II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 582 

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

of the 50th anniversary of the desegregation of the Little Rock Central 

High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 9, 2005 

Mr. PRYOR (for himself and Mrs. LINCOLN) 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 50th anniversary of the desegregation of the Little Rock Central High School in Little 

Rock, Arkansas, 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 ‘‘Little Rock Central 

5 High School Desegregation 50th Anniversary Commemo6 rative Coin Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

8 Congress finds the following: 
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1 (1) September 2007, marks the 50th anniver2 sary of the desegregation of Little Rock Central 

3 High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. 

4 (2) In 1957, Little Rock Central High School 

5 was the site of the first major national test for the 

6 implementation of the historic decision of the United 

7 States Supreme Court in Brown, et al. v. Board of 

8 Education of Topeka, et al., 347 U.S. 483 (1954). 

9 (3) The courage of the ‘‘Little Rock Nine’’ (Er10 nest Green, Elizabeth Eckford, Melba Pattilo, Jef11 ferson Thomas, Carlotta Walls, Terrence Roberts, 

12 Gloria Ray, Thelma Mothershed and Minnie Jean 

13 Brown), who stood in the face of violence, was influ14 ential to the Civil Rights movement and changed 

15 American history by providing an example on which 

16 to build greater equality. 

17 (4) The desegregation of Little Rock Central 

18 High School by the 9 African American students 

19 was recognized by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. as 

20 such a significant event in the struggle for civil 

21 rights that in May 1958, he attended the graduation 

22 of the first African American from Little Rock Cen23 tral High School. 
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1 (5) A commemorative coin will bring national 

2 and international attention to the lasting legacy of 

3 this important event. 

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 500,000 $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 sections 

17 5134 and 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all coins 

18 minted under this Act shall be considered to be numis19 matic items. 

20 SEC. 4. DESIGN OF COINS. 

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

22 coins minted under this Act shall be emblematic of the 

23 desegregation of the Little Rock Central High School and 

24 its contribution to civil rights in America. 
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1 (b) DESIGNATION AND INSCRIPTIONS.—On each coin 

2 minted under this Act there shall be— 

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

4 (2) an inscription of the year ‘‘2007’’; and 

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

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

7 ‘‘E Pluribus Unum’’. 

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

9 under this Act shall be— 

10 (1) selected by the Secretary, after consultation 

11 with the Commission of Fine Arts; and 

12 (2) reviewed by the Citizens Coinage Advisory 

13 Committee established under section 5135 of title 

14 31, United States Code. 

15 SEC. 5. ISSUANCE OF COINS. 

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

17 Act shall be issued in uncirculated and proof qualities. 

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

19 States Mint may be used to strike any particular quality 

20 of the coins minted under this Act. 

21 (c) COMMENCEMENT OF ISSUANCE.—The Secretary 

22 may issue coins minted under this Act beginning January 

23 1, 2007, except that the Secretary may initiate sales of 

24 such coins, without issuance, before such date. 
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1 (d) TERMINATION OF MINTING AUTHORITY.—No 

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

3 2007. 

4 SEC. 6. SALE OF COINS. 

5 (a) SALE PRICE.—Notwithstanding any other provi6 sion of law, the coins issued under this Act shall be sold 

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

8 value of the coins, the surcharge required under section 

9 7(a) for the coins, and the cost of designing and issuing 

10 such coins (including labor, materials, dies, use of machin11 ery, overhead expenses, and marketing). 

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

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

14 discount. 

15 (c) PREPAID ORDERS AT A DISCOUNT.— 

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

17 prepaid orders for the coins minted under this Act 

18 before the issuance of such coins. 

19 (2) DISCOUNT.—Sale prices with respect to pre20 paid orders under paragraph (1) shall be at a rea21 sonable discount. 

22 SEC. 7. SURCHARGES. 

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

24 a surcharge of $10 per coin. 
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1 (b) DISTRIBUTION.—Subject to section 5134(f) of 

2 title 31, United States Code, all surcharges which are re3 ceived by the Secretary from the sale of coins issued under 

4 this Act shall be equally divided and promptly paid by the 

5 Secretary to— 

6 (1) the Jefferson National Parks Association 

7 for the purpose of providing support for programs 

8 and other developmental activities at the Little Rock 

9 Central High National Historic Site and support for 

10 the ongoing mission of the Little Rock Central High 

11 National Historic Site; and 

12 (2) the Secretary of the Interior for site im13 provements at the Little Rock Central High Na14 tional Historic Site, including the establishment of 

15 cooperative agreements to preserve and restore the 

16 historic character of the vicinity in the historic site’s 

17 boundaries. 

18 (c) AUDITS.—The Jefferson National Parks Associa19 tion shall be subject to the audit requirements of section 

20 5134(f)(2) of title 31, United States Code, with regard 

21 to the amounts received by the Association under sub22 section (b). 

23 (d) SUPPLEMENTAL FUNDS.—The surcharges pro24 vided to the Secretary of the Interior under this section 

25 are intended by the Congress to supplement amounts pro-
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1 vided to such Secretary in appropriation Acts for the Lit2 tle Rock Central High National Historic Site and are not 

3 intended to be a substitute for such appropriated amounts. 

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