Tomb of the Unknown Soldier Centennial Commemorative Coin Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 639 To require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint coins in commemoration of the centennial of the establishment of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 4, 2019 Mr. COTTON (for himself, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. JONES, Ms. WARREN, Mrs. CAPITO, Mr. DAINES, and Mrs. HYDE-SMITH) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs A BILL To require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint coins in commemoration of the centennial of the establishment of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Tomb of the Unknown 4 Soldier Centennial Commemorative Coin Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 (1) The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is a me- 8 morial site at Arlington National Cemetery. On 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:37 Mar 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S639.IS S639 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 639 IS March 4, 1921, Congress approved the burial of an 1 unidentified soldier of the United States on the site 2 to commemorate the unknown soldiers who died dur- 3 ing World War I. 4 (2) As of the date of enactment of this Act, the 5 site also includes unknown soldiers from World War 6 II and the Korean War. These graves are marked 7 with white marble slabs embedded in the plaza below 8 the original sarcophagus. 9 (3) The original white marble sarcophagus of 10 the unknown soldier from World War I features 3 11 Greek figures representing peace, victory, and valor. 12 There are 6 wreaths, 3 sculpted on each side, which 13 represent the major campaigns of World War I. 14 (4) The original unknown soldier lay in the ro- 15 tunda of the Capitol from his arrival in the United 16 States until Armistice Day, 1921. President Warren 17 G. Harding officiated at the interment ceremonies at 18 the Memorial Amphitheater at Arlington National 19 Cemetery. 20 (5) The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is 21 guarded 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and in 22 any weather by Tomb Guard sentinels. The senti- 23 nels, all of whom are volunteers, are considered to 24 be the best of the elite 3rd Infantry Regiment of the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:37 Mar 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S639.IS S639 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 639 IS Army (commonly known as the ‘‘Old Guard’’), head- 1 quartered at Fort Myer, Virginia. 2 (6) Inscribed on the back of the Tomb of the 3 Unknown Soldier are the words, ‘‘Here rests in hon- 4 ored glory an American soldier known but to God’’. 5 SEC. 3. COIN SPECIFICATIONS. 6 (a) $1 SILVER COINS.—The Secretary of the Treas- 7 ury (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall mint 8 and issue not more than 100,000 $1 coins in commemora- 9 tion of the centennial of the establishment of the Tomb 10 of the Unknown Soldier, each of which shall— 11 (1) weigh 26.73 grams; 12 (2) have a diameter of 1.500 inches; and 13 (3) contain not less than 90 percent silver. 14 (b) LEGAL TENDER.—The coins minted under this 15 Act shall be legal tender, as provided in section 5103 of 16 title 31, United States Code. 17 (c) NUMISMATIC ITEMS.—For purposes of sections 18 5134 and 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all coins 19 minted under this Act shall be considered to be numis- 20 matic items. 21 SEC. 4. DESIGN OF COINS. 22 (a) DESIGN REQUIREMENTS.— 23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The design of the coins 24 minted under this Act shall be emblematic of the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:37 Mar 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S639.IS S639 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 639 IS centennial of the establishment of the Tomb of the 1 Unknown Soldier. 2 (2) DESIGNATION AND INSCRIPTIONS.—On 3 each coin minted under this Act, there shall be— 4 (A) a designation of the value of the coin; 5 (B) an inscription of the year ‘‘2021’’; and 6 (C) inscriptions of the words ‘‘Liberty’’, 7 ‘‘In God We Trust’’, ‘‘United States of Amer- 8 ica’’, and ‘‘E Pluribus Unum’’. 9 (b) SELECTION.—The design for the coins minted 10 under this Act shall be— 11 (1) chosen by the Secretary after consultation 12 with— 13 (A) the Society of the Honor Guard, Tomb 14 of the Unknown Soldier; and 15 (B) the Commission of Fine Arts; and 16 (2) reviewed by the Citizens Coinage Advisory 17 Committee. 18 SEC. 5. ISSUANCE OF COINS. 19 (a) QUALITY OF COINS.—Coins minted under this 20 Act shall be issued in uncirculated and proof qualities. 21 (b) MINT FACILITY.—Only 1 facility of the United 22 States Mint may be used to strike any particular quality 23 of the coins minted under this Act. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:37 Mar 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S639.IS S639 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 639 IS (c) PERIOD FOR ISSUANCE.—The Secretary may 1 issue coins under this Act only during the 1-year period 2 beginning on January 1, 2021. 3 SEC. 6. SALE OF COINS. 4 (a) SALE PRICE.—The coins issued under this Act 5 shall be sold by the Secretary at a price equal to the sum 6 of— 7 (1) the face value of the coins; 8 (2) the surcharge described in section 7 with re- 9 spect to the coins; and 10 (3) the cost of designing and issuing the coins 11 (including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, 12 overhead expenses, marketing, and shipping). 13 (b) BULK SALES.—The Secretary shall make bulk 14 sales of the coins issued under this Act at a reasonable 15 discount. 16 (c) PREPAID ORDERS.— 17 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall accept 18 prepaid orders for the coins minted under this Act 19 before the date on which the coins are issued. 20 (2) DISCOUNT.—Sale prices with respect to pre- 21 paid orders under paragraph (1) shall be at a rea- 22 sonable discount. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:37 Mar 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S639.IS S639 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 639 IS SEC. 7. SURCHARGES. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—All sales of coins issued under this 2 Act shall include a surcharge of $10 per coin. 3 (b) DISTRIBUTION.—Subject to section 5134(f) of 4 title 31, United States Code, all surcharges received by 5 the Secretary from the sale of coins issued under this Act 6 shall be promptly paid by the Secretary to the National 7 World War I Museum and Memorial for the purposes of 8 commemorating the centennial of the establishment of the 9 Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. 10 (c) AUDITS.—The National World War I Museum 11 and Memorial shall be subject to the audit requirements 12 under section 5134(f)(2) of title 31, United States Code, 13 with respect to the amounts received under subsection (b). 14 (d) LIMITATION.— 15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding subsection 16 (a), no surcharge may be included with respect to 17 the issuance of any coin under this Act during a cal- 18 endar year if, on the date of the issuance, the 19 issuance of the coin would result in the number of 20 commemorative coin programs issued during that 21 year to exceed the limitation under section 22 5112(m)(1) of title 31, United States Code. 23 (2) ISSUANCE OF GUIDANCE.—The Secretary 24 may issue guidance to carry out this subsection. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:37 Mar 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S639.IS S639 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 639 IS SEC. 8. FINANCIAL ASSURANCES. 1 The Secretary shall take such actions as may be nec- 2 essary to ensure that— 3 (1) minting and issuing coins under this Act 4 shall result in no net cost to the Federal Govern- 5 ment; and 6 (2) no funds, including applicable surcharges, 7 may be disbursed to any recipient designated in sec- 8 tion 7 until the total cost of designing and issuing 9 all of the coins authorized by this Act (including 10 labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, overhead ex- 11 penses, marketing, and shipping) is recovered by the 12 United States Treasury, consistent with sections 13 5112(m) and 5134(f) of title 31, United States 14 Code. 15 SEC. 9. BUDGET COMPLIANCE. 16 The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of 17 complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010 18 (2 U.S.C. 931 et seq.), shall be determined by reference 19 to the latest statement titled ‘‘Budgetary Effects of 20 PAYGO Legislation’’ for this Act, submitted for printing 21 in the Congressional Record by the Chairman of the Com- 22 mittee on the Budget of the Senate, provided that such 23 statement has been submitted prior to the vote on passage. 24 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:37 Mar 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S639.IS S639 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS