SEC. 8. SURCHARGES.

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—All sales of coins minted under

6 this Act shall include a surcharge of $10.

7 (b) DISTRIBUTION.—All surcharges received by the

8 Secretary from the sale of coins issued under this Act shall

9 be promptly paid by the Secretary, in accordance with sec10 tion 5134(f)(1) of title 31, United States Code, to the Dis11 abled American Veterans for the purpose of funding the

12 transportation of veterans to and from hospitals adminis13 tered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs.

14 (c) AUDITS.—The Disabled American Veterans shall

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

16 of title 31, United States Code.

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