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[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 985 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 985

To require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint coins in commemoration 
                   of the United States Coast Guard.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 16, 2015

 Mr. Murphy (for himself and Mr. Blumenthal) 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 United States Coast Guard.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``United States Coast Guard 
Commemorative Coin Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) The United States Coast Guard was founded on August 4, 
        1790, as the Revenue Cutter Service under the United States 
        Department of the Treasury.
            (2) Congress created the Coast Guard on January 28, 1915, 
        by merging the Revenue Cutter Service and the United States 
        Lifesaving Service, was moved to the Department of 
        Transportation in 1967, and on February 25, 2003, became part 
        of the Department of Homeland Security.
            (3) Although the smallest of the uniformed services, today 
        the United States Coast Guard conducts a wide variety of 
        missions to protect the public, the environment, and the United 
        States economic and security interests in any maritime region, 
        including international waters and America's coasts, ports, and 
        inland waterways.
            (4) Every day, the United States Coast Guard plays a broad 
        and important role in homeland security, law enforcement, 
        search and rescue, marine environmental pollution response, and 
        the maintenance of river, intra-coastal and offshore aids to 
        navigation (ATON).
            (5) The United States Coast Guard is our Nation's oldest 
        seagoing military service, staying true to their motto, Semper 
        Paratus or ``Always Ready,'' for 225 years.
            (6) The United States Coast Guard is supported by 57,600 
        Active Duty, Reserve, and Civilian personnel, who in 2013 
        responded to 17,000 search and rescue cases saving 7,400 lives, 
        conducted over 21,000 waterborne patrols of maritime 
        infrastructure and resources, performed 32,500 maritime 
        security response activities (including 21,000 waterborne 
        patrols of critical maritime infrastructure and resources, 
        2,000 escorts of high-capacity passenger vessels, 8,400 
        security boardings in and around U.S. ports), removed $3 
        billion worth of illegal drugs, patrolled 4.5 million miles of 
        maritime borders for immigration enforcement, and maintained 
        49,000 navigation aids ensuring the smooth transit of $1.8 
        trillion worth of goods over 25,000 miles of our Nation's 
        waterways.
            (7) Section 213 of Public Law 108-293 states that ``The 
        Commandant may establish a National Coast Guard Museum, on 
        lands which will be federally owned and administered by the 
        Coast Guard, and are located in New London, Connecticut, at, or 
        in close proximity to, the Coast Guard Academy''.
            (8) The National Coast Guard Museum Association, a 
        nonprofit association dedicated to improve public understanding 
        of the history, service and missions of the Coast Guard, is 
        working with the United States Coast Guard, the City of New 
        London, the State of Connecticut, and a range of local, 
        regional, and national stakeholders to develop, plan and raise 
        capital for the National Coast Guard Museum, to be located in 
        New London, Connecticut.
            (9) The United States Coast Guard is the only military 
        service without a national museum through which to share its 
        history and legacy with the American public.

SEC. 3. COIN SPECIFICATIONS.

    (a) Denominations.--The Secretary of the Treasury (hereafter in 
this Act referred to as the ``Secretary'') shall mint and issue the 
following coins:
            (1) $5 gold coins.--Not more than 100,000 $5 coins, which 
        shall--
                    (A) weigh 8.359 grams;
                    (B) have a diameter of 0.850 inches; and
                    (C) contain 90 percent gold and 10 percent alloy.
            (2) $1 silver coins.--Not more than 500,000 $1 coins, which 
        shall--
                    (A) weigh 26.73 grams;
                    (B) have a diameter of 1.500 inches; and
                    (C) contain at least 90 percent silver.
            (3) Half dollar clad coins.--Not more than 750,000 half 
        dollar coins, which shall--
                    (A) weigh 11.34 grams;
                    (B) have a diameter of 1.205 inches; and
                    (C) be minted to the specifications for half dollar 
                coins, contained in section 5112(b) of title 31, United 
                States Code.
    (b) Legal Tender.--The coins minted under this Act shall be legal 
tender, as provided in section 5103 of title 31, United States Code.
    (c) Numismatic Items.--For purposes of sections 5134 and 5136 of 
title 31, United States Code, all coins minted under this Act shall be 
considered to be numismatic items.

SEC. 4. DESIGN OF COIN.

    (a) Design Requirements.--
            (1) In general.--The design of the coins minted under this 
        Act shall be emblematic of the traditions, history, and 
        heritage of the United States Coast Guard, and its role in 
        securing our Nation since 1790.
            (2) Designations and inscriptions.--On each coin minted 
        under this Act, there shall be--
                    (A) a designation of the value of the coin;
                    (B) an inscription of the year ``2018''; and
                    (C) inscriptions of the words ``Liberty'', ``In God 
                We Trust'', ``United States of America'', ``E Pluribus 
                Unum'', and ``Semper Paratus''.
    (b) Selection.--The design for the coins minted under this Act 
shall--
            (1) contain motifs that specifically honor the United 
        States Coastguardsman of both today and yesterday, in wartime 
        and in peace, such designs to be consistent with the traditions 
        and heritage of the United States Coast Guard, the mission and 
        goals of the National Coast Guard Museum, and the missions and 
        goals of the National Coast Guard Museum Association;
            (2) be selected by the Secretary, after consultation with 
        the Secretary of Homeland Security, the National Coast Guard 
        Museum Association, and the Commission of Fine Arts; and
            (3) be reviewed by the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee.

SEC. 5. ISSUANCE OF COINS.

    (a) Quality of Coins.--Coins minted under this Act shall be issued 
in uncirculated and proof qualities.
    (b) Mint Facilities.--For each of the 3 coins minted under this 
Act, at least 1 facility of the United States Mint shall be used to 
strike proof quality coins, while at least 1 other such facility shall 
be used to strike the uncirculated quality coins.
    (c) Period for Issuance.--The Secretary may issue coins minted 
under this Act only during the 1-year period beginning on January 1, 
2018.

SEC. 6. SALE OF COINS.

    (a) Sale Price.--The coins issued under this Act shall be sold by 
the Secretary at a price equal to the sum of--
            (1) the face value of the coins;
            (2) the surcharge provided in section 7(a) with respect to 
        such coins; and
            (3) the cost of designing and issuing the coins (including 
        labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, overhead expenses, 
        marketing, and shipping).
    (b) Bulk Sales.--The Secretary shall make bulk sales of the coins 
issued under this Act at a reasonable discount.
    (c) Prepaid Orders.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary shall accept prepaid orders 
        for the coins minted under this Act before the issuance of such 
        coins.
            (2) Discount.--Sale prices with respect to prepaid orders 
        under paragraph (1) shall be at a reasonable discount.

SEC. 7. SURCHARGES.

    (a) In General.--All sales of coins minted under this Act shall 
include a surcharge as follows:
            (1) A surcharge of $35 per coin for the $5 coin.
            (2) A surcharge of $10 per coin for the $1 coin.
            (3) A surcharge of $5 per coin for the half dollar coin.
    (b) Distribution.--Subject to section 5134(f) of title 31, United 
States Code, all surcharges received by the Secretary from the sale of 
coins issued under this Act shall be promptly paid by the Secretary to 
the National Coast Guard Museum Association to help finance the design, 
construction, operations, and maintenance of the National Coast Guard 
Museum.
    (c) Audits.--The National Coast Guard Museum Association shall be 
subject to the audit requirements of section 5134(f)(2) of title 31, 
United States Code, with regard to the amounts received under 
subsection (b).
    (d) Limitation.--Notwithstanding subsection (a), no surcharge may 
be included with respect to the issuance under this Act of any coin 
during a calendar year if, as of the time of such issuance, the 
issuance of such coin would result in the number of commemorative coin 
programs issued during such year to exceed the annual 2 commemorative 
coin program issuance limitation under section 5112(m)(1) of title 31, 
United States Code. The Secretary may issue guidance to carry out this 
subsection.

SEC. 8. FINANCIAL ASSURANCES.

    The Secretary shall take such actions as may be necessary to ensure 
that--
            (1) minting and issuing coins under this Act will not 
        result in any net cost to the United States Government; and
            (2) no funds, including applicable surcharges, shall be 
        disbursed to any recipient designated in section 7 until the 
        total cost of designing and issuing all of the coins authorized 
        by this Act (including labor, materials, dies, use of 
        machinery, overhead expenses, marketing, and shipping) is 
        recovered by the United States Treasury, consistent with 
        sections 5112(m) and 5134(f) of title 31, United States Code.
                                 <all>
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