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[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1935 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1935

 To require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint coins in recognition 
  and celebration of the 75th anniversary of the establishment of the 
                       March of Dimes Foundation.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            December 1, 2011

 Mrs. Hagan (for herself, Ms. Collins, Mr. Schumer, Mr. Kirk, and Mr. 
Akaka) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 
        to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
 To require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint coins in recognition 
  and celebration of the 75th anniversary of the establishment of the 
                       March of Dimes Foundation.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``March of Dimes Commemorative Coin 
Act of 2011''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) President Franklin Roosevelt's personal struggle with 
        polio led him to create the National Foundation for Infantile 
        Paralysis (now known as the March of Dimes) on January 3, 1938, 
        at a time when polio was on the rise.
            (2) The Foundation established patient aid programs and 
        funded research for polio vaccines developed by Jonas Salk, MD, 
        and Albert Sabin, MD.
            (3) Tested in a massive field trial in 1954 that involved 
        1.8 million schoolchildren known as ``polio pioneers'', the 
        Salk vaccine was licensed for use on April 12, 1955 as ``safe, 
        effective, and potent''. The Salk and Sabin polio vaccines 
        funded by the March of Dimes ended the polio epidemic in the 
        United States.
            (4) With its original mission accomplished, the Foundation 
        turned its focus to preventing birth defects, prematurity, and 
        infant mortality in 1958. The Foundation began to fund research 
        into the genetic, prenatal, and environmental causes of over 
        3,000 birth defects.
            (5) The Foundation's investment in research has led to 13 
        scientists winning the Nobel Prize since 1954, including Dr. 
        James Watson's discovery of the double helix.
            (6) Virginia Apgar, MD, creator of the Apgar Score, helped 
        develop the Foundation's mission for birth defects prevention; 
        joining the Foundation as the head of its new birth defects 
        division in 1959.
            (7) In the 1960s, the Foundation created over 100 birth 
        defects treatment centers, and then turned its attention to 
        assisting in the development of Neonatal Intensive Care Units, 
        or NICUs.
            (8) With March of Dimes support, a Committee on Perinatal 
        Health released Toward Improving the Outcome of Pregnancy in 
        1976, which included recommendations that led to the 
        regionalization of perinatal health care in the United States.
            (9) Since 1998, the March of Dimes has advocated for and 
        witnessed the passage of the Birth Defects Prevention Act, 
        Children's Health Act, PREEMIE Act, and Newborn Screening Save 
        Lives Act.
            (10) In 2003, the March of Dimes launched a Prematurity 
        Campaign to increase awareness about and reduce the incidence 
        of preterm birth, infant mortality, birth defects, and lifelong 
        disabilities and disorders.
            (11) The March of Dimes actively promotes programs for and 
        funds research into newborn screening, pulmonary surfactant 
        therapy, maternal nutrition, smoking cessation, folic acid 
        consumption to prevent neural tube defects, increased access to 
        maternity care, and similar programs to improve maternal and 
        infant health.

SEC. 3. COIN SPECIFICATIONS.

    (a) $1 Silver Coins.--In recognition and celebration of the 
founding and proud service of the March of Dimes, the Secretary of the 
Treasury (hereafter in this Act referred to as the ``Secretary'') shall 
mint and issue not more than 500,000 $1 coins, which shall--
            (1) weigh 26.73 grams;
            (2) have a diameter of 1.500 inches; and
            (3) contain 90 percent silver and 10 percent copper.
    (b) Legal Tender.--The coins minted under this Act shall be legal 
tender, as provided in section 5103 of title 31, United States Code.
    (c) Numismatic Items.--For purposes of sections 5134 and 5136 of 
title 31, United States Code, all coins minted under this Act shall be 
considered to be numismatic items.

SEC. 4. DESIGN OF COINS.

    (a) Design Requirements.--
            (1) In general.--The design of the coins minted under this 
        Act shall be emblematic of the mission and programs of the 
        March of Dimes, and its distinguished record of generating 
        Americans' support to protect our children's health.
            (2) Designation and inscriptions.--On each coin minted 
        under this Act, there shall be--
                    (A) a designation of the value of the coin;
                    (B) an inscription of the year ``2014''; and
                    (C) inscriptions of the words ``Liberty'', ``In God 
                We Trust'', ``United States of America'', and ``E 
                Pluribus Unum''.
    (b) Selection.--The design for the coins minted under this Act 
shall--
            (1) contain motifs that represent the past, present, and 
        future of the March of Dimes and its role as champion for all 
        babies, such designs to be consistent with the traditions and 
        heritage of the March of Dimes;
            (2) be selected by the Secretary, after consultation with 
        the March of Dimes and the Commission of Fine Arts; and
            (3) be reviewed by the Citizens Coin Advisory Committee.

SEC. 5. ISSUANCE.

    (a) Quality of Coins.--Coins minted under this Act shall be issued 
in uncirculated and proof qualities.
    (b) Mint Facility.--For the coins minted under this Act, at least 1 
facility of the United States Mint shall be used to strike proof 
quality coins, while at least 1 other such facility shall be used to 
strike the uncirculated quality coins.
    (c) Period for Issuance.--The Secretary of the Treasury may issue 
coins minted under this Act only during the 1-year period beginning on 
January 1, 2014.

SEC. 6. SALE OF COINS.

    (a) Sale Price.--The coins issued under this Act shall be sold by 
the Secretary at a price equal to the sum of--
            (1) the face value of the coins;
            (2) the surcharge provided in section 7(a) with respect to 
        such coins; and
            (3) the cost of designing and issuing the coins (including 
        labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, overhead expenses, 
        marketing, and shipping).
    (b) Bulk Sales.--The Secretary shall make bulk sales of the coins 
issued under this Act at a reasonable discount.
    (c) Prepaid Orders.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary shall accept prepaid orders 
        for the coins minted under this Act before the issuance of such 
        coins.
            (2) Discount.--Sale prices with respect to prepaid orders 
        under paragraph (1) shall be at a reasonable discount.

SEC. 7. SURCHARGES.

    (a) In General.--All sales of coins minted under this Act shall 
include a surcharge of $10 per coin.
    (b) Distribution.--Subject to section 5134(f) of title 31, United 
States Code, all surcharges received by the Secretary from the sale of 
coins issued under this Act shall be promptly paid by the Secretary to 
the March of Dimes to help finance research, education, and services 
aimed at improving the health of women, infants, and children.
    (c) Audits.--The March of Dimes shall be subject to the audit 
requirements of section 5134(f)(2) of title 31, United States Code, 
with regard to the amounts received under subsection (b).
    (d) Limitation.--Notwithstanding subsection (a), 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 5112(m)(1) of title 31, 
United States Code. The Secretary may issue guidance to carry out this 
subsection.
                                 <all>
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