I
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1033
To require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint coins in commemoration
of the bicentennial of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 9, 1999
Mr. BEREUTER (for himself, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. HILL of Montana, Mr.
POMEROY, and Mr. BACHUS) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Banking and Financial Services
A BILL
To require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint coins
in commemoration of the bicentennial of the Lewis and
Clark Expedition, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Lewis and Clark Expe-
dition Bicentennial Commemorative Coin Act’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds that—
(1) the expedition commanded by Meriwether
Lewis and William Clark, which came to be called
‘‘The Corps of Discovery’’, was one of the most re-
markable and productive scientific and military ex-
ploring expeditions in all American history;
(2) President Thomas Jefferson gave Lewis and
Clark the mission to ‘‘explore the Missouri River &
such principal stream of it, as, by its course and
communication with the waters of the Pacific Ocean,
whether the Columbia, Oregon, Colorado, or any
other river may offer the most direct and practical
water communication across this continent for the
purposes of commerce’’;
(3) the Expedition, in response to President
Jefferson’s directive, greatly advanced our geo-
graphical knowledge of the continent and prepared
the way for the extension of the American fur trade
with American Indian tribes throughout the land;
(4) President Jefferson directed the explorers to
take note of and carefully record the natural re-
sources of the newly acquired territory known as
Louisiana, as well as diligently report on the native
inhabitants of the land;
(5) the Expedition departed St. Louis, Missouri
on May 14, 1804;
(6) the Expedition held its first meeting with
American Indians at Council Bluff near present-day
Fort Calhoun, Nebraska, in August 1804, spent its
first winter at Fort Mandan, North Dakota, crossed
the Rocky Mountains by the mouth of the Columbia
River in mid-November of that year, and wintered at
Fort Clatsop, near the present-day city of Astoria,
Oregon;
(7) the Expedition returned to St. Louis, Mis-
souri, on September 23, 1806, after a 28-month
journey covering 8,000 miles during which it tra-
versed 11 future States: Illinois, Missouri, Kansas,
Nebraska, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Mon-
tana, Idaho, Washington, and Oregon;
(8) accounts from the journals of Lewis and
Clark and the detailed maps that were prepared by
the Expedition enhance knowledge of the western
continent and routes for commerce;
(9) the Expedition significantly enhanced ami-
cable relationships between the United States and
the autonomous American Indian nations, and the
friendship and respect fostered between American
Indian tribes and the Expedition represents the best
of diplomacy and relationships between divergent na-
tions and cultures; and
(10) the Lewis and Clark Expedition has been
called the most perfect expedition of its kind in the