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104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4203

To require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue coins in commemoration of the centennial anniversary of the first manned flight of Orville

and Wilbur Wright in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, on December 17,

1903.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

SEPTEMBER 26, 1996

Mr. JONES 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 and issue

coins in commemoration of the centennial anniversary

of the first manned flight of Orville and Wilbur Wright

in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, on December 17, 1903.

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 ‘‘First Flight Com5 memorative Coin Act’’.
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1 SEC. 2. COIN SPECIFICATIONS.

2 (a) DENOMINATIONS.—The Secretary of the Treas3 ury (hereafter in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’)

4 shall mint and issue the following coins:

5 (1) $10 GOLD COINS.—Not more than 100,000

6 $10 coins, each of which shall—

7 (A) weigh 16.718 grams;

8 (B) have a diameter of 1.06 inches; and

9 (C) contain 90 percent gold and 10 percent

10 alloy.

11 (2) $1 SILVER COINS.—Not more than 500,000

12 $1 coins, each of which shall—

13 (A) weigh 26.73 grams;

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

15 (C) contain 90 percent silver and 10 per16 cent copper.

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

18 than 750,000 half dollar coins each of which shall—

19 (A) weigh 11.34 grams;

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

21 (C) be minted to the specifications for half

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

23 31, United States Code.

24 (b) REDUCED AMOUNTS.—If the Secretary deter25 mines that there is clear evidence of insufficient public de26 mand for coins minted under this Act, the Secretary of
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1 the Treasury may reduce the maximum amounts specified

2 in paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) of subsection (a).

3 (c) LEGAL TENDER.—The coins minted under this

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

5 title 31, United States Code.

6 SEC. 3. SOURCE OF BULLION.

7 The Secretary shall obtain gold and silver for minting

8 coins under this Act pursuant to the authority of the Sec9 retary under other provisions of law, including authority

10 relating to the use of silver stockpiles established under

11 the Strategic and Critical Materials Stockpiling Act, as

12 applicable.

13 SEC. 4. DESIGN OF COINS.

14 (a) DESIGN REQUIREMENTS.—

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

16 minted under this Act shall be emblematic of the

17 first flight of Orville and Wilbur Wright in Kitty

18 Hawk, North Carolina, on December 17, 1903.

19 (2) DESIGNATION AND INSCRIPTIONS.—On

20 each coin minted under this Act there shall be—

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

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

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

24 ‘‘In God We Trust’’, ‘‘United States of Amer25 ica’’, and ‘‘E Pluribus Unum’’.
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1 (b) SELECTION.—The design for the coins minted

2 under this Act shall be—

3 (1) selected by the Secretary after consultation

4 with the Board of Directors of the First Flight

5 Foundation and the Commission of Fine Arts; and

6 (2) reviewed by the Citizens Commemorative

7 Coin Advisory Committee.

8 SEC. 5. PERIOD FOR ISSUANCE OF COINS.

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

10 (b), the Secretary may issue coins minted under this Act

11 only during the period beginning on August 1, 2003, and

12 ending on July 31, 2004.

13 (b) EXCEPTION.—If the Secretary determines that

14 there is sufficient public demand for the coins minted

15 under section 2(a)(3), the Secretary may extend the period

16 of issuance under subsection (a) for a period of 5 years

17 with respect to those coins.

18 SEC. 6. SALE OF COIN.

19 (a) SALE PRICE.—The coins issued under the Act

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

21 of—

22 (1) the face value of the coins;

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

24 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) SURCHARGE.—All sales shall include a surcharge

15 of—

16 (1) $35 per coin for the $10 coin;

17 (2) $10 per coin for the $1 coin; and

18 (3) $1 per coin for the half dollar coin.

19 (c) MARKETING EXPENSES.—The Secretary shall en20 sure that—

21 (1) a plan is established for marketing the coins

22 minted under this Act; and

23 (2) adequate funds are made available to cover

24 the costs of carrying out that marketing plan.
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1 SEC. 7. GENERAL WAIVER OF PROCUREMENT REGULA2 TIONS.

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

4 (b), no provision of law governing procurement or public

5 contracts shall be applicable to the procurement of goods

6 and services necessary for carrying out the provisions of

7 this Act.

8 (b) EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY.—Sub9 section (a) shall not relieve any person entering into a con10 tract under the authority of this Act from complying with

11 any law relating to equal employment opportunity.

12 SEC. 8. DISTRIBUTION OF SURCHARGES.

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—All surcharges received by the

14 Secretary from the sale of coins issued under this Act shall

15 be promptly paid by the Secretary to the First Flight

16 Foundation for the purposes of—

17 (1) repairing, refurbishing, and maintaining the

18 Wright Brothers Monument on the Outer Banks of

19 North Carolina; and

20 (2) expanding (or, if necessary, replacing) and

21 maintaining the visitor center and other facilities at

22 the Wright Brothers National Memorial Park on the

23 Outer Banks of North Carolina, including providing

24 educational programs and exhibits for visitors.

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

26 States shall have the right to examine such books, records,
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1 documents, and other data of the First Flight Foundation

2 as may be related to the expenditures of amounts paid

3 under subsection (a).

4 SEC. 9. FINANCIAL ASSURANCES.

5 The Secretary shall take such actions as may be nec6 essary to ensure that minting and issuing coins under this

7 Act will not result in any net cost to the United States

8 Government.

9 SEC. 10. EFFECTIVE DATE.

10 None of the provisions of this Act shall take effect

11 until January 1, 1998.

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