[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2641 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
108th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 2641
To recognize conservation efforts to restore the American bison from
extinction by placing the image of the American bison on the nickel,
and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 13, 2004
Mr. Enzi (for himself and Mr. Campbell) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing,
and Urban Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To recognize conservation efforts to restore the American bison from
extinction by placing the image of the American bison on the nickel,
and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Bison Nickel Restoration Act of
2004''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds that--
(1) the American bison is one of the most enduring symbols
of the expedition of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark;
(2) Native Americans in the Great Plains States have held
the American bison as one of the most sacred animals, as it
represents a spiritual being supplying everything necessary to
survive;
(3) the American bison continues to be a symbol of Western
States and the growth of the United States westward in the 19th
century;
(4) the population of the American bison herd has been
restored from near extinction levels due to exceptional
conservation efforts;
(5) the American bison herd, which once numbered
approximately 60,000,000 fell below 100 for free-range bison in
the early 1900s;
(6) at the time, only 21 American bison were living in
Yellowstone National Park, and 8 in the National Zoo in
Washington, DC;
(7) the conservation efforts to restore the American bison
officially began with the efforts of President Theodore
Roosevelt with the American Bison Society in 1905, the first
United States conservation effort to restore a single species
from extinction;
(8) the centennial of the signing into law by President
Roosevelt of the creation of the National Bison Range in
Montana will take place on May 23, 2008; and
(9) in 2004, the bison herd in North America is anticipated
to surpass 500,000, and the American Bison has been restored
and has become a viable commercial ranching enterprise for many
small- and medium-sized ranchers.
SEC. 3. BISON COIN AUTHORITY EXTENSION.
Section 101 of the American 5-Cent Coin Design Continuity Act of
2003 (31 U.S.C. note) is amended--
(1) by striking ``and 2005'' each place that term appears,
other than in subsection (b)(2), and inserting ``, 2005, and
2006''; and
(2) in subsection (b)(2), by adding at the end the
following: ``If the Secretary of the Treasury elects to change
the reverse of the 5-cent coins issued during 2006, one of the
designs selected shall depict the image of an American bison as
part of such emblematic images.''.
SEC. 4. EXTENSION OF THE AMERICAN 5-CENT COIN DESIGN CONTINUITY ACT OF
2003.
Section 5112(d)(1) of title 31, United States Code, is amended in
the 5th sentence, by striking ``December 31, 2005'' and inserting
``December 31, 2006''.
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