I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 589
To require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint coins in commemoration 
of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 5, 2003
Mr. LEACH (for himself, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mr. ANDREWS, Mr. BACA, Mr. 
BALLANCE, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. BECERRA, Mr. BELL, Ms. BERKLEY, Mr. 
BISHOP of Georgia, Mr. BISHOP of New York, Ms. BORDALLO, Mr. 
BRADY of Pennsylvania, Ms. GINNY BROWN-WAITE of Florida, Mr. 
BURNS, Mr. CAPUANO, Mr. CARDOZA, Mr. CARSON of Oklahoma, Ms. 
CARSON of Indiana, Mr. CASE, Mr. CLAY, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. COOPER, 
Mr. COSTELLO, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. DAVIS of Alabama, Mrs. JO ANN 
DAVIS of Virginia, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. DEUTSCH, Mr. DINGELL, Mr. 
DUNCAN, 
Mr. 
ENGLISH, 
Mr. 
ETHERIDGE, 
Mr. 
EVANS, 
Mr. 
FALEOMAVAEGA, Mr. FATTAH, Mr. FILNER, Mr. FOLEY, Mr. FORBES, 
Mr. FORD, Mr. FOSSELLA, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. FROST, 
Mr. GONZALEZ, Mr. GREEN of Wisconsin, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. GUTIER-
REZ, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. HOLDEN, Mr. 
HONDA, Mr. ISRAEL, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE 
JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. KANJORSKI, Mr. KENNEDY of Rhode Island, Mr. 
KILDEE, Mr. KING
of Iowa, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mr. LANTOS, Mr. 
LATOURETTE, Ms. LEE, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mrs. 
LOWEY, Mr. LYNCH, Ms. MAJETTE, Mrs. MALONEY, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. 
MATSUI, Mrs. MCCARTHY
of New York, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. 
MCDERMOTT, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. MCNULTY, Mr. MEEHAN, Ms. 
MILLENDER-MCDONALD, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Mr. NEAL of Massa-
chusetts, Mrs. NORTHUP, Ms. NORTON, Mr. OBERSTAR, Mr. OWENS, Mr. 
PALLONE, Mr. PASCRELL, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. PETRI, Mr. PLATTS, Mr. 
PORTMAN, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. REGULA, Mr. REYES, Mr. RODRIGUEZ, Mr. 
ROGERS of Alabama, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, Mr. ROSS, Mr. RUSH, Mr. 
RYAN of Ohio, Mr. SABO, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. 
SHAYS, Mr. SIMMONS, Mr. SKELTON, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. SMITH of 
Washington, Mr. SOUDER, Mr. SPRATT, Mr. STRICKLAND, Mr. TERRY, 
Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr. UPTON, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. 
WAMP, Ms. WATSON, Mr. WAXMAN, Mr. WELDON of Pennsylvania, Mr. 
WEXLER, Ms. WOOLSEY, and Mr. WYNN) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services
A BILL 
To require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint coins 
in commemoration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
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 ‘‘Dr. Martin Luther 
King, Jr., Commemorative Coin Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress hereby finds as follows: 
(1) Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., dedicated his 
life to securing the Nation’s fundamental principles 
of liberty and justice for all its citizens. 
(2) Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was the lead-
ing civil rights advocate of his time, spearheading 
the civil rights movement in the United States dur-
ing the 1950’s and 1960’s. 
(3) Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was the key-
note speaker at the August, 28, 1963, March on 
Washington, the largest rally of the civil rights 
movement, during which, from the steps of the Lin-
coln Memorial and before a crowd of over 200,000 
people, he delivered his famous ‘‘I Have A Dream’’ 
speech, one of the classic orations in American his-
tory.
(4) Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was a cham-
pion of nonviolence, fervently advocated nonviolent 
resistance as the strategy to end segregation and ra-
cial discrimination in America, and was awarded the 
1964 Nobel Peace Prize in recognition for his ef-
forts. 
(5) All Americans should commemorate the leg-
acy of Martin Luther King, Jr., so ‘‘that one day 
this Nation will rise up and live out the true mean-
ing of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evi-
dent; that all men are created equal.’ ’’. 
(6) Efforts are underway to secure the personal 
papers of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., for the Li-
brary of Congress so that they may be preserved and 
studied for generations to come. 
SEC. 3. COIN SPECIFICATIONS. 
(a) DENOMINATIONS.—The Secretary of the Treas-
ury (hereafter in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) 
shall mint and issue the following coins: 
(1) $5 GOLD COINS.—Not more than 50,000 $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 350,000 
$1 coins, which shall—
(A) weigh 26.73 grams; 
(B) have a diameter of 1.500 inches; and 
(C) contain 90 percent silver and 10 per-
cent copper. 
(3) HALF
DOLLAR
CLAD
COINS.—Not more 
than 5,000,000 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 numis-
matic items. 
SEC. 4. SOURCES OF BULLION. 
(a) GOLD.—The Secretary shall obtain gold for mint-
ing coins under this Act pursuant to the authority of the 
Secretary under other provisions of law.
(b) SILVER.—The Secretary shall obtain silver for 
minting coins under this Act from any available source, 
including from stockpiles established under the Strategic 
and Critical Materials Stock Piling Act. 
SEC. 5. DESIGN OF COINS. 
(a) DESIGN REQUIREMENTS.—
(1) IN
GENERAL.—The design of the coins 
minted under this Act shall be emblematic of the in-
spirational life and works of Dr. Martin Luther 
King, Jr.
(2) DESIGNATION
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 ‘‘2003’’; and 
(C) inscriptions of the words ‘‘Liberty’’, 
‘‘In God We Trust’’, ‘‘United States of Amer-
ica’’, and ‘‘E Pluribus Unum’’. 
(b) SELECTION.—The design for the coins minted 
under this Act shall be—
(1) selected by the Secretary after consultation 
with the Commission of Fine Arts; and 
(2) reviewed by the Citizens Commemorative 
Coin Advisory Committee.
SEC. 6. ISSUANCE OF COINS. 
(a) QUALITY OF COINS.—Coins minted under this 
Act shall be issued in uncirculated and proof qualities. 
(b) MINT FACILITY.—Only 1 facility of the United 
States Mint may be used to strike any particular quality 
of the coins minted under this Act. 
(c) COMMENCEMENT OF ISSUANCE.—The Secretary 
may issue coins minted under this Act beginning August 
28, 2003. 
(d) TERMINATION
OF MINTING AUTHORITY.—No 
coins may be minted under this Act after December 31, 
2003. 
SEC. 7. 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 8(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 pre-
paid orders under paragraph (1) shall be at a rea-
sonable discount. 
(d) MARKETING.—The Secretary, in cooperation with 
the Legacy Fund of the Library of Congress, shall develop 
and implement a marketing program to promote and sell 
the coins issued under this Act both within the United 
States and internationally. 
SEC. 8. 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 $3 per coin for the half dol-
lar 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 Dr. Martin 
Luther King, Jr., Legacy Fund of the Library of Congress 
to be used for the objects and purposes of such Fund.
(c) AUDITS.—The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Leg-
acy Fund shall be subject to the audit requirements of 
section 5134(f)(2) of title 31, United States Code, with 
regard to the amounts received by the Fund under sub-
section (b).
Æ