Coronavirus Front-Line Responders Commemorative Coin Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6923 To require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint coins in commemoration of the health care professionals, first responders, scientists, researchers, all essential workers, and individuals who provided care and services during the coronavirus pandemic. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 19, 2020 Mr. BERGMAN (for himself and Mr. NEGUSE) introduced the following 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 health care professionals, first responders, scientists, researchers, all essential workers, and individuals who provided care and services during the coronavirus pandemic. 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 ‘‘Coronavirus Front- 4 Line Responders Commemorative Coin Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSE. 6 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Jun 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6923.IH H6923 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 6923 IH (1) Health care professionals working with pa- 1 tients in person and via telehealth made incredible 2 sacrifices, including to their own personal wellbeing, 3 to save lives during the coronavirus pandemic. 4 (2) First responders and law enforcement 5 upheld their responsibilities at great personal risk to 6 keep our national and local communities safe and 7 slow the spread of the coronavirus. 8 (3) Scientists and researchers, including at our 9 nation’s research universities, worked tirelessly and 10 in innovative ways to understand, prevent, and treat 11 the coronavirus. 12 (4) Individuals and families bravely took on 13 new burdens to care for loved ones impacted by the 14 coronavirus. 15 (5) The dedication of countless workers in es- 16 sential professions made possible the nationwide ef- 17 fort to combat the coronavirus pandemic. 18 (6) In the face of an unprecedented public 19 health crisis, the citizens of the United States of 20 America came together and supported the dedicated 21 health care professionals and others on the front 22 lines of the coronavirus pandemic. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Jun 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6923.IH H6923 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 6923 IH (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to honor 1 and commemorate the work of the coronavirus pandemic 2 front-line responders. 3 SEC. 3. COIN SPECIFICATIONS. 4 (a) DENOMINATIONS.—The Secretary of the Treas- 5 ury (hereafter in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) 6 shall mint and issue the following coins: 7 (1) $5 GOLD COINS.—Not more than 50,000 $5 8 coins, which shall— 9 (A) weigh 8.359 grams; 10 (B) have a diameter of 0.850 inches; and 11 (C) contain 90 percent gold and 10 percent 12 alloy. 13 (2) $1 SILVER COINS.—Not more than 400,000 14 $1 coins, which shall— 15 (A) weigh 26.73 grams; 16 (B) have a diameter of 1.500 inches; and 17 (C) contain at least 90 percent silver. 18 (3) HALF DOLLAR CLAD COINS.—Not more 19 than 300,000 half dollar coins, which shall— 20 (A) weigh 11.34 grams; 21 (B) have a diameter of 1.205 inches; and 22 (C) be minted to the specifications for half 23 dollar coins, contained in section 5112(b) of 24 title 31, United States Code. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Jun 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6923.IH H6923 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 6923 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 (d) MINTAGE LIMIT EXCEPTION.—If the Secretary 8 determines, based on independent market-based research 9 conducted by the designated recipient organization identi- 10 fied in section 7(b), that the mintage levels described in 11 subsections (a), (b), and (c) are not adequate to meet pub- 12 lic demand, the Secretary may increase the mintage levels 13 as the Secretary determines is necessary to meet public 14 demand. 15 SEC. 4. DESIGNS OF COINS. 16 (a) DESIGN REQUIREMENTS.— 17 (1) IN GENERAL.—The designs of the coins 18 minted under this Act shall be emblematic of the 19 sacrifices made by health care workers and first re- 20 sponders during the coronavirus pandemic. 21 (2) DESIGNATIONS AND INSCRIPTIONS.—On 22 each coin minted under this Act, there shall be— 23 (A) a designation of the value of the coin; 24 (B) an inscription of the year ‘‘2022’’; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Jun 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6923.IH H6923 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 6923 IH (C) inscriptions of the words ‘‘Liberty’’, 1 ‘‘In God We Trust’’, ‘‘United States of Amer- 2 ica’’, and ‘‘E Pluribus Unum’’. 3 (b) SELECTION.—The designs for the coins minted 4 under this Act shall— 5 (1) honor the sacrifices made by health care 6 professionals, first responders, scientists, and re- 7 searchers during the coronavirus pandemic; 8 (2) be selected by the Secretary, after consulta- 9 tion with the Secretary of Health and Human Serv- 10 ices and the Commission of Fine Arts; and 11 (3) be reviewed by the Citizens Coinage Advi- 12 sory Committee. 13 SEC. 5. ISSUANCE OF COINS. 14 (a) QUALITY OF COINS.—Coins minted under this 15 Act shall be issued in uncirculated and proof qualities. 16 (b) MINT FACILITIES.—Only one facility of the 17 United States Mint may be used to strike any particular 18 quality of the coins minted under this Act. 19 (c) PERIOD FOR ISSUANCE.—The Secretary may 20 issue coins minted under this Act only during the 1-year 21 period beginning on January 1, 2022. 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Jun 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6923.IH H6923 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 6923 IH SEC. 6. SALE OF COINS. 1 (a) SALE PRICE.—The coins issued under this Act 2 shall be sold by the Secretary at a price equal to the sum 3 of— 4 (1) the face value of the coins; 5 (2) the surcharge provided in section 7(a) with 6 respect to such coins; and 7 (3) the cost of designing and issuing the coins 8 (including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, 9 overhead expenses, marketing, and shipping). 10 (b) BULK SALES.—The Secretary shall make bulk 11 sales of the coins issued under this Act at a reasonable 12 discount. 13 (c) PREPAID ORDERS.— 14 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall accept 15 prepaid orders for the coins minted under this Act 16 before the issuance of such coins. 17 (2) DISCOUNT.—Sale prices with respect to pre- 18 paid orders under paragraph (1) shall be at a rea- 19 sonable discount. 20 SEC. 7. SURCHARGES. 21 (a) IN GENERAL.—All sales of coins minted under 22 this Act shall include a surcharge as follows: 23 (1) A surcharge of $35 per coin for the $5 coin. 24 (2) A surcharge of $10 per coin for the $1 coin. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Jun 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6923.IH H6923 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 6923 IH (3) A surcharge of $5 per coin for the half dol- 1 lar coin. 2 (b) DISTRIBUTION.—Subject to section 5134(f) of 3 title 31, United States Code, all surcharges received by 4 the Secretary from the sale of coins issued under this Act 5 shall be promptly paid by the Secretary to the CDC Foun- 6 dation to support the health care response to infectious 7 diseases and pandemics. 8 (c) AUDITS.—The CDC Foundation shall be subject 9 to the audit requirements of section 5134(f)(2) of title 31, 10 United States Code, with regard to the amounts received 11 under subsection (b). 12 (d) LIMITATION.—Notwithstanding subsection (a), 13 no surcharge may be included with respect to the issuance 14 under this Act of any coin during a calendar year if, as 15 of the time of such issuance, the issuance of such coin 16 would result in the number of commemorative coin pro- 17 grams issued during such year to exceed the annual 2 18 commemorative coin program issuance limitation under 19 section 5112(m)(1) of title 31, United States Code. The 20 Secretary 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 23:10 Jun 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6923.IH H6923 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 6923 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 shall be disbursed to any recipient designated in sec- 5 tion 7 until the total cost of designing and issuing 6 all of the coins authorized by this Act (including 7 labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, overhead ex- 8 penses, marketing, and shipping) is recovered by the 9 United States Treasury, consistent with sections 10 5112(m) and 5134(f) of title 31, United States 11 Code. 12 SEC. 9. MARKETING AND EDUCATIONAL CAMPAIGN. 13 The Secretary is encouraged to develop and execute 14 a marketing and educational program, including appro- 15 priate cooperative marketing opportunities, to promote 16 and sell the coins authorized in section 3. 17 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Jun 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H6923.IH H6923 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS