II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1437 

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

of the semicentennial of the enactment of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 21, 2007 

Ms. STABENOW (for herself, Mr. OBAMA, Mr. BROWN, Mr. REID, Mrs. 

BOXER, Mr. LIEBERMAN, Mr. KERRY, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. 

MENENDEZ, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, and Ms. LANDRIEU) 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 the semicentennial of the enactment of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. 

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 ‘‘Civil Rights Act of 

5 1964 Commemorative Coin Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 


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1 (1) on December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks’ brave 

2 act of defiance, refusing to give up her seat to a 

3 white person on a segregated bus in Montgomery, 

4 Alabama, galvanized the modern civil rights move5 ment and led to the desegregation of the South; 

6 (2) on February 1, 1960, 4 college students, 

7 Joseph McNeil, Franklin McCain, David Richmond, 

8 and Ezell Blair, Jr., asked to be served at a lunch 

9 counter in Greensboro, North Carolina, and lunch 

10 counter sit-ins began to occur throughout the South 

11 to challenge segregation in places of public accom12 modation; 

13 (3) on May 4, 1961, the Freedom Rides into 

14 the South began to test new court orders barring 

15 segregation in interstate transportation, and riders 

16 were jailed and beaten by mobs in several places, in17 cluding Birmingham and Montgomery, Alabama; 

18 (4) Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was the lead19 ing civil rights advocate of the time, spearheading 

20 the civil rights movement in the United States dur21 ing the 1950s and 1960s with the goal of nonviolent 

22 social change and full civil rights for African Ameri23 cans; 

24 (5) on August 28, 1963, Dr. Martin Luther 

25 King, Jr., led over 250,000 civil rights supporters in 


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1 the March on Washington and delivered his famous 

2 ‘‘I Have A Dream’’ speech to raise awareness and 

3 support for civil rights legislation; 

4 (6) Mrs. Coretta Scott King, a leading partici5 pant in the American civil rights movement, was 

6 side-by-side with her husband, Dr. Martin Luther 

7 King, Jr., during many civil rights marches, orga8 nized Freedom Concerts to draw attention to the 

9 Movement, and worked in her own right to create an 

10 America in which all people have equal rights; 

11 (7) the mass movement sparked by Rosa Parks 

12 and led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., among oth13 ers, called upon the Congress and Presidents John 

14 F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson to pass civil 

15 rights legislation which culminated in the enactment 

16 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; 

17 (8) the Civil Rights Act of 1964 greatly ex18 panded civil rights protections, outlawing racial dis19 crimination and segregation in public places and 

20 places of public accommodation, in federally funded 

21 programs and employment and encouraging desegre22 gation in public schools, and has served as a model 

23 for subsequent anti-discrimination laws; 

24 (9) we are an eminently better Nation because 

25 of Rosa Parks, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and all 


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1 those men and women who have confronted, and 

2 continue to confront, injustice and inequality wher3 ever they see it; 

4 (10) equality in education was one of the cor5 nerstones of the civil rights movement; 

6 (11) on September 10, 1961, Dr. Martin Lu7 ther King, Jr., wrote that African American ‘‘stu8 dents are coming to understand that education and 

9 learning have become tools for shaping the future 

10 and not devices of privilege for an exclusive few’’; 

11 (12) over its long and distinguished history, the 

12 United Negro College Fund has provided scholar13 ships and operating funds to its member colleges 

14 that have enabled more than 300,000 young African 

15 Americans to earn college degrees and become suc16 cessful members of society; 

17 (13) those graduates include Dr. Martin Luther 

18 King, Jr., as well as leaders in the fields of edu19 cation, science, medicine, law, entertainment, lit20 erature, the military, and politics who have made 

21 major contributions to the civil rights movement and 

22 the creation of a more equitable society; 

23 (14) Congress has an obligation to lead Amer24 ica’s continued struggle to fight discrimination and 

25 ensure equal rights for all; and 


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1 (15) the year 2014 will mark the 

2 semicentennial of the passage of the Civil Rights Act 

3 of 1964. 

4 SEC. 3. COIN SPECIFICATIONS. 

5 (a) DENOMINATIONS.—The Secretary of the Treas6 ury (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall mint 

7 and issue not more than 350,000 $1 coins, each of which 

8 shall— 

9 (1) weigh 26.73 grams; 

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

11 (3) contain 90 percent silver and 10 percent 

12 copper. 

13 (b) 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 (c) NUMISMATIC ITEMS.—For purposes of section 

17 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all coins minted 

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

19 SEC. 4. DESIGN OF COINS. 

20 (a) DESIGN REQUIREMENTS.—The design of the 

21 coins minted under this Act shall be emblematic of the 

22 enactment of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and its con23 tribution to civil rights in America. 

24 (b) DESIGNATION AND INSCRIPTIONS.—On each coin 

25 minted under this Act there shall be— 


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

2 (2) an inscription of the year ‘‘2014’’; and 

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

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

5 ‘‘E Pluribus Unum’’. 

6 (c) SELECTION.—The design for the coins minted 

7 under this Act shall be— 

8 (1) selected by the Secretary after consultation 

9 with the Commission of Fine Arts; and 

10 (2) reviewed by the Citizens Coinage Advisory 

11 Committee established under section 5135 of title 

12 31, United States Code. 

13 SEC. 5. ISSUANCE OF COINS. 

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

15 Act shall be issued in uncirculated and proof qualities. 

16 (b) COMMENCEMENT OF ISSUANCE.—The Secretary 

17 may issue coins minted under this Act beginning January 

18 1, 2014, except that the Secretary may initiate sales of 

19 such coins, without issuance, before such date. 

20 (c) TERMINATION OF MINTING AUTHORITY.—No 

21 coins shall be minted under this Act after December 31, 

22 2014. 

23 SEC. 6. SALE OF COINS. 

24 (a) SALE PRICE.—Notwithstanding any other provi25 sion of law, the coins issued under this Act shall be sold 


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1 by the Secretary at a price equal to the sum of the face 

2 value of the coins, the surcharge required under section 

3 7(a) for the coins, and the cost of designing and issuing 

4 such coins (including labor, materials, dies, use of machin5 ery, overhead expenses, and marketing). 

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

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

8 discount. 

9 (c) PREPAID ORDERS AT A DISCOUNT.— 

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

11 prepaid orders for the coins minted under this Act 

12 before the issuance of such coins. 

13 (2) DISCOUNT.—Sale prices with respect to pre14 paid orders under paragraph (1) shall be at a rea15 sonable discount. 

16 SEC. 7. SURCHARGES. 

17 (a) SURCHARGE REQUIRED.—All sales shall include 

18 a surcharge of $10 per coin. 

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

20 title 31, United States Code, all surcharges which are re21 ceived by the Secretary from the sale of coins issued under 

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

23 United Negro College Fund (UNCF) to carry out the pur24 poses of the Fund, including providing scholarships and 

25 internships for minority students and operating funds and 


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1 technology enhancement services for 39 member histori2 cally black colleges and universities. 

3 (c) AUDITS.—The United Negro College Fund shall 

4 be subject to the audit requirements of section 5134(f)(2) 

5 of title 31, United States Code, with regard to the 

6 amounts received by the Fund under subsection (b). 

Æ 


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