Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress House Bill HB1787 Compare Versions

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11 I
22 119THCONGRESS
33 1
44 STSESSION H. R. 1787
55 To require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint commemorative coins in
66 recognition of the life and legacy of Roberto Clemente.
77 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
88 MARCH3, 2025
99 Mr. E
1010 SPAILLAT(for himself and Mr. MEUSER) introduced the following bill;
1111 which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services
1212 A BILL
1313 To require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint commemo-
1414 rative coins in recognition of the life and legacy of Ro-
1515 berto Clemente.
1616 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
1717 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
1818 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
1919 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Roberto Clemente 4
2020 Commemorative Coin Act’’. 5
2121 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6
2222 The Congress finds the following: 7
2323 (1) Roberto Clemente Walker was born on Au-8
2424 gust 18, 1934, to Don Melchor Clemente and Luisa 9
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2828 Walker in Barrio San Anto´n, Carolina, Puerto Rico, 1
2929 as the youngest of 7 children. 2
3030 (2) Clemente excelled in athletics as a young-3
3131 ster and, at the age of 17, was playing for the 4
3232 Santurce Cangrejeros ‘‘Crabbers’’ of the Puerto 5
3333 Rican Baseball League. 6
3434 (3) In 1954, the Pittsburgh Pirates selected 7
3535 Clemente in the first round of the Major League 8
3636 Baseball Rule 5 draft. 9
3737 (4) Pirates center fielder Earl Smith wore jer-10
3838 sey number 21 until he parted ways with the team 11
3939 in April 1955, and Clemente wore number 13 until 12
4040 then. 13
4141 (5) In 1955, Clemente made his Major League 14
4242 debut as he went on to play for the Pittsburgh Pi-15
4343 rates, starting as a right fielder. 16
4444 (6) When the team traveled to Richmond, Vir-17
4545 ginia, for games or Florida for spring training, 18
4646 Clemente encountered Jim Crow laws for the first 19
4747 time when the Black players had to stay at a sepa-20
4848 rate, inferior hotel and were refused the option to 21
4949 dine with their White counterparts. 22
5050 (7) Clemente was known for being a proud 23
5151 Afro-Latino and protested the discrimination that 24
5252 Latin and Black ball players encountered. 25
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5656 (8) Clemente was known for defending the 1
5757 rights of Black and Brown people, both on the field 2
5858 and in the streets. 3
5959 (9) After the assassination of Martin Luther 4
6060 King, Jr., in 1968, Clemente and his teammates re-5
6161 fused to play until after the funerals and even wrote 6
6262 a public statement showing their respect for Dr. 7
6363 King. 8
6464 (10) Clemente became a union leader in the in-9
6565 cipient Major League Baseball Players Association 10
6666 and defended players’ rights to demand better work-11
6767 ing conditions and benefits. 12
6868 (11) In every city where the Pirates played, 13
6969 Clemente visited sick children in hospitals. 14
7070 (12) Clemente established training clinics, pro-15
7171 viding baseball lessons and fun for boys and girls in 16
7272 Pittsburgh, his home island of Puerto Rico, and 17
7373 throughout Latin America. 18
7474 (13) In 1958, Clemente enlisted in the United 19
7575 States Marine Corps Reserve after the 1958 season 20
7676 and spent 6 months on active duty at Parris Island, 21
7777 South Carolina, and Camp LeJeune, North Caro-22
7878 lina. 23
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8282 (14) Clemente served until 1964 and was in-1
8383 ducted into the Marine Corps Sports Hall of Fame 2
8484 in 2003. 3
8585 (15) By the end of his career, Clemente had 4
8686 joined the exclusive 3,000-hit club, was selected to 5
8787 15 All-Star teams, and won 12 Gold Gloves, 2 World 6
8888 Series, and a National League MVP award. 7
8989 (16) In Clemente’s 18 seasons with Pittsburgh 8
9090 he won 4 batting titles, hit 240 home runs, and 9
9191 posted a lifetime .317 batting average. 10
9292 (17) In late 1972, a 6.3 magnitude earthquake 11
9393 ravaged Managua, Nicaragua, and killed 5,000 peo-12
9494 ple. 13
9595 (18) In his philanthropic spirit, Clemente sent 14
9696 shipments of humanitarian aid to the country. 15
9797 (19) After learning that 3 previous shipments 16
9898 had been diverted by corrupt Somoza Government 17
9999 officials, Clemente decided to accompany one of the 18
100100 aid shipments. 19
101101 (20) The four-engine DC–7 plane Clemente 20
102102 chartered for a flight on New Year’s Eve crashed in 21
103103 the Atlantic Ocean immediately after takeoff from 22
104104 the coast of Isla Verde, Puerto Rico. 23
105105 (21) On December 31, 1972, Clemente died in 24
106106 the plane crash at the age of 38 years young. 25
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110110 (22) Since 1973, Major League Baseball gives 1
111111 out the Roberto Clemente Award to one player in 2
112112 the league who ‘‘best exemplifies the game of base-3
113113 ball, sportsmanship, community involvement and the 4
114114 individual’s contribution to his team’’. 5
115115 (23) In 2002, Major League Baseball declared 6
116116 the first annual Roberto Clemente Day. 7
117117 (24) In 2021, Major League Baseball an-8
118118 nounced September 15 would be the permanent date 9
119119 of Roberto Clemente Day to coincide with the begin-10
120120 ning of Hispanic Heritage month. 11
121121 (25) Clemente was the first Latino player to ac-12
122122 complish many feats in Major League Baseball. 13
123123 (26) Clemente was the first Puerto Rican, and 14
124124 first person of Latino heritage, to win a World Se-15
125125 ries as a starter, be named league MVP, be named 16
126126 World Series MVP, and be elected to the Hall of 17
127127 Fame. 18
128128 (27) Clemente was posthumously elected to the 19
129129 National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1973, being the 20
130130 first National League baseball player to receive the 21
131131 mandatory 5-year waiting period waiver. 22
132132 (28) Clemente was a legend in life and death, 23
133133 a baseball star, a humanitarian activist, and a sym-24
134134 bol of Latin American pride; 25
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138138 SEC. 3. COIN SPECIFICATIONS. 1
139139 (a) D
140140 ENOMINATIONS.—The Secretary of the Treas-2
141141 ury (hereafter in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) 3
142142 shall mint and issue the following coin: 4
143143 (1) $5
144144 GOLD COINS.—Not more than 50,000 $5 5
145145 coins, which shall— 6
146146 (A) weigh 8.359 grams; 7
147147 (B) have a diameter of 0.850 inches; and 8
148148 (C) contain not less than 90 percent gold. 9
149149 (2) $1
150150 SILVER COINS.—Not more than 400,000 10
151151 $1 coins, which shall— 11
152152 (A) weigh 26.73 grams; 12
153153 (B) have a diameter of 1.500 inches; and 13
154154 (C) contain not less than 90 percent silver. 14
155155 (3) H
156156 ALF-DOLLAR CLAD COINS .—Not more 15
157157 than 750,000 half-dollar coins which shall— 16
158158 (A) weigh 11.34 grams; 17
159159 (B) have a diameter of 1.205 inches; and 18
160160 (C) be minted to the specifications for half- 19
161161 dollar coins contained in section 5112(b) of title 20
162162 31, United States Code. 21
163163 (b) L
164164 EGALTENDER.—The coins minted under this 22
165165 Act shall be legal tender, as provided in section 5103 of 23
166166 title 31, United States Code. 24
167167 (c) N
168168 UMISMATICITEMS.—For purposes of sections 25
169169 5134 and 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all coins 26
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173173 minted under this Act shall be considered to be numis-1
174174 matic items. 2
175175 SEC. 4. DESIGN OF COINS. 3
176176 (a) D
177177 ESIGNREQUIREMENTS.— 4
178178 (1) I
179179 N GENERAL.—The designs of the coins 5
180180 minted under this Act shall be emblematic of the life 6
181181 of Roberto Clemente including his human rights ac-7
182182 tivism and baseball stardom legacy. At least one ob-8
183183 verse design shall bear the image of Roberto 9
184184 Clemente. 10
185185 (2) D
186186 ESIGNATION AND INSCRIPTIONS .—On 11
187187 each coin minted under this Act, there shall be— 12
188188 (A) an inscription of Roberto Clemente; 13
189189 (B) a designation of the denomination of 14
190190 the coin; 15
191191 (C) an inscription of the year ‘‘2027’’; and 16
192192 (D) inscriptions of the words ‘‘Liberty’’, 17
193193 ‘‘In God We Trust’’, ‘‘United States of Amer-18
194194 ica’’, and ‘‘E Pluribus Unum’’. 19
195195 (b) S
196196 ELECTION.—The designs for the coins minted 20
197197 under this Act shall be— 21
198198 (1) selected by the Secretary after consultation 22
199199 with the Roberto Clemente Foundation, Roberto 23
200200 Clemente’s living family members, and the Commis-24
201201 sion of the Fine Arts; and 25
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205205 (2) reviewed by the Citizens Coinage Advisory 1
206206 Committee. 2
207207 SEC. 5. ISSUANCE OF COINS. 3
208208 (a) Q
209209 UALITY OFCOINS.—Coins minted under this 4
210210 Act shall be issued in uncirculated and proof qualities. 5
211211 (b) P
212212 ERIOD FORISSUANCE.—The Secretary may 6
213213 issue coins under this Act only during the calendar year 7
214214 beginning on January 1, 2027. 8
215215 SEC. 6. SALE OF COINS. 9
216216 (a) S
217217 ALEPRICE.—The coins issued under this Act 10
218218 shall be sold by the Secretary at a price equal to the sum 11
219219 of— 12
220220 (1) the face value of the coins; 13
221221 (2) the surcharge provided in section 7(a) with 14
222222 respect to such coins; and 15
223223 (3) the cost of designing and issuing the coins 16
224224 (including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, 17
225225 overhead expenses, marketing, and shipping). 18
226226 (b) B
227227 ULKSALES.—The Secretary shall make bulk 19
228228 sales of the coins issued under this Act at a reasonable 20
229229 discount. 21
230230 (c) P
231231 REPAIDORDERS.— 22
232232 (1) I
233233 N GENERAL.—The Secretary shall accept 23
234234 prepaid orders for the coins minted under this Act 24
235235 before the issuance of such coins. 25
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239239 (2) DISCOUNT.—Sale prices with respect to pre-1
240240 paid orders under paragraph (1) shall be at a rea-2
241241 sonable discount. 3
242242 SEC. 7. SURCHARGES. 4
243243 (a) I
244244 NGENERAL.—All sales of coins issued under this 5
245245 Act shall include a surcharge of— 6
246246 (1) $35 per coin for the $5 coin; 7
247247 (2) $10 per coin for the $1 coin; and 8
248248 (3) $5 per coin for the half-dollar coin. 9
249249 (b) D
250250 ISTRIBUTION.—Subject to section 5134(f) of 10
251251 title 31, United States Code, all surcharges received by 11
252252 the Secretary from the sale of coins issued under this Act 12
253253 shall be paid to the Roberto Clemente Foundation for ap-13
254254 plication to general expenses associated with the fulfill-14
255255 ment of the mission of the Roberto Clemente Foundation 15
256256 including for costs associated with educational, youth 16
257257 sports, and disaster relief historic preservation— 17
258258 (c) A
259259 UDITS.—The Roberto Clemente Foundation, 18
260260 shall be subject to the audit requirements of section 19
261261 5134(f)(2) of title 31, United States Code, with regard 20
262262 to the amounts received under subsection (b). 21
263263 (d) L
264264 IMITATION.—Notwithstanding subsection (a), 22
265265 no surcharge may be included with respect to the issuance 23
266266 under this Act of any coin during a calendar year if, as 24
267267 of the time of such issuance, the issuance of such coin 25
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271271 would result in the number of commemorative coin pro-1
272272 grams issued during such year to exceed the annual 2 2
273273 commemorative coin program issuance limitation under 3
274274 section 5112(m)(1) of title 31, United States Code (as in 4
275275 effect on the date of the enactment of this Act). The Sec-5
276276 retary may issue guidance to carry out this subsection. 6
277277 SEC. 8. FINANCIAL ASSURANCES. 7
278278 The Secretary shall take such actions as may be nec-8
279279 essary to ensure that— 9
280280 (1) minting and issuing coins under this Act 10
281281 will not result in any net cost to the United States 11
282282 Government; and 12
283283 (2) no funds, including applicable surcharges, 13
284284 shall be disbursed to any recipient designated in sec-14
285285 tion 7 until the total cost of designing and issuing 15
286286 all of the coins authorized by this Act (including 16
287287 labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, overhead ex-17
288288 penses, marketing, and shipping) is recovered by the 18
289289 United States Treasury, consistent with sections 19
290290 5112(m) and 5134(f) of title 31, United States 20
291291 Code. 21
292292 Æ
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