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106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2097

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

of the U.S.S. New Jersey, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JUNE 9, 1999

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN (for himself, Mr. FRANKS of New Jersey, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. PASCRELL, Mrs. ROUKEMA, Mr. HOLT, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. ROTHMAN, and Mr. SMITH or New Jersey) introduced the following bill; which

was referred to the Committee on Banking and Financial Services

A BILL

To require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint coins

in commemoration of the U.S.S. New Jersey, and for

other purposes.

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 ‘‘U.S.S. New Jersey

5 Commemorative Coin Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 Congress finds the following:

8 (1) The U.S.S. New Jersey was launched De9 cember 7, 1942, the start of nearly 50 years of dedi-
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1 cated service to our Nation prior to final decommis2 sioning in 1991.

3 (2) After commissioning, the U.S.S. New Jer4 sey was sent to the Pacific, and played a key role

5 in operations in the Marshalls, Marianas, Carolines,

6 Philippines, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa, with a par7 ticular highlight being the U.S.S. New Jersey’s serv8 ice as the flagship for Commander 3d Fleet, Admiral

9 William ‘‘Bull’’ Halsey, during the Battle of Leyte

10 Gulf in October 1944.

11 (3) After the Allied victory in World War II,

12 the U.S.S. New Jersey was deactivated in 1948 until

13 being called to service for the second time, in No14 vember 1950.

15 (4) The U.S.S. New Jersey served two tours in

16 the Western Pacific during the Korean War, serving

17 as flagship for Commander 7th Fleet.

18 (5) After her valiant service during the Korean

19 War, the U.S.S. New Jersey was again mothballed

20 in 1957, only to be re-activated again in 1968 to

21 serve as the only active-duty Navy battleship.

22 (6) The U.S.S. New Jersey served a successful

23 tour during the Vietnam conflict, providing critical

24 major-caliber fire support for friendly troops, before

25 again being decommissioned in December 1969.
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1 (7) The U.S.S. New Jersey’s service to our

2 country did not end with the Vietnam conflict, as

3 she was again called to active duty status in Decem4 ber 1982 and provided a show of strength off the

5 coast of Nicaragua, in Central America in 1983.

6 (8) The Navy again called upon the U.S.S. New

7 Jersey to provide critical support by sending her to

8 the Mediterranean in 1983 to provide critical fire

9 support to Marines in embattled Beirut, Lebanon.

10 (9) The U.S.S. New Jersey continued to serve

11 the Navy in a variety of roles, including regular de12 ployments in the Western Pacific.

13 (10) The U.S.S. New Jersey was decommis14 sioned for the fourth and final time in February

15 1991.

16 (11) In 1998 Congress passed legislation to de17 commission the U.S.S. New Jersey and permanently

18 berth her in the State of New Jersey.

19 (12) The State has strongly endorsed bringing

20 the U.S.S. New Jersey home, and has issued com21 memorative license plates and taken other steps to

22 raise funds for the costs of relocating the U.S.S.

23 New Jersey.
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1 (13) The New Jersey congressional delegation

2 is united in its support for bringing the U.S.S. New

3 Jersey home to New Jersey.

4 SEC. 3. COIN SPECIFICATIONS.

5 (a) DENOMINATION.—In commemoration of the

6 U.S.S. New Jersey, the Secretary of the Treasury (here7 after in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall mint

8 and issue not more than 500,000 $1 coins, each of which

9 shall—

10 (1) weigh 26.73 grams;

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

12 (3) contain 90 percent silver and 10 percent

13 copper.

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

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

16 title 31, United States Code.

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

18 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all coins minted

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

20 SEC. 4. SOURCES OF BULLION.

21 The Secretary may obtain silver for minting coins

22 under this Act from any available source, including stock23 piles established under the Strategic and Critical Mate24 rials Stock Piling Act.
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1 SEC. 5. DESIGN OF COINS.

2 (a) DESIGN REQUIREMENTS.—

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

4 minted under this Act shall be emblematic of service

5 of the U.S.S. New Jersey.

6 (2) DESIGNATION AND INSCRIPTIONS.—On

7 each coin minted under this Act there shall be—

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

9 (B) an inscription of the year ‘‘2002’’; and

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

11 ‘‘In God We Trust’’, ‘‘United States of Amer12 ica’’, and ‘‘E Pluribus Unum’’.

13 (3) OBVERSE OF COIN.—The obverse of each

14 coin minted under this Act shall bear the likeness of

15 the U.S.S. New Jersey.

16 (4) GENERAL DESIGN.—In designing this coin,

17 the Secretary shall also consider incorporating ap18 propriate elements from the tenure of service of the

19 U.S.S. New Jersey in the Navy.

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

21 under this Act shall be selected by the Secretary after con22 sultation with the Commission of Fine Arts and shall be

23 reviewed by the Citizens Commemorative Coin Advisory

24 Committee.
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1 SEC. 6. ISSUANCE OF COINS.

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

3 Act shall be issued in uncirculated and proof qualities.

4 (b) MINT FACILITY.—Only one facility of the United

5 States Mint may be used to strike any particular quality

6 of the coins minted under this Act.

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

8 issue coins minted under this Act only during the period

9 beginning on January 1, 2002, and ending on December

10 31, 2002.

11 SEC. 7. SALE OF COINS.

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

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

14 of—

15 (1) the face value of the coins;

16 (2) the surcharge provided in subsection (d)

17 with respect to such coins; and

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

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

20 overhead expenses, marketing, and shipping).

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

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

23 discount.

24 (c) PREPAID ORDERS.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall accept

2 prepaid orders for the coins minted under this Act

3 before the issuance of such coins.

4 (2) DISCOUNT.—Sale prices with respect to pre5 paid orders under paragraph (1) shall be at a rea6 sonable discount.

7 (d) SURCHARGES.—All sales of coins minted under

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

9 SEC. 8. DISTRIBUTION OF SURCHARGES.

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to section 5134(f) of title

11 31, United States Code, 10 percent of the proceeds from

12 the surcharges received by the Secretary from the sale of

13 coins issued under this Act shall be promptly paid by the

14 Secretary to the U.S.S. New Jersey Battleship Founda15 tion in Middletown, New Jersey, for activities associated

16 with the costs of moving the U.S.S. New Jersey and per17 manently berthing her in her new location.

18 (b) AUDITS.—The U.S.S. New Jersey Battleship

19 Foundation shall be subject to the audit requirements of

20 section 5134(f)(2) of title 31, United States Code.

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