II 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2146

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

of the contributions of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., to the United States. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 27, 2004

Ms. LANDRIEU (for herself, Mr. BAYH, Mr. BREAUX, Mr. BURNS, Mr. 

CHAFEE, Mr. CHAMBLISS, Mr. COCHRAN, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. FEINGOLD, 

Mr. JOHNSON, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. LIEBERMAN, Mr. LUGAR, Mr. MILLER, 

Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. NELSON of Florida, Mr. PRYOR, Mr. REID, Mr. 

SANTORUM, Ms. STABENOW, Mr. STEVENS, Mr. VOINOVICH, and Mr. 

WARNER) 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 contributions of Dr. Martin 

Luther King, Jr., to the United States.

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 ‘‘Dr. Martin Luther 

5 King, Jr., Commemorative Coin Act of 2004’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that—
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1 (1) Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. dedicated his 

2 life to securing the Nation’s fundamental principles 

3 of liberty and justice for all its citizens; 

4 (2) Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was the lead5 ing civil rights advocate of his time, spearheading 

6 the civil rights movement in the United States dur7 ing the 1950’s and 1960’s; 

8 (3) Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was the key9 note speaker at the August 28, 1963, March on 

10 Washington, the largest rally of the civil rights 

11 movement, during which, from the steps of the Lin12 coln Memorial and before a crowd of more than 

13 200,000 people, he delivered his famous ‘‘I Have A 

14 Dream’’ speech, one of the classic orations in Amer15 ican history; 

16 (4) Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a cham17 pion of nonviolence, fervently advocated nonviolent 

18 resistance as the strategy to end segregation and ra19 cial discrimination in America, and was awarded the 

20 1964 Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of his efforts; 

21 (5) January 15, 2009 will mark the eightieth 

22 anniversary of the birth of Dr. Martin Luther King, 

23 Jr.; 

24 (6) all Americans should commemorate the leg25 acy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. so ‘‘that one day 
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1 this Nation will rise up and live out the true mean2 ing of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evi3 dent; that all men are created equal.’ ’’; and 

4 (7) efforts are underway to secure the personal 

5 papers of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. for the Li6 brary of Congress so that they may be preserved and 

7 studied for generations to come. 

8 SEC. 3. COIN SPECIFICATIONS. 

9 (a) $1 SILVER COINS.—The Secretary of the Treas10 ury (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall mint 

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

12 shall—

13 (1) weigh 26.73 grams; 

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

15 (3) contain 90 percent silver and 10 percent 

16 copper. 

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

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

19 title 31, United States Code. 

20 SEC. 4. SOURCES OF BULLION. 

21 The Secretary shall obtain silver for minting coins 

22 under this Act from all available sources, 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 the 

5 human rights legacy and leadership of Dr. Martin 

6 Luther King, Jr. 

7 (2) DESIGNATION AND INSCRIPTIONS.—On 

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

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

10 (B) an inscription of the year ‘‘2009’’; and 

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

12 ‘‘In God We Trust’’, ‘‘United States of Amer13 ica’’, and ‘‘E Pluribus Unum’’. 

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

15 under this Act shall be—

16 (1) selected by the Secretary, after consultation 

17 with the Librarian of Congress, the Commission of 

18 Fine Arts, and the estate of Dr. Martin Luther 

19 King, Jr.; and 

20 (2) reviewed by the Citizens Commemorative 

21 Coin Advisory Committee. 

22 SEC. 6. ISSUANCE OF COINS. 

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

24 Act shall be issued in uncirculated and proof qualities. 
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1 (b) MINT FACILITY.—Only 1 facility of the United 

2 States Mint may be used to strike any particular quality 

3 of the coins minted under this Act. 

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

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

6 period beginning on January 15, 2009. 

7 SEC. 7. SALE OF COINS. 

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

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

10 of—

11 (1) the face value of the coins; 

12 (2) the surcharge provided in subsection (c) 

13 with respect to such coins; and 

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

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

16 overhead expenses, marketing, and shipping). 

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

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

19 discount. 

20 (c) SURCHARGES.—All sales of coins issued under 

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

22 SEC. 8. DISTRIBUTION OF SURCHARGES. 

23 Subject to section 5134(f) of title 31, United States 

24 Code, all surcharges received by the Secretary from the 

25 sale of coins issued under this Act shall be promptly paid 
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1 by the Secretary to the Library of Congress for the pur2 poses of purchasing and maintaining historical documents 

3 and other materials associated with the life and legacy of 

4 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Æ