II

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1112

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

of Native American history and culture.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JULY 31, 1997

Mr. CAMPBELL (for himself, Mr. INOUYE, Mr. CONRAD, and Mr.

WELLSTONE) 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 Native American history and culture.

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 ‘‘United States Buffalo

5 Nickel Act of 1997’’.

6 SEC. 2. COIN SPECIFICATIONS.

7 (a) DENOMINATIONS.—Notwithstanding any other

8 provision of law, during the 3-year period beginning on

9 January 1, 2000, the Secretary of the Treasury (hereafter

10 in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall mint and
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1 issue each year not more than 1,000,000 5-cent coins,

2 which shall—

3 (1) weigh 5 grams;

4 (2) have a diameter of 0.835 inch; and

5 (3) contain an alloy of 90 percent silver and 10

6 percent copper.

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

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

9 title 31, United States Code.

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

11 5134 of title 31, United States Code, all coins minted

12 under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic items.

13 SEC. 3. SOURCES OF BULLION.

14 The Secretary shall obtain silver for minting coins

15 under this Act only from stockpiles established under the

16 Strategic and Critical Materials Stockpiling Act.

17 SEC. 4. DESIGN OF COINS.

18 (a) DESIGN REQUIREMENTS.—

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

20 minted under this Act shall be based on the original

21 5-cent coin designed by James Earle Fraser and

22 minted from 1913 to 1938. Each coin shall have on

23 the obverse side a profile representation of a Native

24 American, and on the reverse side a representation

25 of a buffalo.
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1 (2) DESIGNATIONS 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; and

5 (C) inscriptions of the words ‘‘United

6 States of America’’, ‘‘Liberty’’, and ‘‘E

7 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 Committee on Banking, Housing, and

12 Urban Affairs and the Committee on Indian Affairs

13 of the Senate and the Commission of Fine Arts; and

14 (2) reviewed by the Citizens Commemorative

15 Coin Advisory Committee.

16 SEC. 5. 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 combina21 tion of denomination and quality of the coins minted under

22 this Act.

23 (c) TERMINATION OF MINTING AUTHORITY.—No

24 coins may be minted under this Act after December 31,

25 2000.
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1 SEC. 6. 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 (d)

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) PREPAID ORDERS.—

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

16 prepaid orders for the coins minted under this Act

17 before the issuance of such coins.

18 (2) DISCOUNT.—Sale prices with respect to pre19 paid orders under paragraph (1) shall be at a rea20 sonable discount.

21 (d) SURCHARGES.—All sales shall include a sur22 charge of $1.00 per coin.

23 SEC. 7. GENERAL WAIVER OF PROCUREMENT REGULA24 TIONS.

25 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection

26 (b), no provision of law governing procurement or public
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1 contracts shall be applicable to the procurement of goods

2 and services necessary for carrying out the provisions of

3 this Act.

4 (b) EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY.—Sub5 section (a) does not relieve any person entering into a con6 tract under the authority of this Act from complying with

7 any law relating to equal employment opportunity.

8 SEC. 8. DISTRIBUTION OF SURCHARGES.

9 (a) PERMISSIBLE PURPOSES.—All surcharges re10 ceived by the Secretary from the sale of coins issued under

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

12 National Museum of the American Indian for the purposes

13 of—

14 (1) commemorating the tenth anniversary of

15 the establishment of the Museum; and

16 (2) supplementing the endowment and edu17 cational outreach funds of the Museum.

18 (b) AUDITS.—The Comptroller General of the United

19 States shall have the right to examine such books, records,

20 documents, and other data of the National Museum of the

21 American Indian as may be related to the expenditures

22 of amounts paid under subsection (a).

23 SEC. 9. FINANCIAL ASSURANCES.

24 (a) NO NET COST TO THE GOVERNMENT.—The Sec25 retary shall take such actions as may be necessary to en-
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1 sure that minting and issuing coins under this Act will

2 not result in any net cost to the United States Govern3 ment.

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

5 under this Act unless the Secretary has received—

6 (1) full payment for the coin;

7 (2) security satisfactory to the Secretary to in8 demnify the United States for full payment; or

9 (3) a guarantee of full payment satisfactory to

10 the Secretary from a depository institution whose

11 deposits are insured by the Federal Deposit Insur12 ance Corporation or the National Credit Union Ad13 ministration Board.

Æ