IIB

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1033

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JULY 21, 1999

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 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,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Lewis and Clark Expe3 dition Bicentennial Commemorative Coin Act’’.

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

5 The Congress finds that—

6 (1) the expedition commanded by Meriwether

7 Lewis and William Clark, which came to be called

8 ‘‘The Corps of Discovery’’, was one of the most re9 markable and productive scientific and military ex10 ploring expeditions in all American history;

11 (2) President Thomas Jefferson gave Lewis and

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

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

14 communication with the waters of the Pacific Ocean,

15 whether the Columbia, Oregon, Colorado, or any

16 other river may offer the most direct and practical

17 water communication across this continent for the

18 purposes of commerce’’;

19 (3) the Expedition, in response to President

20 Jefferson’s directive, greatly advanced our geo21 graphical knowledge of the continent and prepared

22 the way for the extension of the American fur trade

23 with American Indian tribes throughout the land;

24 (4) President Jefferson directed the explorers to

25 take note of and carefully record the natural re26 sources of the newly acquired territory known as
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1 Louisiana, as well as diligently report on the native

2 inhabitants of the land;

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

4 on May 14, 1804;

5 (6) the Expedition held its first meeting with

6 American Indians at Council Bluff near present-day

7 Fort Calhoun, Nebraska, in August 1804, spent its

8 first winter at Fort Mandan, North Dakota, crossed

9 the Rocky Mountains by the mouth of the Columbia

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

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

12 Oregon;

13 (7) the Expedition returned to St. Louis, Mis14 souri, on September 23, 1806, after a 28-month

15 journey covering 8,000 miles during which it tra16 versed 11 future States: Illinois, Missouri, Kansas,

17 Nebraska, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Mon18 tana, Idaho, Washington, and Oregon;

19 (8) accounts from the journals of Lewis and

20 Clark and the detailed maps that were prepared by

21 the Expedition enhance knowledge of the western

22 continent and routes for commerce;

23 (9) the Expedition significantly enhanced ami24 cable relationships between the United States and

25 the autonomous American Indian nations, and the
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1 friendship and respect fostered between American

2 Indian tribes and the Expedition represents the best

3 of diplomacy and relationships between divergent na4 tions and cultures; and

5 (10) the Lewis and Clark Expedition has been

6 called the most perfect expedition of its kind in the

7 history of the world and paved the way for the

8 United States to become a great world power.

9 SEC. 3. COIN SPECIFICATIONS.

10 (a) DENOMINATION.—In commemoration of the bi11 centennial of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, the Sec12 retary of the Treasury (hereafter in this Act referred to

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

14 500,000 $1 coins, each of which shall—

15 (1) weigh 26.73 grams;

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

17 (3) contain 90 percent silver and 10 percent

18 copper.

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

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

21 title 31, United States Code.

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

23 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all coins minted

24 under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic items.
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1 SEC. 4. SOURCES OF BULLION.

2 The Secretary may obtain silver for minting coins

3 under this Act from any available source, including stock4 piles established under the Strategic and Critical Mate5 rials Stock Piling Act.

6 SEC. 5. DESIGN OF COINS.

7 (a) DESIGN REQUIREMENTS.—

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

9 minted under this Act shall be emblematic of the ex10 pedition of Lewis and Clark.

11 (2) DESIGNATION AND INSCRIPTIONS.—On

12 each coin minted under this Act there shall be—

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

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

15 the years ‘‘1804–1806’’; and

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

17 ‘‘In God We Trust’’, ‘‘United States of Amer18 ica’’, and ‘‘E Pluribus Unum’’.

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

20 coin minted under this Act shall bear the likeness of

21 Meriwether Lewis and William Clark.

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

23 the Secretary shall also consider incorporating ap24 propriate elements from the Jefferson Peace and

25 Friendship Medal which Lewis and Clark presented

26 to the Chiefs of the various Indian tribes they en-
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1 countered and shall consider recognizing Native

2 American culture.

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

4 under this Act shall be selected by the Secretary after con5 sultation with the Commission of Fine Arts and shall be

6 reviewed by the Citizens Commemorative Coin Advisory

7 Committee.

8 SEC. 6. ISSUANCE OF COINS.

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

10 Act shall be issued in uncirculated and proof qualities.

11 (b) MINT FACILITY.—Only one facility of the United

12 States Mint may be used to strike any particular quality

13 of the coins minted under this Act.

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

15 issue coins minted under this Act only during the period

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

17 31, 2004.

18 SEC. 7. SALE OF COINS.

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

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

21 of—

22 (1) the face value of the coins;

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

24 with respect to such coins; and
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1 (3) the cost of designing and issuing the coins

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

3 overhead expenses, marketing, and shipping).

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

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

6 discount.

7 (c) PREPAID ORDERS.—

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

9 prepaid orders for the coins minted under this Act

10 before the issuance of such coins.

11 (2) DISCOUNT.—Sale prices with respect to pre12 paid orders under paragraph (1) shall be at a rea13 sonable discount.

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

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

16 SEC. 8. DISTRIBUTION OF SURCHARGES.

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

18 31, United States Code, the proceeds from the surcharges

19 received by the Secretary from the sale of coins issued

20 under this Act shall be promptly paid by the Secretary

21 as follows:

22 (1) NATIONAL LEWIS AND CLARK BICENTEN23 NIAL COUNCIL.—Two-thirds to the National Lewis

24 and Clark Bicentennial Council, for activities associ-
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1 ated with commemorating the bicentennial of the

2 Expedition.

3 (2) NATIONAL PARK SERVICE.—One-thirds to

4 the National Park Service for activities associated

5 with commemorating the bicentennial of the Lewis

6 and Clark Expedition.

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

8 payment from the Secretary under this section shall be

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

10 title 31, United States Code.

11 SEC. 9. FINANCIAL ASSURANCES.

12 (a) NO NET COST TO THE GOVERNMENT.—The Sec13 retary shall take such actions as may be necessary to en14 sure that minting and issuing coins under this Act will

15 not result in any net cost to the United States Govern16 ment.

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

18 under this Act unless the Secretary has received—

19 (1) full payment for the coin;

20 (2) security satisfactory to the Secretary to in21 demnify the United States for full payment; or

22 (3) a guarantee of full payment satisfactory to

23 the Secretary from a depository institution whose

24 deposits are insured by the Federal Deposit Insur-
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1 ance Corporation or the National Credit Union Ad2 ministration Board.

Passed the House of Representatives July 19, 1999.

Attest: JEFF TRANDAHL,

Clerk.