29–006 

108TH CONGRESS REPT. 108–474 " HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ! 2d Session Part 2

MARINE CORPS 230TH ANNIVERSARY COMMEMORATIVE 

COIN ACT 

JULY 6, 2004.—Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of 

the Union and ordered to be printed 

Mr. THOMAS, from the Committee on Ways and Means, 

submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

[To accompany H.R. 3277] 

[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

The Committee on Ways and Means, to whom was referred the 

bill (H.R. 3277), to require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint 

coins in commemoration of the 230th anniversary of the United 

States Marine Corps, and to support construction of the Marine 

Corps Heritage Center, having considered the same, report favorably thereon with an amendment and recommend that the bill as 

amended do pass.

CONTENTS 

Page 

I. Summary and Background .............................................................................. 2

II. Explanation of the Bill ..................................................................................... 2

III. Votes of the Committee .................................................................................... 3

IV. Budget Effects of the Bill ................................................................................. 4

V. Other Matters To Be Discussed Under the Rules of the House ................... 5

The amendment (stated in terms of the page and line numbers 

of the introduced bill) is as follows: 

Page 5, after line 25 (at the end of section 6), add the following 

new subsection:

(e) LIMITATION.—Notwithstanding subsection (b), no surcharge may be included with respect to the issuance under 

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

time of such issuance, the issuance of such coin would result in the number of commemorative coin programs 

issued during such year to exceed the annual 2 commemorative coin program issuance limitation under section 

2

1Pub. L. No. 104–329. 2 31 U.S.C. 5112. 

5112(m)(1) of title 31, United States Code (as in effect on 

the date of the enactment of this Act). The Secretary of the 

Treasury may issue guidance to carry out this subsection.

I. SUMMARY AND BACKGROUND 

A. PURPOSE AND SUMMARY

The bill, H.R. 3277, as amended, contains provisions that direct 

the U.S. Mint to produce a coin to commemorate the 230th anniversary of the founding of the United States Marine Corps and permit a surcharge to be collected on such coin. However, such surcharges may be collected only with respect to two commemorative 

coin programs per year. 

B. BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

The provisions approved by the Committee reflect the need to enforce the limitation established in the Commemorative Coin Reform 

Act of 1996 that commemorative coins from no more than two commemorative coin programs carrying surcharges be issued per year. 

C. LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

The House Committee on Ways and Means marked up H.R. 3277 

on June 23, 2004, and ordered the bill, as amended, favorably reported by voice vote. 

II. EXPLANATION OF THE BILL 

PRESENT LAW

The Secretary of the Treasury is authorized to issue commemorative coins under the United States Commemorative Coin Act of 

1996,1 as amended, and specific statutes authorizing the issuance 

of coins under a commemorative coin program. A statute authorizing a commemorative coin program generally includes a provision 

establishing authority for the Secretary to impose a surcharge with 

respect to that program. Proceeds of the surcharge are to be used 

for the purposes authorized by the commemorative coin program 

authorizing legislation. Under present law, effective January 1, 

1999, the Secretary may mint and issue commemorative coins during any calendar year with respect to not more than two commemorative coin programs.2 This limitation applies to coin programs 

without regard to whether a surcharge is imposed. 

REASONS FOR CHANGE

The Committee understands that, since 1982, 42 different commemorative coins have been produced and they have generated approximately $430 million in surcharges. Changes enacted under the 

Commemorative Coin Reform Act of 1996 provide that the Federal 

Government may retain surcharges if the recipient organization 

does not meet certain requirements, e.g., matching funds. The surcharges raise revenue for the Federal Government that is used to 

fund various programs and organizations as provided in the auVerDate jul 14 2003 22:10 Jul 08, 2004 Jkt 029006 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\HR474P2.XXX HR474P2
3

thorizing legislation. The Commemorative Coin Reform Act of 1996 

also provided that there would be a limit of no more than two commemorative coins issued annually. Because commemorative coins 

are used to raise revenue for the Federal Government, the Committee believes it is appropriate to enforce the limitation of no more 

than two commemorative coin programs per year by providing that 

no surcharge may be collected on any commemorative coin issued 

as part of more than two commemorative coin programs in any calendar year. 

EXPLANATION OF PROVISION

H.R. 3277, as amended by the Committee, provides for the 

issuance of a coin to commemorate the 230th anniversary of the 

United States Marine Corps. The bill provides that the Secretary 

shall mint and issue a one-dollar coin that shall be legal tender. 

The bill provides that all sales of the coins shall include a surcharge of ten dollars per coin. Under the bill, all surcharges received by the Secretary from the sale of coins issued under the bill 

shall be paid to the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation for the purposes of construction of the Marine Corps Heritage Center. 

The bill, as amended, further provides that no surcharge may be 

included with respect to the issuance of coins under H.R. 3277, the 

‘‘Marine Corps 230th Anniversary Commemorative Coin Act,’’ during a calendar year if, as of the time of such issuance, the issuance 

of such coin would result in the number of commemorative coin 

programs issued during such year to exceed the annual limitation 

of two such commemorative coin programs under section 

5112(m)(1) of Title 31 of the United States Code. The bill provides 

that the Secretary of the Treasury may issue guidance to carry out 

the provision. The Secretary may issue coins minted under the bill 

only during the period beginning on January 1, 2005, and ending 

on December 31, 2005. Thus, if in 2005, prior to the issuance of the 

Marine Corps commemorative coin, commemorative coins have 

been issued under two other commemorative coin programs for 

which a surcharge was included, then, under the bill as amended, 

the Marine Corp commemorative coin would have to be issued 

without a surcharge. 

EFFECTIVE DATE

The provision is effective on the date of enactment. 

III. VOTES OF THE COMMITTEE 

In compliance with clause 3(b) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 

House of Representatives, the following statements are made concerning the votes of the Committee on Ways and Means in its consideration of the bill, H.R. 3277. 

MOTION TO REPORT THE BILL

The bill, H.R. 3277, as amended was ordered favorably reported 

by voice vote (with a quorum being present). 

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IV. BUDGET EFFECTS OF THE BILL 

A. COMMITTEE ESTIMATE OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS

In compliance with clause 3(d)(2) of the rule XIII of the Rules of 

the House of Representatives, the following statement is made concerning the effects on the budget of the revenue provisions of the 

bill, H.R. 3277 as reported. 

The Committee agrees with the estimate prepared by CBO which 

is included below. 

B. STATEMENT REGARDING NEW BUDGET AUTHORITY AND TAX

EXPENDITURES BUDGET AUTHORITY

In compliance with clause 3(c)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 

House of Representatives, the Committee states that the bill involves no new or increased budget authority. 

C. COST ESTIMATE PREPARED BY THE CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET

OFFICE

In compliance with clause 3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 

House of Representatives, requiring a cost estimate prepared by 

the CBO, the following statement by CBO is provided.

U.S. CONGRESS, CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE, Washington, DC, June 29, 2004. 

Hon. WILLIAM ‘‘BILL’’ M. THOMAS, Chairman, Committee on Ways and Means, 

House of Representatives, Washington, DC. 

DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: The Congressional Budget Office has prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 3277, the Marine Corps 

230th Anniversary Commemorative Coin Act. 

If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be pleased 

to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Matthew Pickford. 

Sincerely, 

ELIZABETH M. ROBINSON

(For Douglas Holtz-Eakin, Director). 

Enclosure. 

H.R. 3277—Marine Corps 230th Anniversary Commemorative Coin 

Act 

H.R. 3277 would authorize the U.S. Mint to produce a $1 silver 

coin in calendar year 2005 to commemorate the 230th anniversary 

of the United States Marine Corps. The legislation would specify a 

surcharge of $10 on the sale of each coin and would designate the 

Marine Corps Heritage Foundation, a nonprofit entity, as the recipient of the income from the surcharge. CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 3277 would have no significant net impact on direct 

spending over the 2004–2009 period. 

Sales from the coins that would be authorized by H.R. 3277 could 

raise as much as $5 million in surcharges if the Mint sells the 

maximum number of authorized coins. Recent commemorative coin 

sales, however, suggest that receipts would be about $3 million. 

Under current law, the Mint must ensure that it does not lose 

5

money producing commemorative coins before transferring any surcharges to a recipient organization. CBO expects that those receipts from such surcharges would be transferred to the foundation 

in fiscal year 2006. 

H.R. 3277 could limit the collection of surcharges from more than 

two commemorative coins in any calendar year. According to the 

Mint there are no commemorative coins scheduled to be issued in 

2005, so we expect this provision would not reduce the collection 

or spending of surcharges for the Marine Corps 230th Anniversary 

Commemorative Coin. 

H.R. 3277 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act, and would 

not affect state, local, or tribal governments. 

On June 22, 2004, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for S. 894, 

the Marine Corps 230th Anniversary Commemorative Coin Act, as 

ordered reported by the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, 

and Urban Affairs on June 17, 2004. On March 22, 2004, CBO 

transmitted a costs estimate for H.R. 3277, as ordered reported by 

the House Committee on Financial Services on March 17, 2004. 

The three pieces of legislation are similar and our cost estimates 

are the same. 

The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Matthew Pickford. 

This estimate was approved by Peter H. Fontaine, Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.

D. MACROECONOMIC IMPACT ANALYSIS

In compliance with clause 3(h)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 

House of Representatives, the following statement is made by the 

Joint Committee on Taxation with respect to the provisions of the 

bill amending the Internal Revenue Code of 1986: The effects of the 

bill on economic activity are so small as to be incalculable within 

the context of a model of the aggregate economy. 

V. OTHER MATTERS TO BE DISCUSSED UNDER THE 

RULES OF THE HOUSE 

A. COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

With respect to clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 

House of Representatives (relating to oversight findings), the Committee advises that it was a result of the Committee’s oversight review concerning Federal commemorative coin programs that the 

Committee concluded that it is appropriate and timely to enact the 

revenue provision included in the bill as reported. 

B. STATEMENT OF GENERAL PERFORMANCE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

Pursuant to clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House 

of Representatives, the Committee establishes the following performance related goals and objectives for this legislation: 

The Secretary of the Treasury shall use the authority granted by 

this legislation to mint a commemorative coin emblematic of the 

United States Marine Corps and transfer the proceeds from the 

sale of those coins to the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation. 

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C. CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY STATEMENT

With respect to clause 3(d)(1) of the rule XIII of the Rules of the 

House of Representatives (relating to Constitutional Authority), the 

Committee states that the Committee’s action in reporting this bill 

is derived from Article I of the Constitution, Section 8 (‘‘The Congress shall have Power To Lay and Collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts 

and Excises * * *’’). 

D. INFORMATION RELATING TO UNFUNDED MANDATES

This information is provided in accordance with section 423 of 

the Unfunded Mandates Act of 1995 (P.L. 104–4). 

The Committee has determined that the revenue provisions of 

the bill do not impose a Federal intergovernmental mandate on 

State, local, or tribal governments. 

E. APPLICABILITY OF HOUSE RULE XXI 5(b) 

Rule XXI 5(b) of the Rules of the House of Representatives provides, in part, that ‘‘A bill or joint resolution, amendment, or conference report carrying a Federal income tax rate increase may not 

be considered as passed or agreed to unless so determined by a 

vote of not less than three-fifths of the Members voting, a quorum 

being present.’’ The Committee has carefully reviewed the provisions of the bill, and states that the provisions of the bill do not 

involve any Federal income tax rate increases within the meaning 

of the rule. 

F. TAX COMPLEXITY ANALYSIS

Section 4022(b) of the Internal Revenue Service Reform and Restructuring Act of 1998 (the ‘‘IRS Reform Act’’) requires the Joint 

Committee on Taxation (in consultation with the Internal Revenue 

Service and the Department of the Treasury) to provide a tax complexity analysis. The complexity analysis is required for all legislation reported by the Senate Committee on Finance, the House 

Committee on Ways and Means, or any committee of conference if 

the legislation includes a provision that directly or indirectly 

amends the Internal Revenue Code (the ‘‘Code’’) and has widespread applicability to individuals or small businesses. 

The staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation has determined 

that a complexity analysis is not required under section 4022(b) of 

the IRS Reform Act because the bill contains no provisions that directly or indirectly amend the Internal Revenue Code.

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