I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1671

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

of the acceptance of the responsibility of the Federal Government for

the care and maintenance of the historic buildings in which the United

States of America and its Government were created.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 2, 1993

Mr. FOGLIETTA introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs

A BILL

To require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint coins

in commemoration of the acceptance of the responsibility

of the Federal Government for the care and maintenance

of the historic buildings in which the United States of

America and its Government were created.

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 ‘‘Independence Hall

5 Commemorative Coin Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds that—
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1 (1) for 150 years, the historic buildings in

2 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, known as Congress Hall,

3 the Old City Hall, and Independence Hall which

4 housed the Liberty Bell, the symbol of the heritage

5 of free people in the United States, were under the

6 occasional care of local government units;

7 (2) the Federal Government decided that it was

8 its responsibility to preserve and maintain these

9 sites and others related to it for generations of

10 Americans alive and yet to be born;

11 (3) the recent years of financial exigency and

12 growth of the responsibility and sphere of service of

13 the National Park Service has prevented the ability

14 to provide current capital needs for these historic

15 sites;

16 (4) in 1994, the people of the United States

17 will mark the anniversary of the adoption of the Na18 tional Park Service of the responsibility for the care

19 and maintenance of Independence Hall, the Liberty

20 Bell, and other historic buildings which were the

21 birthplace of the United States of America; and

22 (5) the minting and issuance of a United States

23 coin to commemorate the ongoing maintenance and

24 preservation of these shrines is an appropriate meth25 od by which to commemorate this action.
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1 SEC. 3. COIN SPECIFICATIONS.

2 (a) ISSUANCE.—The Secretary of the Treasury (here3 after in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall issue

4 not more than 1,000,000 $1 coins each of which shall—

5 (1) weigh 26.73 grams;

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

7 (3) contain 90 percent silver and 10 percent

8 copper.

9 (b) DESIGN.—The design of the coins issued under

10 subsection (a) shall be emblematic of the shrines of liberty

11 and shall show the Liberty Bell on one side and the Inde12 pendence Hall on the other. On each coin there shall be

13 a designation of the value of the coin, an inscription of

14 the year ‘‘1994’’, and inscription of the words ‘‘Liberty’’,

15 ‘‘In God We Trust’’, ‘‘United States of America’’, and ‘‘E

16 Pluribus Unum’’.

17 (c) NUMISMATIC ITEMS.—The coins issued under

18 subsection (a) shall be numismatic items for purposes of

19 section 5134 of title 31, United States Code.

20 (d) LEGAL TENDER.—The coins issued under sub21 section (a) shall be legal tender as provided in section

22 5103 of title 31, United States Code.

23 SEC. 4. SOURCES OF BULLION.

24 The Secretary shall obtain silver for the coins author25 ized under section 3 from stockpiles established under the

26 Strategic and Critical Materials Stock Piling Act.
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1 SEC. 5. SELECTION OF DESIGN.

2 The design for the coins authorized by this Act shall

3 be—

4 (1) selected by the Secretary after consultation

5 with the Commission of Fine Arts; and

6 (2) reviewed by the Citizens Commemorative

7 Advisory Committee in accordance with section 5135

8 of title 31, United States Code.

9 SEC. 6. SALE OF COINS.

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi11 sion of law, the coins authorized under section 3 shall be

12 sold by the Secretary at a price equal to the face value,

13 plus the cost of designing and issuing such coins (includ14 ing labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead

15 expenses), and the surcharge provided for in subsection

16 (d).

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

18 sales of the coins authorized under section 3 at a reason19 able discount.

20 (c) PREPAID ORDERS.—The Secretary shall accept

21 prepaid orders for the coins authorized under section 3

22 prior to the issuance of such coins. Sales under this sub23 section shall be at a reasonable discount.

24 (d) SURCHARGES.—All sales of the coins authorized

25 under section 3 shall include a surcharge of $7 per coin.
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1 SEC. 7. ISSUANCE OF COINS.

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The coins authorized under sec3 tion 3 may be issued in uncirculated and proof qualities,

4 except that not more than 1 facility of the United States

5 Mint may be used to strike any particular quality.

6 (b) COMMENCEMENT OF ISSUANCE.—The Secretary

7 may issue the coins authorized under section 3 beginning

8 on July 4, 1994.

9 (c) PERIOD OF AUTHORITY.—Coins authorized under

10 section 3 may be minted beginning 30 days after the date

11 of enactment of this Act and for a period of not more

12 than 1 year after such date.

13 SEC. 8. GENERAL WAIVER OF PROCUREMENT RELATIONS.

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

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

16 contracts shall be applicable to the procurement of goods

17 or services required to carry out this Act.

18 (b) EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY.—Sub19 section (a) shall not relieve any person entering into a con20 tract under the authority of this Act from complying with

21 any law relating to equal employment opportunity.

22 SEC. 9. DISTRIBUTION OF SURCHARGES.

23 Of the total surcharges received by the Secretary

24 from the sale of coins in accordance with section 6 of this

25 Act—
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1 (1) 50 percent shall be returned to the Federal

2 Treasury for the purpose of reducing the national

3 debt; and

4 (2) 50 percent shall be promptly paid by the

5 Secretary to the Independence Hall Preservation

6 Fund for the purposes of—

7 (A) creating an endowment fund moneys

8 from which shall be used to meet the needs for

9 capital improvements in Independence National

10 Historic Park;

11 (B) funding projects of capital replacement

12 in buildings in Independence National Historic

13 Park; and

14 (C) funding those needs deemed appro15 priate by the Directors of the fund to foster

16 and increase the respect and admiration of visi17 tors to Independence National Historic Park.

18 SEC. 10. AUDITS.

19 The Comptroller General of the United States shall

20 have the right to examine such books, records, documents,

21 and other data of the Independence Hall Preservation

22 Fund as may be related to the expenditure of amounts

23 paid under section 9.
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1 SEC. 11. FINANCIAL ASSURANCES.

2 (a) NO NET COST TO THE GOVERNMENT.—The Sec3 retary shall take such actions as may be necessary to en4 sure that the minting and issuance of the coins referred

5 to in section 3 will not result in any net cost to the Federal

6 Government.

7 (b) PAYMENT FOR ISSUANCE OF COINS.—No coin

8 shall be issued under this Act unless the Secretary has

9 received—

10 (1) full payment for such coin;

11 (2) security satisfactory to the Secretary to in12 demnify the United States for full payment for such

13 coin; or

14 (3) a guarantee of full payment satisfactory to

15 the Secretary from a depository institution whose

16 deposits are insured by the Federal Deposit Insur17 ance Corporation or the National Credit Union

18 Administration.

Æ