II

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 3183

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

of the contributions of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., to the United States.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

OCTOBER 11 (legislative day, SEPTEMBER 22), 2000

Ms. LANDRIEU 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 commemoration of the contributions of Dr. Martin

Luther King, Jr., to the United States.

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 ‘‘Dr. Martin Luther

5 King, Jr., Commemorative Coin Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 Congress finds that—

8 (1) Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. dedicated his

9 life to securing the Nation’s fundamental principles

10 of liberty and justice for all its citizens;
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1 (2) Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was the lead2 ing civil rights advocate of his time, spearheading

3 the civil rights movement in the United States dur4 ing the 1950’s and 1960’s;

5 (3) Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was the key6 note speaker at the August 28, 1963, March on

7 Washington, the largest rally of the civil rights

8 movement, during which, from the steps of the Lin9 coln Memorial and before a crowd of more than

10 200,000 people, he delivered his famous ‘‘I Have A

11 Dream’’ speech, one of the classic orations in Amer12 ican history;

13 (4) Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a cham14 pion of nonviolence, fervently advocated nonviolent

15 resistance as the strategy to end segregation and ra16 cial discrimination in America, and was awarded the

17 1964 Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of his efforts;

18 (5) all Americans should commemorate the leg19 acy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. so ‘‘that one day

20 this Nation will rise up and live out the true mean21 ing of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evi22 dent; that all men are created equal.’ ’’; and

23 (6) efforts are underway to secure the personal

24 papers of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., for the Li-
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1 brary of Congress so that they may be preserved and

2 studied for generations to come.

3 SEC. 3. COIN SPECIFICATIONS.

4 (a) $1 SILVER COINS.—The Secretary of the Treas5 ury (hereafter in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’)

6 shall mint and issue not more than 500,000 $1 coins, each

7 of which shall—

8 (1) weigh 26.73 grams;

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

10 (3) contain 90 percent silver and 10 percent

11 copper.

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

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

14 title 31, United States Code.

15 SEC. 4. SOURCES OF BULLION.

16 The Secretary shall obtain silver for minting coins

17 under this Act from all available sources, including stock18 piles established under the Strategic and Critical Mate19 rials Stock Piling Act.

20 SEC. 5. DESIGN OF COINS.

21 (a) DESIGN REQUIREMENTS.—

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

23 minted under this Act shall be emblematic of the

24 human rights legacy and leadership of Dr. Martin

25 Luther King, Jr.
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1 (2) DESIGNATION AND INSCRIPTIONS.—On

2 each coin minted under this Act there shall be—

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

4 (B) an inscription of the year ‘‘2003’’; and

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

6 ‘‘In God We Trust’’, ‘‘United States of Amer7 ica’’, and ‘‘E Pluribus Unum’’.

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

9 under this Act shall be—

10 (1) selected by the Secretary after consultation

11 with the Librarian of Congress, the Commission of

12 Fine Arts, and the estate of Dr. Martin Luther

13 King, Jr.; and

14 (2) reviewed by the Citizens Commemorative

15 Coin Advisory Committee.

16 SEC. 6. ISSUANCE OF COINS.

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

18 Act shall be issued in uncirculated and proof qualities.

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

20 States Mint may be used to strike any particular quality

21 of the coins minted under this Act.

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

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

24 period beginning on January 1, 2003.
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1 SEC. 7. SALE OF COINS.

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

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

4 of—

5 (1) the face value of the coins;

6 (2) the surcharge provided in subsection (c)

7 with respect to such coins; and

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

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

10 overhead expenses, marketing, and shipping).

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

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

13 discount.

14 (c) SURCHARGES.—All sales of coins issued under

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

16 SEC. 8. DISTRIBUTION OF SURCHARGES.

17 Subject to section 5134(f) of title 31, United States

18 Code, all surcharges received by the Secretary from the

19 sale of coins issued under this Act shall be promptly paid

20 by the Secretary to the Library of Congress for the pur21 poses of purchasing and maintaining historical documents

22 and other materials associated with the life and legacy of

23 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

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