Tomb of the Unknown Soldier Centennial Commemorative Coin Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1805 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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 14, 2019 Mr. WENSTRUP (for himself, Ms. STEFANIK, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. CHABOT, Mr. KILMER, Mr. AUSTIN SCOTT of Georgia, Mrs. RADEWAGEN, Mr. TURNER, Mr. GAETZ, Mr. KING of New York, Mr. MOULTON, Mrs. BEATTY, Mr. GONZALEZ of Ohio, Mr. RUTHERFORD, Mr. COLE, Ms. GABBARD, Mr. LATTA, and Mr. HICE of Georgia) introduced the fol- lowing 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 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:27 Apr 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1805.IH H1805 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 1805 IH (1) The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is a me- 1 morial site at Arlington National Cemetery. On 2 March 4, 1921, Congress approved the burial of an 3 unidentified soldier of the United States on the site 4 to commemorate the unknown soldiers who died dur- 5 ing World War I. 6 (2) As of the date of enactment of this Act, the 7 site also includes unknown soldiers from World War 8 II and the Korean War. These graves are marked 9 with white marble slabs embedded in the plaza below 10 the original sarcophagus. 11 (3) The original white marble sarcophagus of 12 the unknown soldier from World War I features 3 13 Greek figures representing peace, victory, and valor. 14 There are 6 wreaths, 3 sculpted on each side, which 15 represent the major campaigns of World War I. 16 (4) The original unknown soldier lay in the ro- 17 tunda of the Capitol from his arrival in the United 18 States until Armistice Day, 1921. President Warren 19 G. Harding officiated at the interment ceremonies at 20 the Memorial Amphitheater at Arlington National 21 Cemetery. 22 (5) The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is 23 guarded 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and in 24 any weather by Tomb Guard sentinels. The senti- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:27 Apr 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1805.IH H1805 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 1805 IH nels, all of whom are volunteers, are considered to 1 be the best of the elite 3d Infantry Regiment of the 2 Army (commonly known as the ‘‘Old Guard’’), 3 headquartered at Fort Myer, Virginia. 4 (6) Inscribed on the back of the Tomb of the 5 Unknown Soldier are the words, ‘‘Here rests in hon- 6 ored glory an American soldier known but to God’’. 7 SEC. 3. COIN SPECIFICATIONS. 8 (a) $1 SILVER COINS.—The Secretary of the Treas- 9 ury (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall mint 10 and issue not more than 100,000 $1 coins in commemora- 11 tion of the centennial of the establishment of the Tomb 12 of the Unknown Soldier, each of which shall— 13 (1) weigh 26.73 grams; 14 (2) have a diameter of 1.500 inches; and 15 (3) contain not less than 90 percent silver. 16 (b) LEGAL TENDER.—The coins minted under this 17 Act shall be legal tender, as provided in section 5103 of 18 title 31, United States Code. 19 (c) NUMISMATIC ITEMS.—For purposes of sections 20 5134 and 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all coins 21 minted under this Act shall be considered to be numis- 22 matic items. 23 SEC. 4. DESIGN OF COINS. 24 (a) DESIGN REQUIREMENTS.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:27 Apr 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1805.IH H1805 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 1805 IH (1) IN GENERAL.—The design of the coins 1 minted under this Act shall be emblematic of the 2 centennial of the establishment of the Tomb of the 3 Unknown Soldier. 4 (2) DESIGNATION AND INSCRIPTIONS.—On 5 each coin minted under this Act, there shall be— 6 (A) a designation of the value of the coin; 7 (B) an inscription of the year ‘‘2021’’; and 8 (C) inscriptions of the words ‘‘Liberty’’, 9 ‘‘In God We Trust’’, ‘‘United States of Amer- 10 ica’’, and ‘‘E Pluribus Unum’’. 11 (b) SELECTION.—The design for the coins minted 12 under this Act shall be— 13 (1) chosen by the Secretary after consultation 14 with— 15 (A) the Society of the Honor Guard, Tomb 16 of the Unknown Soldier; and 17 (B) the Commission of Fine Arts; and 18 (2) reviewed by the Citizens Coinage Advisory 19 Committee. 20 SEC. 5. ISSUANCE OF COINS. 21 (a) QUALITY OF COINS.—Coins minted under this 22 Act shall be issued in uncirculated and proof qualities. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:27 Apr 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1805.IH H1805 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 1805 IH (b) MINT FACILITY.—Only 1 facility of the United 1 States Mint may be used to strike any particular quality 2 of the coins minted under this Act. 3 (c) PERIOD FOR ISSUANCE.—The Secretary may 4 issue coins under this Act only during the 1-year period 5 beginning on January 1, 2021. 6 SEC. 6. SALE OF COINS. 7 (a) SALE PRICE.—The coins issued under this Act 8 shall be sold by the Secretary at a price equal to the sum 9 of— 10 (1) the face value of the coins; 11 (2) the surcharge described in section 7 with re- 12 spect to the coins; and 13 (3) the cost of designing and issuing the coins 14 (including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, 15 overhead expenses, marketing, and shipping). 16 (b) BULK SALES.—The Secretary shall make bulk 17 sales of the coins issued under this Act at a reasonable 18 discount. 19 (c) PREPAID ORDERS.— 20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall accept 21 prepaid orders for the coins minted under this Act 22 before the date on which the coins are issued. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:27 Apr 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1805.IH H1805 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 1805 IH (2) DISCOUNT.—Sale prices with respect to pre- 1 paid orders under paragraph (1) shall be at a rea- 2 sonable discount. 3 SEC. 7. SURCHARGES. 4 (a) IN GENERAL.—All sales of coins issued under this 5 Act shall include a surcharge of $10 per coin. 6 (b) DISTRIBUTION.—Subject to section 5134(f) of 7 title 31, United States Code, all surcharges received by 8 the Secretary from the sale of coins issued under this Act 9 shall be promptly paid by the Secretary to the National 10 World War I Museum and Memorial for the purposes of 11 commemorating the centennial of the establishment of the 12 Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. 13 (c) AUDITS.—The National World War I Museum 14 and Memorial shall be subject to the audit requirements 15 under section 5134(f)(2) of title 31, United States Code, 16 with respect to the amounts received under subsection (b). 17 (d) LIMITATION.— 18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding subsection 19 (a), no surcharge may be included with respect to 20 the issuance of any coin under this Act during a cal- 21 endar year if, on the date of the issuance, the 22 issuance of the coin would result in the number of 23 commemorative coin programs issued during that 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:27 Apr 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1805.IH H1805 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 1805 IH year to exceed the limitation under section 1 5112(m)(1) of title 31, United States Code. 2 (2) ISSUANCE OF GUIDANCE.—The Secretary 3 may issue guidance to carry out this subsection. 4 SEC. 8. FINANCIAL ASSURANCES. 5 The Secretary shall take such actions as may be nec- 6 essary to ensure that— 7 (1) minting and issuing coins under this Act 8 shall result in no net cost to the Federal Govern- 9 ment; and 10 (2) no funds, including applicable surcharges, 11 may be disbursed to any recipient designated in sec- 12 tion 7 until the total cost of designing and issuing 13 all of the coins authorized by this Act (including 14 labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, overhead ex- 15 penses, marketing, and shipping) is recovered by the 16 United States Treasury, consistent with sections 17 5112(m) and 5134(f) of title 31, United States 18 Code. 19 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:27 Apr 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1805.IH H1805 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS