Date: 2005-11-08
Speaker: GENE GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr..Speaker. Francisco. otherwise known as the I rise today to offer my support for House Res- "Granite Lady". and for other purolution 38 and to strongly urge my colleagues poses. as amended. .to support this resolution as well. . The Clerk read as follows: The Organisation for Economic Cooper- H.R. 1953 ation and Development (OECD) is a group of Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Rep30 member countriesincluding the United resentatives of the United States of America in Statessharing a commitment to democratic Congress assembled. government and the market economy. SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the "San FranIts work covers economic and social issues cisco Old Mint Commemorative Coin Act". from macroeconomics. to trade. education. de- SEC. 2. FINDINGS. velopment and science and innovation. The Congress hereby finds as follows: Israel has been attempting to join the OECD (1) The Granite Lady played an important since 2000. when it met the organizations in- role in the history of the Nation. dustrial and percapita product criteria. (2) The San Francisco Mint was established pursuant to an Act of Congress of July 3. Not only could OECD membership enhance 1852. to convert miners gold from the CaliIsraels status in the global market and within fornia gold rush into coins. international financial institutions but also other (3) The San Francisco Old Mint Building OECD countries could potentially benefit in the was designed by architect A.B. Mullett. who science and hightech sectors due to Israels also designed the United States Treasury economic and advanced technological stand- Building and the Old Executive Office Building. ing. (4) The solid construction of the Granite Israel also shares the commitment to demo- Lady enabled it to survive the 1906 San Francratic governance and free market principles cisco earthquake and fire. making it the that are the foundation of the OECD. only~financial institution that was able to As a result. in December 2004. Israel was operate immediately after the earthquake as invited. on an ad hoc basis. to participate as the treasury for disaster relief funds for the an observer in discussions of the trade com- city of San Francisco. in 5) Coins struck at the San Francisco Old mittee of the OECD and has participated iMint are distinguished by the "S" nint numerous other OECD activities. however it mark. has not been granted full membership. (6) The San Francisco Old Mint is famous House Resolution 38 expresses that the for having struck many rare. legendary United States supports full membership for issues. such as the 1870S $3 coin. which is Israel in the OECD based on its commitment valued today at well over $1.000.000. and the to democracy. the market economy. and 1894S dime which is comparatively rare. (7) The San Francisco Old Mint CommemoOECDs principles and mission. rative Coin will be the first commemorative Mr. Speaker. I fully support Israels member- coin to honor a United States mint. ship in the OECD. and urge my colleagues to SEC. 3. COIN SPECIFICATIONS. join me in supporting this resolution. (a) DENOMINATIONS.-Notwithstanding any Mr. Speaker. I yield back the balance other provision of law. and in commemoraof my time. tion of the San Francisco Old Mint. the Secretary of the Treasury (hereafter in this Act