Paul Laurence Dunbar Commemorative Coin Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4332 To require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint commemorative coins in recognition of Paul Laurence Dunbar. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SEPTEMBER 13, 2019 Ms. NORTON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services A BILL To require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint commemo- rative coins in recognition of Paul Laurence Dunbar. 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 ‘‘Paul Laurence Dunbar 4 Commemorative Coin Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 The Congress finds that— 7 (1) Paul Laurence Dunbar was one of the first 8 influential African-American poets in American lit- 9 erature, writing such classics as ‘‘Majors and Mi- 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:28 Sep 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4332.IH H4332 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 4332 IH nors’’ and ‘‘Lyrics of Lowly Life’’, and composing 1 the lyrics to ‘‘In Dahomey’’, the first all-African- 2 American musical produced on Broadway; 3 (2) Paul Laurence Dunbar was born June 27, 4 1872, to freed slaves Joshua and Matilda Murphy 5 Dunbar; 6 (3) Paul Laurence Dunbar first published a se- 7 ries of poems at age 14 in the Dayton Herald; 8 (4) in 1893, Paul Laurence Dunbar published 9 a series of poems in a work entitled ‘‘Oak and Ivy’’; 10 (5) by the late 1890s, Paul Laurence Dunbar 11 had become a prominent author, having had his 12 poems published in such major national newspapers 13 and magazines as The New York Times; 14 (6) over his career, Paul Laurence Dunbar 15 went on to publish more collections of poems, short 16 stories, and novels; 17 (7) Paul Laurence Dunbar died on February 9, 18 1906, at 33 years of age; 19 (8) Paul Laurence Dunbar Senior High School 20 (hereafter referred to as Dunbar High School) was 21 established in the District of Columbia in 1870 as 22 the Preparatory High School for Colored Youth, and 23 was the first public high school for African-American 24 students in the country; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:28 Sep 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4332.IH H4332 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 4332 IH (9) the Preparatory High School for Colored 1 Youth was renamed in 1916 in honor of Paul Lau- 2 rence Dunbar; 3 (10) the Dunbar Alumni Federation (hereafter 4 in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Federation’’) was or- 5 ganized in 2002 to provide scholarships and other fi- 6 nancial support to students and graduates of Dun- 7 bar High School; 8 (11) the Federation promotes and supports 9 scholarship efforts, along with school and community 10 activities; 11 (12) the Federation leverages the prestige of 12 Dunbar High School and its distinguished alumni to 13 enhance the education of Dunbar High School stu- 14 dents; 15 (13) the Federation promotes Dunbar High 16 School alumni from more than 35 years of grad- 17 uating classes through their scholarship efforts, com- 18 munity activities, and other endeavors to support 19 Dunbar High School; 20 (14) the Federation helps finance such student 21 development activities as the Debate Team, the 22 Band, the Ski Team, the Junior Reserve Officer 23 Training Corps, and athletics; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:28 Sep 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4332.IH H4332 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 4332 IH (15) the Federation funds faculty, staff, and 1 parent appreciation and development activities; and 2 (16) the Federation collects and assembles arti- 3 facts and memorabilia from alumni for historical 4 and legacy displays to chronicle Dunbar High 5 School’s rich history. 6 SEC. 3. COIN SPECIFICATIONS. 7 (a) DENOMINATIONS.—In recognition and celebration 8 of Paul Laurence Dunbar, the Secretary of the Treasury 9 (hereafter in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall 10 mint and issue the following coins: 11 (1) $5 GOLD COINS.—Not more than 50,000 $5 12 coins, which shall— 13 (A) weigh 8.359 grams; 14 (B) have a diameter of 0.850 inches; and 15 (C) contain not less than 90-percent gold. 16 (2) $1 SILVER COINS.—Not more than 400,000 17 $1 coins, which shall— 18 (A) weigh 26.73 grams; 19 (B) have a diameter of 1.500 inches; and 20 (C) contain not less than 90-percent silver. 21 (3) HALF-DOLLAR CLAD COINS.—Not more 22 than 750,000 half-dollar coins which shall— 23 (A) weigh 11.34 grams; 24 (B) have a diameter of 1.205 inches; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:28 Sep 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4332.IH H4332 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 4332 IH (C) be minted to the specifications for half- 1 dollar coins contained in section 5112(b) of title 2 31, United States Code. 3 (b) LEGAL TENDER.—The coins minted under this 4 Act shall be legal tender, as provided in section 5103 of 5 title 31, United States Code. 6 (c) NUMISMATIC ITEMS.—For purposes of sections 7 5134 and 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all coins 8 minted under this Act shall be considered to be numis- 9 matic items. 10 SEC. 4. DESIGN OF COINS. 11 (a) IN GENERAL.—The design for the coins minted 12 under this Act shall be emblematic of Paul Laurence Dun- 13 bar. 14 (b) DESIGNATIONS AND INSCRIPTIONS.—On each 15 coin minted under this Act there shall be— 16 (1) a designation of the denomination of the 17 coin; 18 (2) an inscription of the year ‘‘2021’’; and 19 (3) inscriptions of the words ‘‘Liberty’’, ‘‘In 20 God We Trust’’, ‘‘United States of America’’, and 21 ‘‘E Pluribus Unum’’. 22 (c) SELECTION.—The design for the coins minted 23 under this Act shall be— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:28 Sep 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4332.IH H4332 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 4332 IH (1) selected by the Secretary after consultation 1 with— 2 (A) the Commission of Fine Arts; and 3 (B) the Federation; and 4 (2) reviewed by the Citizens Commemorative 5 Coin Advisory Committee. 6 SEC. 5. ISSUANCE OF COINS. 7 (a) QUALITY OF COINS.—Coins minted under this 8 Act shall be issued in uncirculated and proof qualities. 9 (b) PERIOD FOR ISSUANCE.—The Secretary may 10 issue coins minted under this Act only during the 1-year 11 period beginning on January 1, 2021. 12 SEC. 6. SALE OF COINS. 13 (a) SALE PRICE.—The coins issued under this Act 14 shall be sold by the Secretary at a price based upon the 15 sum of— 16 (1) the face value of the coins; 17 (2) the surcharge provided in section 7(a) with 18 respect to such coins; and 19 (3) the cost of designing and issuing the coins 20 (including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, 21 overhead expenses, marketing, and shipping). 22 (b) BULK SALES.—The Secretary shall make bulk 23 sales of the coins issued under this Act at a reasonable 24 discount. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:28 Sep 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4332.IH H4332 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 4332 IH (c) PREPAID ORDERS.— 1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall accept 2 prepaid orders for the coins minted under this Act 3 before the issuance of such coins. 4 (2) DISCOUNT.—Sale prices with respect to pre- 5 paid orders under paragraph (1) shall be at a rea- 6 sonable discount. 7 SEC. 7. SURCHARGES. 8 (a) IN GENERAL.—All sales of coins minted under 9 this Act shall include a surcharge as follows: 10 (1) A surcharge of $35 per coin for the $5 coin. 11 (2) A surcharge of $10 per coin for the $1 coin. 12 (3) A surcharge of $5 per coin for the half-dol- 13 lar coin. 14 (b) DISTRIBUTION.—Subject to section 5134(f) of 15 title 31, United States Code, all surcharges received by 16 the Secretary from the sale of coins issued under this Act 17 shall be promptly paid by the Secretary to the Federation. 18 (c) EXEMPTION TO COMMEMORATIVE COIN PRO- 19 GRAM LIMITATIONS.—This Act shall— 20 (1) not be subject to section 5112(m)(1) of title 21 31, United States Code; and 22 (2) not be a ‘‘commemorative coin program’’ for 23 purposes of such section. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:28 Sep 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4332.IH H4332 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •HR 4332 IH (d) AUDIT.—The recipient described under sub- 1 section (b) shall be subject to the audit requirements of 2 section 5134(f)(2) of title 31, United States Code, with 3 regard to the amounts received under subsection (b). 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 will not result in any net cost to the United States 9 Government; and 10 (2) no funds, including applicable surcharges, 11 are disbursed to the recipient designated in section 12 7 until the total cost of designing and issuing all of 13 the coins authorized by this Act (including labor, 14 materials, dies, use of machinery, overhead expenses, 15 marketing, and shipping) is recovered by the United 16 States Treasury, consistent with sections 5112(m) 17 and 5134(f) of title 31, United States Code. 18 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:28 Sep 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4332.IH H4332 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS