I
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 951
To require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint coins in commemoration
of the continual recognition of the Nation’s semiquincentennial by hon-
oring over 250 years of Americans’ service and sacrifice.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY4, 2025
Ms. M
ALLIOTAKIS(for herself, Mr. HILLof Arkansas, and Mrs. WATSON
C
OLEMAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Financial Services
A BILL
To require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint coins
in commemoration of the continual recognition of the
Nation’s semiquincentennial by honoring over 250 years
of Americans’ service and sacrifice.
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 ‘‘250 Years of Service 4
and Sacrifice Commemorative Coin Act’’. 5
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6
The Congress finds the following: 7
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(1) July 4, 1776, marks the historic date when 1
the unanimous Declaration of Independence was 2
adopted, establishing the thirteen United States of 3
America as a free and independent nation. 4
(2) July 4, 2026, will commemorate the 250th 5
anniversary of the Nation’s declaration of independ-6
ence. 7
(3) It is a long-standing tradition to honor sig-8
nificant milestones in American history through the 9
minting of commemorative coins. 10
(4) The Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foun-11
dation exemplifies the principles of service and sac-12
rifice that have defined the Nation for more than 13
250 years by providing financial support, housing 14
assistance, and educational opportunities to Gold 15
Star families, first responders, veterans, and their 16
families, honoring the bravery and dedication of 17
those who serve. 18
(5) First responders have played a vital role in 19
safeguarding American lives and communities since 20
the Nation’s founding, dating back to the first pub-21
licly funded, paid fire department established in 22
Boston in 1678. 23
(6) During the Civil War (1861–1865), first re-24
sponders, including battlefield medics and fire-25
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fighters, played critical roles in saving lives and miti-1
gating destruction, reinforcing their importance in 2
times of national crisis. 3
(7) Gold Star families, who have made the ulti-4
mate sacrifice in service to the Nation, have endured 5
profound loss while upholding the principles of free-6
dom and democracy. Their resilience and dedication 7
to honoring their fallen loved ones continue to in-8
spire and strengthen communities across America. 9
(8) First responders embody the ideals of ‘‘life, 10
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness’’ by safe-11
guarding lives and communities, representing a mod-12
ern continuation of the sacrifices made during the 13
fight for independence. 14
(9) The Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foun-15
dation’s mission ensures that the legacy of service 16
and sacrifice is preserved and that those who dedi-17
cate their lives to protecting others are never forgot-18
ten. 19
(10) The issuance of this commemorative coin 20
will raise awareness of the sacrifices made by Gold 21
Star families, first responders, veterans, and their 22
families, fostering a deeper understanding of their 23
role in upholding the freedoms envisioned in the 24
Declaration of Independence. 25
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(11) Congress has a long-standing tradition of 1
authorizing commemorative coins to celebrate the 2
Nation’s history and the contributions of its citizens 3
and organizations to preserving liberty and justice 4
for all. 5
(12) Proceeds from the surcharges on the sale 6
of these commemorative coins will directly benefit 7
the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation, 8
enabling the continuation of its impactful programs 9
that support Gold Star families, first responders, 10
veterans, and their families. 11
SEC. 3. COIN SPECIFICATIONS. 12
(a) D
ENOMINATIONS.—The Secretary of the Treas-13
ury (hereafter in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) 14
shall mint and issue the following coins in continual rec-15
ognition of the Nation’s semiquincentennial by honoring 16
over 250 years of Americans’ service and sacrifice: 17
(1) $5.00
GOLD COINS.—Not more than 18
100,000 $5.00 coins, which shall— 19
(A) weigh 8.359 grams; 20
(B) have a diameter of 0.850 inches; and 21
(C) contain at least 90 percent gold. 22
(2) $1
SILVER COINS.—Not more than 500,000 23
$1 coins, which shall— 24
(A) weigh 26.73 grams; 25
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(B) have a diameter of 1.500 inches; and 1
(C) contain not less than 90 percent silver. 2
(3) H
ALF-DOLLAR CLAD COINS .—Not more 3
than 750,000 half dollar coins, which shall— 4
(A) weigh 11.34 grams; 5
(B) have a diameter of 1.205 inches; and 6
(C) be minted to the specifications for half- 7
dollar coins, contained in section 5112(b) of 8
title 31, United States Code. 9
(b) L
EGALTENDER.—The coins minted under this 10
Act shall be legal tender, as provided in section 5103 of 11
title 31, United States Code. 12
(c) N
UMISMATICITEMS.—For purposes of sections 13
5134 and 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all coins 14
minted under this Act shall be considered to be numis-15
matic items. 16
(d) M
INTAGELIMITEXCEPTION.—If the Secretary 17
determines, based on independent, market based research 18
conducted by the designated recipient organization identi-19
fied in section 7(b) that the mintage levels described under 20
this subsection are not adequate to meet public demand, 21
the Secretary may increase the mintage levels as the Sec-22
retary determines is necessary to meet public demand. 23
SEC. 4. DESIGNS OF COINS. 24
(a) D
ESIGNREQUIREMENTS.— 25
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(1) IN GENERAL.—The designs of the coins 1
minted under this Act shall be emblematic of over 2
250 years of American’s service and sacrifice. 3
(2) D
ESIGNATION AND INSCRIPTIONS .—On 4
each coin minted under this Act, there shall be— 5
(A) a designation of the value of the coin; 6
(B) an inscription of the year ‘‘2028’’; and 7
(C) inscriptions of the words ‘‘Liberty’’, 8
‘‘In God We Trust’’, ‘‘United States of Amer-9
ica’’, and ‘‘E Pluribus Unum’’. 10
(b) S
ELECTION.—The designs for the coins minted 11
under this Act shall be— 12
(1) selected by the Secretary, after consultation 13
with the Stephen Siller-Tunnel to Towers Founda-14
tion and the Commission of Fine Arts; and 15
(2) reviewed by the Citizens Coinage Advisory 16
Committee. 17
SEC. 5. ISSUANCE OF COINS. 18
(a) Q
UALITY OFCOINS.—Coins minted under this 19
Act shall be issued in uncirculated and proof qualities. 20
(b) P
ERIOD FORISSUANCE.—The Secretary may 21
issue coins under this Act only during the period begin-22
ning on January 1, 2028, and ending on December 31, 23
2028. 24
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SEC. 6. SALE OF COINS. 1
(a) S
ALEPRICE.—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) B
ULKSALES.—The Secretary shall make bulk 11
sales of the coins issued under this Act at a reasonable 12
discount. 13
(c) P
REPAIDORDERS.— 14
(1) I
N GENERAL.—The Secretary shall accept 15
prepaid orders for the coins minted under this Act 16
before the issuance of such coins. 17
(2) D
ISCOUNT.—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) I
NGENERAL.—All sales of coins issued under this 22
Act shall include a surcharge as follows: 23
(1) A surcharge of $35 per coin for the gold 24
coins. 25
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(2) A surcharge of $10 per coin for the silver 1
coins. 2
(3) A surcharge of $5 per coin for the half-dol-3
lar coins. 4
(b) D
ISTRIBUTION.—All surcharges received by the 5
Secretary from the sale of coins issued under this Act shall 6
be allocated to the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foun-7
dation to support programs that provide mortgage-free 8
homes to Gold Star families, the families of first respond-9
ers killed in the line of duty, scholarships for their chil-10
dren, resources for disaster response teams, and memorial 11
projects honoring their service and sacrifice. These efforts 12
serve as a living tribute to the enduring legacy of those 13
who have safeguarded and advanced the ideals of the Dec-14
laration of Independence from its signing to the present 15
day. 16
(c) A
UDITS.—The Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers 17
Foundation shall be subject to the audit requirements of 18
section 5134(f)(2) of title 31, United States Code, with 19
regard to the amounts received under subsection (b). 20
(d) L
IMITATION.—Notwithstanding subsection (a), 21
no surcharge may be included with respect to the issuance 22
under this Act of any coin during a calendar year if, as 23
of the time of such issuance, the issuance of such coin 24
would result in the number of commemorative coin pro-25
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grams issued during such year to exceed the annual 2 1
commemorative coin program issuance limitation under 2
section 5112(m)(1) of title 31, United States Code. The 3
Secretary of the Treasury may issue guidance to carry out 4
this subsection. 5
SEC. 8. FINANCIAL ASSURANCES. 6
The Secretary shall take such actions as may be nec-7
essary to ensure that— 8
(1) minting and issuing coins under this Act 9
will not result in any net cost to the United States 10
Government; and 11
(2) no funds, including applicable surcharges, 12
shall be disbursed to any recipient designated in sec-13
tion 7(b) until the total cost of designing and issuing 14
all of the coins authorized by this Act (including 15
labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, overhead ex-16
penses, marketing, and shipping) is recovered by the 17
United States Treasury, consistent with sections 18
5112(m) and 5134(f) of title 31, United States 19
Code. 20
Æ
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