75th Anniversary of the End of World War II Commemorative Coin Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3155 To authorize the minting of a coin in honor of the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 6, 2019 Mr. SCALISE (for himself, Mr. RICHMOND, Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana, Mr. VELA, Mr. ABRAHAM, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana, Mr. KINZINGER, Mr. WESTERMAN, Mr. WALDEN, Mr. DUNN, Ms. HERRERA BEUTLER, Ms. CHENEY, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Mr. EVANS, and Mr. COSTA) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services A BILL To authorize the minting of a coin in honor of the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II, and for other purposes. 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 ‘‘75th Anniversary of 4 the End of World War II Commemorative Coin Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds that— 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:02 Jun 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3155.IH H3155 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 3155 IH (1) the United States entered World War II as 1 a result of the surprise Japanese attack against our 2 fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December 7, 3 1941, which killed 2,403 people of the United 4 States; 5 (2) the United States joined the wartime Allied 6 cause against the militarist, fascist, and racist dicta- 7 torships of Germany, Japan, and Italy (the Axis), 8 fighting for President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s ‘‘Four 9 Freedoms’’ (freedom of speech, of worship, from 10 want, and from fear); 11 (3) the United States placed no more than 12 16,000,000 of its citizens into uniform in the course 13 of the struggle, enduring a string of early defeats, 14 recovering to conduct a total war on land, sea, and 15 air, and eventually establishing total dominance over 16 its enemies; 17 (4) the war took the lives of 405,399 United 18 States military personnel, fellow citizens who made 19 the supreme sacrifice in a perilous moment in the 20 history of the United States, giving their lives for 21 the cause of democracy and peace; 22 (5) the conflict led to a comprehensive trans- 23 formation of the home front from a civilian economy 24 dedicated to peacetime production into the mightiest 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:02 Jun 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3155.IH H3155 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 3155 IH engine of military might in human history (labeled 1 the ‘‘Arsenal of Democracy’’), demanding the par- 2 ticipation of the entire citizenry and thus leading to 3 increased opportunities for racial minorities and 4 women; 5 (6) the war ended on September 2, 1945, after 6 the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany, Fas- 7 cist Italy, and Imperial Japan, and a total victory 8 for the United States and the Allies; 9 (7) Allied victory in World War II transformed 10 the United States into the leader of the ‘‘free 11 world,’’ a community of countries dedicated to demo- 12 cratic principles and to resisting all forms of tyr- 13 anny, including authoritarian, militarist, or com- 14 munist, and an international order founded on open 15 societies, liberal economies, and the peaceful resolu- 16 tion of disputes; 17 (8) participation in the wartime struggle 18 emboldened women, African Americans and other 19 previously marginalized groups to seek equal rights, 20 encouraged the growth of the civil rights movement, 21 and thus contributed to the development of ‘‘a more 22 perfect union,’’ guaranteeing freedom, justice, and 23 equality for all; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:02 Jun 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3155.IH H3155 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 3155 IH (9) the generation of United States citizens who 1 fought World War II is passing away with the 2 march of time, and that therefore the urgent need 3 to give honor to those who served is all the more 4 critical; and 5 (10) the period from May 8, 2020, to Sep- 6 tember 2, 2020, will mark the 75th anniversary of 7 the end of the involvement of the United States in 8 World War II and the surrender of Nazi Germany 9 and Imperial Japan, respectively. 10 SEC. 3. COIN SPECIFICATIONS. 11 (a) $5 GOLD COINS.—The Secretary of the Treasury 12 (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall mint and 13 issue not more than 50,000 $5 coins in commemoration 14 of the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II, each 15 of which shall— 16 (1) weigh 8.359 grams; 17 (2) have a diameter of 0.850 inches; and 18 (3) contain not less than 90 percent gold. 19 (b) $1 SILVER COINS.—The Secretary shall mint and 20 issue not more than 500,000 $1 coins in commemoration 21 of the 75th Anniversary of the end of World War II, each 22 of which shall— 23 (1) weigh 26.73 grams; 24 (2) have a diameter of 1.500 inches; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:02 Jun 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3155.IH H3155 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 3155 IH (3) contain not less than 90 percent silver. 1 (c) HALF DOLLAR CLAD COINS.—The Secretary 2 shall mint and issue not more than 750,000 half dollar 3 clad coins in commemoration of the 75th Anniversary of 4 the end of World War II, each of which shall— 5 (1) weigh 11.34 grams; 6 (2) have a diameter of 1.205 inches; and 7 (3) be minted to the specifications for half dol- 8 lar coins contained in section 5112 (b) of title 31, 9 United States Code. 10 (d) LEGAL TENDER.—The coins minted under this 11 Act shall be legal tender, as provided in section 5103 of 12 title 31, United States Code. 13 (e) NUMISMATIC ITEMS.—For purposes of sections 14 5134 and 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all coins 15 minted under this Act shall be considered to be numis- 16 matic items. 17 SEC. 4. DESIGN OF COINS. 18 (a) IN GENERAL.—The design of the coins minted 19 under this Act shall be emblematic of the great sacrifices 20 made by millions of people of the United States 75 years 21 ago to bring a victorious end to World War II. 22 (b) DESIGNATION AND INSCRIPTIONS.—On each coin 23 minted under this Act, there shall be— 24 (1) a designation of the value of the coin; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:02 Jun 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3155.IH H3155 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 3155 IH (2) an inscription of the year ‘‘2020’’; and 1 (3) inscriptions of the words ‘‘Liberty’’, ‘‘In 2 God We Trust’’, ‘‘United States of America’’, and 3 ‘‘E Pluribus Unum’’. 4 (c) DESIGN.—On each coin minted under this Act, 5 there shall be a representation of the World War II Vic- 6 tory Medal, awarded to all 16 million United States mili- 7 tary personnel who served from December 7, 1941, to De- 8 cember 31, 1946. 9 (d) SELECTION.—The design for the coins minted 10 under this Act shall be— 11 (1) selected by the Secretary, after consultation 12 with The National WWII Museum and the Commis- 13 sion of Fine Arts; and 14 (2) reviewed by the Citizens of Coinage Advi- 15 sory Committee. 16 SEC. 5. ISSUANCE OF COINS. 17 (a) QUALITY OF COINS.—Coins minted under this 18 Act shall be issued in uncirculated and proof qualities. 19 (b) MINT FACILITY.—Only 1 facility of the United 20 States Mint may be used to strike any particular quality 21 of the coins minted under this Act. 22 (c) PERIOD FOR ISSUANCE.—The Secretary may 23 issue coins under this Act only during the period begin- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:02 Jun 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3155.IH H3155 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 3155 IH ning on January 1, 2020, and ending on December 31, 1 2020. 2 SEC. 6. SALE OF COINS. 3 (a) SALE PRICE.—The coins issued under this Act 4 shall be sold by the Secretary at a price equal to the sum 5 of— 6 (1) the face value of the coins; 7 (2) the surcharge provided in section 7 with re- 8 spect to such coins; and 9 (3) the cost of designing and issuing the coins 10 (including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, 11 overhead expenses, marketing, and shipping). 12 (b) BULK SALES.—The Secretary shall make bulk 13 sales of the coins issued under this Act at a reasonable 14 discount. 15 (c) PREPAID ORDERS.— 16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall accept 17 prepaid orders for the coins minted under this Act 18 before the issuance of such coins. 19 (2) DISCOUNT.—Sale prices with respect to pre- 20 paid orders under paragraph (1) shall be at a rea- 21 sonable discount. 22 SEC. 7. SURCHARGES. 23 (a) IN GENERAL.—All sales of coins issued under this 24 Act shall include a surcharge as follows: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:02 Jun 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3155.IH H3155 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •HR 3155 IH (1) A surcharge of $35 per coin for the $5 coin. 1 (2) A surcharge of $10 per coin for the $1 coin. 2 (3) A surcharge of $5 per coin for the half dol- 3 lar coin. 4 (b) DISTRIBUTION.—Subject to section 5134(f) of 5 title 31, United States Code, all surcharges received by 6 the Secretary from the sale of coins issued under this Act 7 shall be paid to the congressionally designated The Na- 8 tional WWII Museum Inc. to fund its educational mission 9 of telling the story of the United States experience in 10 World War II. 11 (c) LIMITATION.—Notwithstanding subsection (a), no 12 surcharge may be included with respect to the issuance 13 under this Act of any coin during a calendar year if, as 14 of the time of such issuance, the issuance of such coin 15 would result in the number of commemorative coin pro- 16 grams issued during such year to exceed the annual 2 17 commemorative coin programs issuance limitation under 18 section 5112(m)(1) of title 31, United States Code (as in 19 effect on the date of enactment of this Act). The Secretary 20 may issue guidance to carry out this subsection. 21 SEC. 8. FINANCIAL ASSURANCES. 22 The Secretary shall take such actions as may be nec- 23 essary to ensure that— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:02 Jun 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3155.IH H3155 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •HR 3155 IH (1) minting and issuing coins under this Act 1 will not result in any net cost to the United States 2 Government; and 3 (2) no funds, including applicable surcharges, 4 are disbursed to any recipient designated in section 5 7 until the total cost of designing and issuing all of 6 the coins authorized by this Act (including labor, 7 materials, dies, use of machinery, overhead expenses, 8 marketing, and shipping) is recovered by the United 9 States Treasury, consistent with sections 5112(m) 10 and 5134(f) of title 31, United States Code. 11 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:02 Jun 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3155.IH H3155 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS