IIB 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2722 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 16, 2015 

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 recognition of the fight against breast cancer. 

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 ‘‘Breast Cancer Aware3 ness Commemorative Coin Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 The Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) Breast cancer is the most common cancer 

7 among American women, except for skin cancers. 

8 Today, about 1 in 8, or 12 percent of, women in the 

9 United States will develop invasive breast cancer 

10 during their lifetime. This is an increase from 1 in 

11 11, or 9 percent of, women in 1975. 

12 (2) Breast cancer is the second leading cause of 

13 cancer death in women. The chance of dying from 

14 breast cancer is about 1 in 36. Thanks to earlier de15 tection, increased awareness, and improved treat16 ment, death rates from breast cancer have decreased 

17 since about 1989. 

18 (3) There is a strong interest among the Amer19 ican public to do more to tackle this disease. The 

20 National Cancer Institute estimates $16.5 billion is 

21 spent in the United States each year on breast can22 cer treatment. Assuming that incidence and survival 

23 rates follow recent trends, it is estimated that $17.2 

24 billion will be spent on breast cancer care in the 

25 United States in 2014. 

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1 (4) Finding a cure for breast cancer is a goal 

2 of the United States Government. 

3 (5) The National Institutes of Health dedicated 

4 an estimated $674 million for breast cancer research 

5 in Fiscal Year 2014. In Fiscal Year 2014, the De6 partment of Defense’s Breast Cancer Research Pro7 gram received $120 million. 

8 (6) While the National Institutes of Health and 

9 the Department of Defense program on Breast Can10 cer research remain the largest funders of breast 

11 cancer research in the United States, in 2013, the 

12 National Cancer Institute funding was reduced by 

13 nearly $66 million since 2011. The funding level for 

14 the Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research 

15 Program has remained consistent since 2012, how16 ever this amount represents a 20-percent decrease 

17 from 2011 funding levels. 

18 (7) Additional private sector support for breast 

19 cancer research will help us find cures for breast 

20 cancer even faster. 

21 (8) It is estimated that in the United States 

22 231,840 women will be diagnosed with and 40,290 

23 women will die of cancer of the breast in 2015. This 

24 means that every 13 minutes a woman dies of breast 

25 cancer in the United States. 

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1 (9) However, due to disease type and lack of 

2 adequate care, African-American women have the 

3 highest death rates of all racial and ethnic groups 

4 overall and are at least 44 percent more likely to die 

5 of breast cancer as compared to other racial and 

6 ethnic groups. 

7 (10) Breast cancer used to be considered a dis8 ease of aging but recent trends show that more ag9 gressive forms of the disease have been increasingly 

10 diagnosed in younger women. 

11 (11) Breast cancer is the most frequently diag12 nosed cancer among nearly every racial and ethnic 

13 group, including African-American, American In14 dian/Alaska Native, Asian/Pacific Islander, and His15 panic/Latina women. 

16 (12) Clinical advances, resulting from research, 

17 have led to increased survival from breast cancer. 

18 Since 1990, death rates from breast cancer have 

19 dropped over 34 percent. 

20 (13) Among men in the United States it is esti21 mated that there will be 2,350 new cases of invasive 

22 breast cancer and 440 breast cancer deaths in 2015. 

23 (14) At this time there are more than 3.1 mil24 lion breast cancer survivors in the United States. 

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1 (15) It is estimated that breast cancer costs 

2 $12.5 billion in lost productivity. Such productivity 

3 losses will increase with projected growth rate and 

4 aging of the U.S. population if cancer mortality 

5 rates stay constant in the future. 

6 (16) There is a better chance of survival and 

7 there are more treatment options with early stage 

8 detection through mammograms and clinical breast 

9 exams. 

10 (17) Breast cancer is the most common cancer 

11 in women worldwide, with an estimated 1.7 million 

12 new cases of breast cancer among women worldwide 

13 in 2012. 

14 (18) Breast Cancer Research Foundation 

15 (BCRF) is considered one of the most efficient can16 cer research charities. 

17 (19) Of every dollar donated to BCRF, $0.91 

18 goes to research and awareness programs—88 cents 

19 towards research and 3 cents towards awareness. 

20 (20) Founded in 1993, the BCRF has raised 

21 more than $500 million to fuel discoveries in tumor 

22 biology, genetics, prevention, treatment, survivor23 ship, and metastasis, making BCRF one of the larg24 est private funders of breast cancer research in the 

25 world. For 2014–2015, BCRF committed $58.6 milmstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

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1 lion in research, including $11.6 million to the inter2 national Evelyn H. Lauder Founder’s Fund focused 

3 on metastasis, to support the work of more than 220 

4 researchers at leading medical institutions across 6 

5 continents (25 states and 14 countries). 

6 SEC. 3. COIN SPECIFICATIONS. 

7 (a) DENOMINATIONS.—The Secretary of the Treas8 ury (hereafter in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) 

9 shall mint and issue the following coins: 

10 (1) $5 GOLD COINS.—Not more than 50,000 $5 

11 gold coins, which shall— 

12 (A) have a diameter of 0.850 inches; and 

13 (B) be made of ‘‘pink gold’’ which contains 

14 not less than 75 percent gold. 

15 (2) $1 SILVER COINS.—Not more than 400,000 

16 $1 coins, which shall— 

17 (A) weigh 26.73 grams; 

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

19 (C) contain not less than 90 percent silver. 

20 (3) HALF-DOLLAR CLAD COINS.—Not more 

21 than 750,000 half-dollar coins which shall— 

22 (A) weigh 11.34 grams; 

23 (B) have a diameter of 1.205 inches; and 

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1 (C) be minted to the specifications for half2 dollar coins contained in section 5112(b) of title 

3 31, United States Code. 

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

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

6 title 31, United States Code. 

7 (c) NUMISMATIC ITEMS.—For purposes of sections 

8 5134 and 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all coins 

9 minted under this Act shall be considered to be numis10 matic items. 

11 SEC. 4. DESIGN OF COINS. 

12 (a) DESIGN REQUIREMENTS.— 

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

14 minted under this Act shall be emblematic of the 

15 fight against breast cancer. 

16 (2) DESIGNATION AND INSCRIPTIONS.—On 

17 each coin minted under this Act there shall be— 

18 (A) a designation of the face value of the 

19 coin; 

20 (B) an inscription of the year ‘‘2018’’; and 

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

22 ‘‘In God We Trust’’, ‘‘United States of Amer23 ica’’, and ‘‘E Pluribus Unum’’. 

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

25 under this Act shall be selected by the Secretary based 

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1 on the winning design from a juried, compensated design 

2 competition described under subsection (c). 

3 (c) DESIGN COMPETITION.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall hold a 

5 competition and provide compensation for its winner 

6 to design the obverse and reverse of the coins minted 

7 under this Act. The competition shall be judged by 

8 an expert jury chaired by the Secretary and con9 sisting of three members from the Citizens Coinage 

10 Advisory Committee who shall be elected by such 

11 Committee and three members from the Commission 

12 of Fine Arts who shall be elected by such Commis13 sion. 

14 (2) PROPOSALS.—As part of the competition 

15 described in this subsection, the Secretary may ac16 cept proposals from artists, engravers of the United 

17 States Mint, and members of the general public, and 

18 any designs submitted for the design review process 

19 described herein shall be anonymized until a final se20 lection is made. 

21 (3) ACCOMPANYING DESIGNS; PREFERENCE

22 FOR PHYSICAL DESIGNS.—The Secretary shall en23 courage three-dimensional designs to be submitted 

24 as part of the proposals, and the jury shall give a 

25 preference for proposals that are accompanied by a 

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1 three-dimensional physical design instead of, or in 

2 addition to, an electronic design. 

3 (4) COMPENSATION.—The Secretary shall de4 termine compensation for the winning design under 

5 this subsection, which shall be not less than $5,000. 

6 The Secretary shall take into account this compensa7 tion amount when determining the sale price de8 scribed in section 6(a). 

9 SEC. 5. ISSUANCE OF COINS. 

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

11 Act shall be issued in uncirculated and proof qualities. 

12 (b) PERIOD FOR ISSUANCE.—The Secretary may 

13 issue coins minted under this Act only during the 1-year 

14 period beginning on January 1, 2018. 

15 SEC. 6. SALE OF COINS. 

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

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

18 of— 

19 (1) the face value of the coins; 

20 (2) the surcharge provided in section 7(a) with 

21 respect to the coins; and 

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

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

24 overhead expenses, marketing, and shipping). 

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

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

3 discount. 

4 (c) PREPAID ORDERS.— 

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

6 prepaid orders for the coins minted under this Act 

7 before the issuance of such coins. 

8 (2) DISCOUNT.—Sale prices with respect to pre9 paid orders under paragraph (1) shall be at a rea10 sonable discount. 

11 SEC. 7. SURCHARGES. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—All sales of coins issued under this 

13 Act shall include a surcharge of— 

14 (1) $35 per coin for the $5 coin; 

15 (2) $10 per coin for the $1 coin; and 

16 (3) $5 per coin for the half-dollar coin. 

17 (b) DISTRIBUTION.—Subject to section 5134(f) of 

18 title 31, United States Code, all surcharges which are re19 ceived by the Secretary from the sale of coins issued under 

20 this Act shall be promptly paid by the Secretary to the 

21 Breast Cancer Research Foundation, New York, New 

22 York, for the purpose of furthering breast cancer research 

23 funded by the Foundation. 

24 (c) AUDITS.—The surcharge recipients under sub25 section (b) shall be subject to the audit requirements of 

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1 section 5134(f)(2) of title 31, United States Code, with 

2 regard to the amounts received under that subsection. 

3 (d) LIMITATIONS.—Notwithstanding subsection (a), 

4 no surcharge may be included with respect to the issuance 

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

6 of the time of such issuance, the issuance of such coin 

7 would result in the number of commemorative coin pro8 grams issued during such year to exceed the annual two 

9 commemorative coin program issuance limitation under 

10 section 5112(m)(1) of title 31, United States Code (as in 

11 effect on the date of the enactment of this Act). The Sec12 retary of the Treasury may issue guidance to carry out 

13 this subsection. 

Passed the House of Representatives June 15, 2015. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 

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