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106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1033

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

of the bicentennial of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 9, 1999

Mr. BEREUTER (for himself, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. HILL of Montana, Mr.

POMEROY, and Mr. BACHUS) 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 the bicentennial of the Lewis and

Clark Expedition, 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 ‘‘Lewis and Clark Expe5 dition Bicentennial Commemorative Coin Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds that—

8 (1) the expedition commanded by Meriwether

9 Lewis and William Clark, which came to be called
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1 ‘‘The Corps of Discovery’’, was one of the most re2 markable and productive scientific and military ex3 ploring expeditions in all American history;

4 (2) President Thomas Jefferson gave Lewis and

5 Clark the mission to ‘‘explore the Missouri River &

6 such principal stream of it, as, by its course and

7 communication with the waters of the Pacific Ocean,

8 whether the Columbia, Oregon, Colorado, or any

9 other river may offer the most direct and practical

10 water communication across this continent for the

11 purposes of commerce’’;

12 (3) the Expedition, in response to President

13 Jefferson’s directive, greatly advanced our geo14 graphical knowledge of the continent and prepared

15 the way for the extension of the American fur trade

16 with American Indian tribes throughout the land;

17 (4) President Jefferson directed the explorers to

18 take note of and carefully record the natural re19 sources of the newly acquired territory known as

20 Louisiana, as well as diligently report on the native

21 inhabitants of the land;

22 (5) the Expedition departed St. Louis, Missouri

23 on May 14, 1804;

24 (6) the Expedition held its first meeting with

25 American Indians at Council Bluff near present-day
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1 Fort Calhoun, Nebraska, in August 1804, spent its

2 first winter at Fort Mandan, North Dakota, crossed

3 the Rocky Mountains by the mouth of the Columbia

4 River in mid-November of that year, and wintered at

5 Fort Clatsop, near the present-day city of Astoria,

6 Oregon;

7 (7) the Expedition returned to St. Louis, Mis8 souri, on September 23, 1806, after a 28-month

9 journey covering 8,000 miles during which it tra10 versed 11 future States: Illinois, Missouri, Kansas,

11 Nebraska, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Mon12 tana, Idaho, Washington, and Oregon;

13 (8) accounts from the journals of Lewis and

14 Clark and the detailed maps that were prepared by

15 the Expedition enhance knowledge of the western

16 continent and routes for commerce;

17 (9) the Expedition significantly enhanced ami18 cable relationships between the United States and

19 the autonomous American Indian nations, and the

20 friendship and respect fostered between American

21 Indian tribes and the Expedition represents the best

22 of diplomacy and relationships between divergent na23 tions and cultures; and

24 (10) the Lewis and Clark Expedition has been

25 called the most perfect expedition of its kind in the
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1 history of the world and paved the way for the

2 United States to become a great world power.

3 SEC. 3. COIN SPECIFICATIONS.

4 (a) DENOMINATION.—In commemoration of the bi5 centennial of the Lewis and Clark expedition, the Sec6 retary of the Treasury (hereafter in this Act referred to

7 as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall mint and issue not more than

8 500,000 $1 coins, each of which shall—

9 (1) weigh 26.73 grams;

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

11 (3) contain 90 percent silver and 10 percent

12 copper.

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 section

17 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all coins minted

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

19 SEC. 4. SOURCES OF BULLION.

20 The Secretary may obtain silver for minting coins

21 under this Act from any available source, including stock22 piles established under the Strategic and Critical Mate23 rials Stock Piling Act.

24 SEC. 5. DESIGN OF COINS.

25 (a) DESIGN REQUIREMENTS.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The design of the coins

2 minted under this Act shall be emblematic of the ex3 pedition of Lewis and Clark.

4 (2) DESIGNATION AND INSCRIPTIONS.—On

5 each coin minted under this Act there shall be—

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

7 (B) an inscription of the year ‘‘2004’’ and

8 the years ‘‘1804–1806’’; and

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

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

12 (3) OBVERSE OF COIN.—The obverse of each

13 coin minted under this Act shall bear the likeness of

14 Meriwether Lewis and William Clark.

15 (4) GENERAL DESIGN.—In designing this coin,

16 the Secretary shall also consider incorporating ap17 propriate elements from the Jefferson Peace and

18 Friendship Medal which Lewis and Clark presented

19 to the Chiefs of the various Indian tribes they en20 countered and shall consider recognizing Native

21 American culture.

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

23 under this Act shall be selected by the Secretary after con24 sultation with the Commission of Fine Arts and shall be
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1 reviewed by the Citizens Commemorative Coin Advisory

2 Committee.

3 SEC. 6. ISSUANCE OF COINS.

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

5 Act shall be issued in uncirculated and proof qualities.

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

7 States Mint may be used to strike any particular quality

8 of the coins minted under this Act.

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

10 issue coins minted under this Act only during the period

11 beginning on January 1, 2004, and ending on December

12 31, 2004.

13 SEC. 7. SALE OF COINS.

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

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

16 of—

17 (1) the face value of the coins;

18 (2) the surcharge provided in subsection (d)

19 with respect to such coins; and

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

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

22 overhead expenses, marketing, and shipping).

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

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

25 discount.
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1 (c) PREPAID ORDERS.—

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

3 prepaid orders for the coins minted under this Act

4 before the issuance of such coins.

5 (2) DISCOUNT.—Sale prices with respect to pre6 paid orders under paragraph (1) shall be at a rea7 sonable discount.

8 (d) SURCHARGES.—All sales of coins minted under

9 this Act shall include a surcharge of $10 per coin.

10 SEC. 8. DISTRIBUTION OF SURCHARGES.

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to section 5134(f) of title

12 31, United States Code, the proceeds from the surcharges

13 received by the Secretary from the sale of coins issued

14 under this Act shall be promptly paid by the Secretary

15 as follows:

16 (1) NATIONAL LEWIS AND CLARK BICENTENNIAL COUNCIL.—2 17 ⁄3 to the National Lewis and Clark

18 Bicentennial Council, for activities associated with

19 commemorating the bicentennial of the Expedition.

(2) NATIONAL PARK SERVICE.—1 20 ⁄3 to the Na21 tional Park Service for activities associated with

22 commemorating the bicentennial of the Lewis and

23 Clark Expedition.

24 (b) AUDITS.—Each organization that receives any

25 payment from the Secretary under this section shall be
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1 subject to the audit requirements of section 5134(f)(2) of

2 title 31, United States Code.

3 SEC. 9. FINANCIAL ASSURANCES.

4 (a) NO NET COST TO THE GOVERNMENT.—The Sec5 retary shall take such actions as may be necessary to en6 sure that minting and issuing coins under this Act will

7 not result in any net cost to the United States Govern8 ment.

9 (b) PAYMENT FOR COINS.—A coin shall not be issued

10 under this Act unless the Secretary has received—

11 (1) full payment for the coin;

12 (2) security satisfactory to the Secretary to in13 demnify the United States for full payment; or

14 (3) a guarantee of full payment satisfactory to

15 the Secretary from a depository institution whose

16 deposits are insured by the Federal Deposit Insur17 ance Corporation or the National Credit Union Ad18 ministration Board.

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