I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1982 

To require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint coins in recognition and 

celebration of the National Women’s Hall of Fame. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 28, 2019 

Mr. MORELLE (for himself, Ms. MOORE, Ms. MENG, and Mr. REED) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committee on the Budget, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint coins 

in recognition and celebration of the National Women’s 

Hall of Fame. 

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 ‘‘National Women’s Hall 

5 of Fame Commemorative Coin Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds the following: 


pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 1982 IH

1 (1) In 1969, the National Women’s Hall of 

2 Fame was established in Seneca Falls, New York, 

3 the location of the first Women’s Rights Convention 

4 in 1848. A total of 276 women have been inducted 

5 represented well by the first class that included Jane 

6 Addams, Marian Anderson, Susan B. Anthony, 

7 Clara Barton, Mary MacLeod Bethune, Elizabeth 

8 Blackwell, Pearl S. Buck, Rachel Carson, Mary 

9 Cassatt, Emily Dickinson, Amelia Earhart, Alice 

10 Hamilton, Helen Hayes, Helen Keller, Eleanor Roo11 sevelt, Florence Sabin, Margaret Chase Smith, Eliz12 abeth Cady Stanton, Helen Brooke Taussig and 

13 Harriet Tubman. 

14 (2) The National Women’s Hall of Fame is the 

15 Nation’s oldest membership organization dedicated 

16 to recognizing and celebrating the achievements of 

17 great American women. 

18 (3) The involvement of women in the Nation’s 

19 history is inadequately chronicled, commemorated 

20 and celebrated as reflected in the following: 

21 (A) Fewer than 5 percent of the 2,400 na22 tional historic landmarks chronicle women’s 

23 achievements. 

24 (B) Only 9 of the 112 statues in the Cap25 itol’s Statuary Hall are of women. 


pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 1982 IH

1 (C) The National Park Service notes that 

2 only 3 of the 152 national monuments in the 

3 United States are dedicated to historic female 

4 figures. 

5 (D) Of the 5,575 outdoor sculpture por6 traits of historical figures in the United States, 

7 559 portray women according to the Smithso8 nian American Art Museum’s online inventories 

9 catalog. 

10 (E) None of the 30 National managed 

11 under the National Park Service specifically 

12 honor women. 

13 (F) 3 of the 78 National Historic Sites 

14 commemorate women. 

15 (G) Only 1 of the 56 new quarters issued 

16 by the U.S. Mint from 1999 through 2017 com17 memorated a woman. 

18 (H) Only 219 U.S. Postal Stamps were 

19 issued to commemorate women. 

20 (4) The National Women’s Hall of Fame will 

21 complete rehabilitation of its new home at the 

22 former Seneca Falls Knitting Mill, which is a his23 toric building included in the National Historic Reg24 istry. The new building has over 20,000 square feet 

25 available for artifacts to ensure that women’s history 


pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 1982 IH

1 and women’s contribution to American history will 

2 be preserved and recounted for future generations. 

3 (5) The National Women’s Hall of Fame plans 

4 to design an educational program utilizing video con5 ference technology with students and teachers par6 ticipating in interactive lessons led by educators 

7 from the National Women’s Hall of Fame. This pro8 gram will provide important lessons on the impact 

9 that women have had on mathematics, geography, 

10 education, sciences, medicine, military, government, 

11 civil rights, economics, industrial technology, arts, 

12 and communication. 

13 SEC. 3. COIN SPECIFICATIONS. 

14 (a) DENOMINATIONS.—In recognition and celebration 

15 of the National Women’s Hall of Fame, the Secretary of 

16 the Treasury (hereafter in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Sec17 retary’’) shall mint and issue the following coins: 

18 (1) $5 GOLD COINS.—Not more than 75,000 $5 

19 coins, which shall— 

20 (A) weigh 8.359 grams; 

21 (B) have diameter of 0.850 inches; and 

22 (C) contain not less than 90 percent gold. 

23 (2) $1 SILVER COINS.—Not more than 500,000 

24 $1 coins, which shall— 

25 (A) weigh 26.73 grams; 


pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 1982 IH

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

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

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

4 than 1,000,000 half dollar coins which shall— 

5 (A) weigh 11.34 grams; 

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

7 (C) be minted to the specifications for half8 dollar coins contained in section 5112(b) of title 

9 31, United States Code. 

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

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

12 title 31, United States Code. 

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

14 5134 and 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all coins 

15 minted under this Act shall be considered to be numis16 matic items. 

17 (d) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con18 gress that, to the extent possible without significantly add19 ing to the purchase price of the coins, the coins minted 

20 under this Act should be produced in a fashion that pro21 vides a more dramatic display of the obverse design chosen 

22 pursuant to section 4(c). 

23 SEC. 4. DESIGN OF COINS. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—The design for the coins minted 

25 under this Act shall be— 


pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 1982 IH

1 (1) selected by the Secretary after consultation 

2 with— 

3 (A) the National Women’s Hall of Fame; 

4 and 

5 (B) the Commission of Fine Arts; and 

6 (2) reviewed by the Citizens Commemorative 

7 Coin Advisory Committee. 

8 (b) DESIGNATIONS AND INSCRIPTIONS.—On each 

9 coin minted under this Act there shall be— 

10 (1) a designation of the value of the coin; 

11 (2) an inscription of the year ‘‘2020’’; and 

12 (3) inscriptions of the words ‘‘Liberty’’, ‘‘In 

13 God We Trust’’, ‘‘United States of America’’, and 

14 ‘‘E Pluribus Unum’’. 

15 (c) SELECTION AND APPROVAL PROCESS FOR OB16 VERSE DESIGN.— 

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

18 competition to determine the design of the common 

19 obverse of the coins minted under this Act, with 

20 such design being emblematic of women’s contribu21 tion to American history. 

22 (2) SELECTION AND APPROVAL.—Proposals for 

23 the design of coins minted under this Act may be 

24 submitted in accordance with the design selection 

25 and approval process developed by the Secretary in 


pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 1982 IH

1 the sole discretion of the Secretary. The Secretary 

2 shall encourage 3-dimensional models to be sub3 mitted as part of the design proposals. 

4 (3) PROPOSALS.—As part of the competition 

5 described in this subsection, the Secretary may ac6 cept proposals from artists, engravers of the United 

7 States Mint, and members of the general public. 

8 (4) COMPENSATION.—The Secretary shall de9 termine compensation for the winning design under 

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

11 The Secretary shall take into account this compensa12 tion amount when determining the sale price de13 scribed in section 6(a). 

14 (5) REVERSE DESIGN.—The design on the com15 mon reverse of the coins minted under this Act shall 

16 depict a design incorporating commemoration of the 

17 passage of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution 

18 recognizing the right of women to vote. 

19 SEC. 5. ISSUANCE OF COINS. 

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

21 Act shall be issued in uncirculated and proof qualities. 

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

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

24 period beginning on January 1, 2020. 


pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS
8 

•HR 1982 IH

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 section 7(a) with 

7 respect to such coins; and 

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

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

10 winning design compensation, overhead expenses, 

11 marketing, and shipping). 

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

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

14 discount. 

15 (c) PREPAID ORDERS.— 

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

17 prepaid orders for the coins minted under this Act 

18 before the issuance of such coins. 

19 (2) DISCOUNT.—Sale prices with respect to pre20 paid orders under paragraph (1) shall be at a rea21 sonable discount. 

22 SEC. 7. SURCHARGES. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—All sales of coins minted under 

24 this Act shall include a surcharge as follows: 

25 (1) A surcharge of $35 per coin for the $5 coin. 

26 (2) A surcharge of $10 per coin for the $1 coin. 


pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS
9 

•HR 1982 IH

1 (3) A surcharge of $5 per coin for the half-dol2 lar coin. 

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

4 title 31, United States Code, all surcharges received by 

5 the Secretary from the sale of coins issued under this Act 

6 shall be promptly paid by the Secretary to the National 

7 Women’s Hall of Fame Foundation to establish an endow8 ment fund that will provide long-term financing for the 

9 National Women’s Hall of Fame’s operations. 

10 (c) AUDITS.—The National Women’s Hall of Fame 

11 Foundation shall be subject to the audit requirements of 

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

13 regard to the amounts received under subsection (b). 

14 (d) LIMITATION.—Notwithstanding subsection (a), 

15 no surcharge may be included with respect to the issuance 

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

17 of the time of such issuance, the issuance of such coin 

18 would result in the number of commemorative coin pro19 grams issued during such year to exceed the annual com20 memorative coin program issuance limitation under sec21 tion 5112(m)(1) of title 31, United States Code (as in ef22 fect on the date of the enactment of this Act). The Sec23 retary of the Treasury may issue guidance to carry out 

24 this subsection. 


pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS
10 

•HR 1982 IH

1 SEC. 8. FINANCIAL ASSURANCES. 

2 The Secretary shall take such actions as may be nec3 essary to ensure that— 

4 (1) minting and issuing coins under this Act 

5 will not result in any net cost to the United States 

6 Government; and 

7 (2) no funds, including applicable surcharges, 

8 are disbursed to any recipient designated in section 

9 7 until the total cost of designing and issuing all of 

10 the coins authorized by this Act (including labor, 

11 materials, dies, use of machinery, winning design 

12 compensation, overhead expenses, marketing, and 

13 shipping) is recovered by the United States Treas14 ury, consistent with sections 5112(m) and 5134(f) of 

15 title 31, United States Code. 

16 SEC. 9. BUDGET COMPLIANCE. 

17 The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of 

18 complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, 

19 shall be determined by reference to the latest statement 

20 titled ‘‘Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation’’ for this 

21 Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional Record 

22 by the Chairman of the Committee on the Budget of the 

23 House of Representatives, provided that such statement 

24 has been submitted prior to the vote on passage. 

Æ 


pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS