I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1468

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

AUGUST 2, 1999

Referred to the Committee on Banking and Financial Services

AN ACT

To authorize the minting and issuance of Capitol Visitor

Center Commemorative coins, 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 ‘‘United States Capitol

5 Visitor Center Commemorative Coin Act of 1999’’.
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

2 Congress finds that—

3 (1) Congress moved to Washington, District of

4 Columbia, and first convened in the Capitol building

5 in the year 1800;

6 (2) the Capitol building is now the greatest visi7 ble symbol of representative democracy in the world;

8 (3) the Capitol building has approximately

9 5,000,000 visitors annually and suffers from a lack

10 of facilities necessary to properly serve them;

11 (4) the Capitol building and persons within the

12 Capitol have been provided with excellent security

13 through the dedication and sacrifice of the United

14 States Capitol Police;

15 (5) Congress has appropriated $100,000,000,

16 to be supplemented with private funds, to construct

17 a Capitol Visitor Center to provide continued high

18 security for the Capitol and enhance the educational

19 experience of visitors to the Capitol;

20 (6) Congress would like to offer the opportunity

21 for all persons to voluntarily participate in raising

22 funds for the Capitol Visitor Center; and

23 (7) it is appropriate to authorize coins com24 memorating the first convening of the Congress in

25 the Capitol building with proceeds from the sale of

26 the coins, less expenses, being deposited for the
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1 United States Capitol Preservation Commission with

2 the specific purpose of aiding in the construction,

3 maintenance, and preservation of a Capitol Visitor

4 Center.

5 SEC. 3. COIN SPECIFICATIONS.

6 (a) DENOMINATIONS.—The Secretary of the Treas7 ury (hereafter in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’)

8 shall mint and issue the following coins:

9 (1) BIMETALLIC COINS.—Not more than

10 200,000 $10 bimetallic coins of gold and platinum,

11 in accordance with such specifications as the Sec12 retary determines to be appropriate.

13 (2) $1 SILVER COINS.—Not more than 500,000

14 $1 coins, which shall—

15 (A) weigh 26.73 grams;

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

17 (C) contain 90 percent silver and 10 per18 cent copper.

19 (3) HALF DOLLAR.—Not more than 750,000

20 half dollar clad coins, each of which—

21 (A) shall weigh 11.34 grams;

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

23 (C) be minted to the specifications for half

24 dollar coins contained in section 5112(b) of title

25 31, United States Code.
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1 (b) $5 GOLD COINS.—If the Secretary determines

2 that the minting and issuance of bimetallic coins under

3 subsection (a)(1) is not feasible, the Secretary may mint

4 and issue instead not more than 100,000 $5 coins, which

5 shall—

6 (1) weigh 8.359 grams;

7 (2) have a diameter of 0.850 inches; and

8 (3) contain 90 percent gold and 10 percent

9 alloy.

10 (c) WAIVER.—Each of the mintage levels specified in

11 subsection (a) may be waived in accordance with section

12 5112(m)(2)(B) of title 31, United States Code.

13 (d) LEGAL TENDER.—The coins minted under this

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

15 title 31, United States Code.

16 SEC. 4. SOURCES OF BULLION.

17 (a) PLATINUM AND GOLD.—The Secretary shall ob18 tain platinum and gold for minting coins under this Act

19 from available sources.

20 (b) SILVER.—The Secretary may obtain silver for

21 minting coins under this Act from stockpiles established

22 under the Strategic and Critical Materials Stock Piling

23 Act, and from other available sources.

24 SEC. 5. DESIGN OF COINS.

25 (a) DESIGN REQUIREMENTS.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The design of the coins

2 minted under this Act shall be emblematic of the

3 first meeting of the United States Congress in the

4 United States Capitol Building.

5 (2) DESIGNATION AND INSCRIPTIONS.—On

6 each coin minted under this Act, there shall be—

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

8 (B) an inscription of the year ‘‘2000’’; and

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

10 ‘‘In God We Trust’’, ‘‘United States of Amer11 ica’’, and ‘‘E Pluribus Unum’’.

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

13 under this Act shall be—

14 (1) selected by the Secretary, after consultation

15 with the United States Capitol Preservation Com16 mission (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Commis17 sion’’) and the Commission of Fine Arts; and

18 (2) reviewed by the Citizens Commemorative

19 Coin Advisory Committee.

20 SEC. 6. ISSUANCE OF COINS.

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

22 Act shall be issued in uncirculated and proof qualities.

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

24 States Mint may be used to strike any particular combina-
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1 tion of denomination and quality of the coins minted under

2 this Act.

3 (c) FIRST USE OF YEAR 2000 DATE.—The coins

4 minted under this Act shall be the first commemorative

5 coins of the United States to be issued bearing the inscrip6 tion of the year ‘‘2000’’.

7 (d) PROMOTION CONSULTATION.—The Secretary

8 shall—

9 (1) consult with the Commission in order to es10 tablish a role for the Commission or an entity des11 ignated by the Commission in the promotion, adver12 tising, and marketing of the coins minted under this

13 Act; and

14 (2) if the Secretary determines that such action

15 would be beneficial to the sale of coins minted under

16 this Act, enter into a contract with the Commission

17 or an entity referred to in paragraph (1) to carry

18 out the role established under paragraph (1).

19 SEC. 7. SALE OF COINS.

20 (a) SALE PRICE.—The coins minted under this Act

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

22 of—

23 (1) the face value of the coins;

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

25 with respect to such coins; and
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1 (3) the cost of designing and issuing the coins

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

3 overhead expenses, marketing, and shipping).

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

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

6 discount.

7 (c) PREPAID ORDERS.—

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

9 prepaid orders for the coins minted under this Act

10 before the issuance of such coins.

11 (2) DISCOUNT.—Sale prices with respect to pre12 paid orders under paragraph (1) shall be at a rea13 sonable discount.

14 (d) SURCHARGES.—All sales under this Act shall in15 clude a surcharge established by the Secretary, in an

16 amount equal to not more than—

17 (1) $50 per coin for the $10 coin or $35 per

18 coin for the $5 coin;

19 (2) $10 per coin for the $1 coin; and

20 (3) $3 per coin for the half dollar coin.

21 SEC. 8. DISTRIBUTION OF SURCHARGES.

22 All surcharges received by the Secretary from the sale

23 of coins minted under this Act shall be deposited in the

24 Capitol Preservation Fund in accordance with section

25 5134(f) of title 31, United States Code, and shall be made
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1 available to the Commission for the purpose of aiding in

2 the construction, maintenance, and preservation of a Cap3 itol Visitor Center.

Passed the Senate July 30, 1999.

Attest: GARY SISCO,

Secretary.