Cesar Chavez Commemorative Coin Act
Bill: H.R.2404 | Sponsor: Rep. Gosar, Paul A. (R-AZ)
Policy area: Finance and Financial Sector

Summary:
Cesar Chavez Commemorative Coin Act
This bill directs the Department of the Treasury to mint and issue 50,000 $5 gold coins, 400,000 $1 silver coins, and 750,000 half-dollar coins to be emblematic of Cesar Chavez and his fight to defend the interests of American farmworkers, his birth in Yuma, Arizona, and his commitment to and work for American agricultural workers. At least one design of these coins shall include the name and likeness of Cesar Chavez.
Treasury may issue such coins only during a one-year period beginning on January 1, 2024.
All sales of coins issued under this bill shall include a surcharge as prescribed by this bill.

To require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint coins in commemoration 
  of Cesar Chavez's work for the betterment of legal workers, and for 
                            other purposes.

    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 ``Cesar Chavez Commemorative Coin 
Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) Cesar Chavez was born on March 31, 1927, in Yuma, 
        Arizona.
            (2) In 1962, Chavez founded the National Farm Workers 
        Association, which later became the United Farm Workers, to 
        improve the wages and working conditions for American 
        farmworkers.
            (3) Chavez's union drew on the imagery of civil rights to 
        use nonviolence and mass mobilization to improve the conditions 
        of persecuted and impoverished American workers.
            (4) Chavez believed that preventing illegal immigration was 
        an essential prerequisite to improving the circumstances of 
        American farmworkers.
            (5) In 1969, Chavez led a march to the Mexican border to 
        protest illegal immigration, joined by Senator Walter Mondale 
        and Martin Luther King's successor as head of the Southern 
        Christian Leadership Conference, Ralph Abernathy.
            (6) Chavez noted that it is ``almost impossible to start 
        some effective program to get these people their jobs back from 
        the braceros'' once employers replace them.
            (7) In the 1970s, Chavez combined a campaign of identifying 
        and reporting illegal workers with a campaign to boycott 
        nonunionized farms in order to protect the labor of the 
        unionized American worker.
            (8) Chavez recognized that flooding the labor market with 
        people from abroad undermines the unionized American worker.
            (9) In 1979, at the National Press Club, Chavez 
        emphatically supported enforcement of immigration laws, stating 
        that ``people are being hurt and being destroyed, and with the 
        complicity and with the help, of the Federal Government''.
            (10) President Clinton recognized Chavez's work saying, 
        ``We can be proud of his enormous accomplishments and in the 
        dignity and comfort he brought to the lives of so many of our 
        country's least powerful and most dispossessed workers.''.

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 coin:
            (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 not less than 90 percent gold.
            (2) $1 silver coins.--Not more than 400,000 $1 coins, which 
        shall--
                    (A) weigh 26.73 grams;
                    (B) have a diameter of 1.500 inches; and
                    (C) contain not less than 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 COINS.

    (a) Design Requirements.--
            (1) In general.--The designs of the coins minted under this 
        Act shall be emblematic of Cesar Chavez and his fight to defend 
        the interests of American farmworkers, his birth in Yuma, 
        Arizona, and his commitment to and work for American 
        agricultural workers. At least one coin design shall include 
        the name and likeliness of Cesar Chavez.
            (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 ``2024''; and
                    (C) inscriptions of the words ``Liberty'', ``In God 
                We Trust'', ``United States of America'', 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 the Smithsonian Institution; and
            (2) 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) Period for Issuance.--The Secretary may issue coins minted 
under this Act only during the 1-year period beginning on January 1, 
2024.

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 issued under this Act shall 
include a surcharge of--
            (1) $35 per coin for the $5 coin;
            (2) $10 per coin for the $1 coin; and
            (3) $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 Smithsonian Institution to support the development, maintenance, 
and repair of the National Museum of the American Latino, and for 
educational and commemorative programs of American Latino heritage and 
culture.
    (c) Audits.--The Smithsonian Institution 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 (as in effect on the date of the enactment of this 
Act). 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.
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