Harriet Tubman Bicentennial Commemorative Coin Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 5873 To require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint commemorative coins in recognition of the Bicentennial of Harriet Tubman’s birth. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 12, 2020 Mr. MEEKS (for himself and Mr. KATKO) 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 the Bicentennial of Harriet Tubman’s birth. 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 ‘‘Harriet Tubman Bi- 4 centennial Commemorative Coin Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 (1) Harriet Tubman was an abolitionist who 8 guided over 300 people from slavery to freedom in 9 10 years. 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:47 Feb 19, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5873.IH H5873 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 5873 IH (2) Born on January 29, 1820, Tubman was a 1 notable abolitionist who not only freed herself, but 2 also freed others from slavery. 3 (3) Harriet Ross Tubman, born Araminta 4 ‘‘Minty’’ Ross, was born a slave in the plantation of 5 Edward Brodess in Dorchester County, Maryland. 6 (4) With the Underground Railroad System, in 7 the fall of 1849, Tubman escaped from the Poplar 8 Neck Plantation, heading north to Pennsylvania. 9 (5) With the passing of the Fugitive Slave Law 10 as part of the Compromise of 1850, the operations 11 to help enslaved persons escape became a threat to 12 her life. 13 (6) Despite the passing of the Compromise of 14 1850 and the Fugitive Slave Law, Tubman was not 15 deterred and continued her work, rerouting the rail- 16 road to Canada instead. 17 (7) Tubman made 13 trips back to Maryland, 18 guiding 300 enslaved persons to freedom in the 19 process. 20 (8) During the arduous process of helping fugi- 21 tive enslaved persons escape through the Under- 22 ground Railroad System not a single person suc- 23 cumbed to death under her supervision. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:47 Feb 19, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5873.IH H5873 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 5873 IH (9) Tubman led an estimated 50 to 60 enslaved 1 persons towards Canada. 2 (10) During the year of 1858, Tubman aided 3 John Brown, by recruiting supporters for the John 4 Brown’s Harper’s Ferry Raid, a plan to attack 5 slaveholders in Virginia and Maryland to help 6 enslaved persons flee and become freedmen. 7 (11) In the beginning of the Civil War, Tubman 8 served as a cook and as a nurse in South Carolina 9 and Florida. 10 (12) Tubman also recruited African-American 11 soldiers to join the regiment of African-American 12 Soldiers. 13 (13) Later in recognition for her abilities, Tub- 14 man served as an army scout and spy for Colonel 15 James Montgomery. 16 (14) Tubman distinguished herself as the first 17 woman to lead an armed expedition in the Civil War, 18 the Combahee River Raid, resulting in more than 19 700 enslaved persons in South Carolina being freed. 20 (15) After the Civil War, Tubman frequently 21 sheltered and fed freed slaves at her home in South 22 Street even though she had little money herself. She 23 found a means to an end by selling produce from her 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:47 Feb 19, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5873.IH H5873 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 5873 IH garden, taking in donations of food, loans from 1 friends, and raising pigs in her backyard. 2 (16) In her retirement, Tubman became active 3 in the women’s suffrage movement, where she at- 4 tended meetings and gave speeches in her home 5 State of New York, as well as in Boston and Wash- 6 ington, DC. 7 (17) Tubman was an avid advocate for African- 8 American women and their rights. In 1896, she was 9 invited as a speaker at the first meeting of the Na- 10 tional Association of Colored Women. 11 (18) Although living in financial insecurity, 12 Tubman gave a parcel of her land to the African 13 Methodist Episcopal Church, which eventually be- 14 came a home for the aged and indigent colored peo- 15 ple. At the time few social services existed for the 16 elderly. 17 (19) Escaping slavery; risking everything to 18 save her family; aiding enslaved persons escape; 19 leading a military raid; championing the cause of 20 women’s suffrage; Harriet Tubman is an individual 21 that has performed achievements that has had pro- 22 found impacts on American history and culture. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:01 Feb 19, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5873.IH H5873 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 5873 IH SEC. 3. COIN SPECIFICATIONS. 1 (a) DENOMINATIONS.—In commemoration of Harriet 2 Tubman, the Secretary of the Treasury (hereafter referred 3 to in this Act as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall mint and issue 4 the following coins: 5 (1) $5 GOLD COINS.—Not more than 50,000 $5 6 coins, which shall— 7 (A) weigh 8.359 grams; 8 (B) be struck on a planchet having a di- 9 ameter of 0.850 inches; and 10 (C) contain at least 90 percent gold. 11 (2) $1 SILVER COINS.—Not more than 400,000 12 $1 coins, which shall— 13 (A) weigh 26.73 grams; 14 (B) be struck on a planchet having a di- 15 ameter of 1.500 inches; and 16 (C) contain at least 90 percent silver. 17 (3) HALF-DOLLAR CLAD COINS.—Not more 18 than 750,000 half-dollar coins which shall— 19 (A) weigh 11.34 grams; 20 (B) have a diameter of 1.205 inches; and 21 (C) be minted to the specifications for half- 22 dollar coins contained in section 5112(b) of title 23 31, United States Code. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:47 Feb 19, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5873.IH H5873 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 5873 IH (b) LEGAL TENDER.—The coins minted under this 1 Act shall be legal tender, as provided in section 5103 of 2 title 31, United States Code. 3 (c) NUMISMATIC ITEMS.—For purposes of sections 4 5134 and 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all coins 5 minted under this Act shall be considered to be numis- 6 matic items. 7 SEC. 4. DESIGN OF COINS. 8 (a) DESIGN REQUIREMENTS.— 9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The designs of the coins 10 minted under this Act shall be emblematic of the 11 legacy of Harriet Tubman as an abolitionist. At 12 least one obverse design shall bear the image of 13 Harriet Tubman. 14 (2) DESIGNATION AND INSCRIPTIONS.—On 15 each coin minted under this Act, there shall be— 16 (A) an inscription of Harriet Tubman; 17 (B) a designation of the value of the coin; 18 (C) an inscription of the year ‘‘2022’’; and 19 (D) inscriptions of the words ‘‘Liberty’’, 20 ‘‘In God We Trust’’, ‘‘United States of Amer- 21 ica’’, and ‘‘E Pluribus Unum’’. 22 (b) SELECTION.—The design for the coins minted 23 under this Act shall be— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:47 Feb 19, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5873.IH H5873 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 5873 IH (1) selected by the Secretary, after consultation 1 with Project Legacy (Brooklyn, NY) and the Com- 2 mission of the Fine Arts; and 3 (2) reviewed by the Citizens Coinage Advisory 4 Committee. 5 SEC. 5. ISSUANCE OF COINS. 6 (a) QUALITY OF COINS.—Coins minted under this 7 Act shall be issued in uncirculated and proof qualities. 8 (b) MINT FACILITY.—Only 1 facility of the United 9 States Mint may be used to strike any particular quality 10 of the coins minted under this Act. 11 (c) PERIOD FOR ISSUANCE.—The Secretary may 12 issue coins under this Act only during the period begin- 13 ning on January 1, 2022, and ending on December 31, 14 2022. 15 SEC. 6. SALE OF COINS. 16 (a) SALE PRICE.—The coins issued under this Act 17 shall be sold by the Secretary at a price equal to the sum 18 of— 19 (1) the face value of the coins; 20 (2) the surcharge provided under section 7(a) 21 with respect to the coins; and 22 (3) the cost of designing and issuing the coins 23 (including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, 24 overhead expenses, marketing, and shipping). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:47 Feb 19, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5873.IH H5873 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 5873 IH (b) BULK SALES.—The Secretary shall make bulk 1 sales of the coins issued under this Act at a reasonable 2 discount. 3 (c) PREPAID ORDERS.— 4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall accept 5 prepaid orders for the coins minted under this Act 6 before the issuance of the coins. 7 (2) DISCOUNT.—Sale prices with respect to pre- 8 paid orders under paragraph (1) shall be at a rea- 9 sonable discount. 10 SEC. 7. SURCHARGES. 11 (a) IN GENERAL.—All sales of coins issued under this 12 Act shall include— 13 (1) a surcharge of $35 per coin for the $5 14 coins; 15 (2) a surcharge of $10 per coin for the $1 16 coins; and 17 (3) a surcharge of $5 per coin for the half-dol- 18 lar coin. 19 (b) DISTRIBUTION.—Subject to section 5134(f) of 20 title 31, United States Code, all surcharges received by 21 the Secretary from the sale of coins issued under this Act 22 shall be promptly paid by the Secretary to Project Legacy 23 (Brooklyn, NY) for the purpose of accomplishing and ad- 24 vancing its mission. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:47 Feb 19, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5873.IH H5873 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 5873 IH (c) AUDITS.—Project Legacy (Brooklyn, NY) shall be 1 subject to the audit requirements of section 5134(f)(2) of 2 title 31, United States Code, with regard to the amounts 3 received under subsection (b). 4 (d) LIMITATION.—Notwithstanding subsection (a), 5 no surcharge may be included with respect to the issuance 6 under this Act of any coin during a calendar year if, as 7 of the time of such issuance, the issuance of such coin 8 would result in the number of commemorative coin pro- 9 grams issued during such year to exceed the annual 2 10 commemorative coin program issuance limitation under 11 section 5112(m)(1) of title 31, United States Code. The 12 Secretary of the Treasury may issue guidance to carry out 13 this subsection. 14 SEC. 8. FINANCIAL ASSURANCES. 15 The Secretary shall take such actions as may be nec- 16 essary to ensure that— 17 (1) minting and issuing coins under this Act 18 will not result in any net cost to the United States 19 Government; and 20 (2) no funds, including applicable surcharges, 21 are disbursed to any recipient designated in section 22 7 until the total cost of designing and issuing all of 23 the coins authorized by this Act (including labor, 24 materials, dies, use of machinery, winning design 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:47 Feb 19, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5873.IH H5873 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 5873 IH compensation, overhead expenses, marketing, and 1 shipping) is recovered by the United States Treas- 2 ury, consistent with sections 5112(m) and 5134(f) of 3 title 31, United States Code. 4 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:47 Feb 19, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H5873.IH H5873 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS