Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding me this time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak in favor of the American 5-Cent Coin Design Continuity Act which is almost identical to H.R. 4903 that passed the House unanimously on July 22, 2002. This legislation will allow the U.S. Mint to remove Monticello from the nickel for the next 3 years to recognize the Louisiana Purchase and historic Lewis and Clark expedition, two great accomplishments of Jefferson's Presidency. After 3 years Monticello, the Virginia home of President Thomas Jefferson, will be returned to the reverse side of the nickel. Additionally, the bill would establish a Citizens Coin Design Advisory Committee that reports directly to the Secretary of the Treasury. The purpose of the committee would be to advise the Secretary on the design or redesign of coins and medals, providing a broad range of input from professional and citizen representatives. I believe that the Treasury Secretary needs a second independent opinion on proposals to redesign circulating coinage and on other mint products, and this committee will provide that opinion.

Finally, Mr. Speaker, this bill will clarify congressional intent regarding the disbursement of surcharges raised through the sale of Mint-produced commemorative coins. Mr. Speaker, this bill represents the bipartisan work of the entire Virginia delegation. I want to thank them because it will result in honoring the courageous Lewis and Clark expedition and its benefactor, Thomas Jefferson. I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 258 today.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak in favor of the American 5-Cent Coin Design Continuity Act (H.R. 258), which is almost identical to H.R. 4903 that passed the House unanimously on July 22, 2002.

This legislation will allow the U.S. Mint to remove Monticello from the nickel for the next 3 years to recognize the Louisiana purchase and historic Lewis and Clark expedition, two great accomplishments of Jefferson's presidency. After 3 years Monticello, the Virginia home of Thomas Jefferson, will be returned to the reverse side of the nickel.

Additionally, H.R. 258 would establish a Citizens Coin Design Advisory Committee that reports directly to the Secretary of the Treasury. The purpose of the committee would be to advise the Secretary on the design or redesign of coins and medals, providing a broad range of input from professional and citizen representatives. I believe the Treasury Secretary needs a second, independent, opinion on proposals to redesign circulating coinage, and on other Mint products and this committee will provide that opinion.

Finally, H.R. 258 will clarify Congressional intent regarding the disbursement of surcharges raised through the sale of Mint-produced commemorative coins.

This correction will allow the University of Virginia and several other organizations access to funds from pre-existing commemorative coins at no cost to the American taxpayer.

I originally introduced this legislation after representatives from the mint came to my office last summer and informed me that the image of Thomas Jefferson's Monticello would be removed from the reverse of the nickel and would be replaced by a questionable image to recognize the 200th anniversary of the Lewis and Clark expedition. Although I fully support celebrating the great achievements of the Corps of Discovery, I was surprised by the way the Mint made its decision on this issue.

The Treasury Department has the authority to change the nickel once every 25 years, and this new design was presented as the replacement for Monticello. I learned from the Mint representatives that this new design was chosen internally without input from the American people or Congress. Even more disturbing, I also learned the Mint planned to announce its redesign shortly after our meeting.

I was concerned about the Mint's plan because Jefferson's beloved Monticello represents so much to the people of the Commonwealth of Virginia and to all Americans,

But, I also feared that the new design being proposed was reminiscent of the Sacagawea experience that has been extremely unpopular with the American public.

Monticello is the autobiographical masterpiece of Thomas Jefferson or as he called it, his ``essay in architecture'' and is recognized as an international treasure. It is the only home in America on the World Heritage List of sites that must be protected at all costs. At his beloved Monticello, Jefferson assumed his place in history as one of the greatest public servants of all time, shaping, debating, and honing his beliefs in liberty, democracy, and equality for all.

H.R. 258 authorized the Mint to implement a four-year plan that will change the design on the reverse side of the nickel for 2003, 2004, and 2005 in order to recognize the 200th anniversary of the Louisiana Purchase and the Lewis and Clark expedition. In 2006, Monticello will return to the reverse of the nickel and this coin will become the new circulating 5 cent piece.

Additionally, so that we don't experience another Sacagwea type failure, my bill provides a mechanism to ensure public input is considered during the redesign of our coinage.

The bill creates an independent Coin Design Advisory Committee which will make recommendations to the Secretary of the Treasury as to the appropriate designs for the Lewis and Clark series and all future coin redesigns.

I emphasize the word independent. Mr. Speaker, this panel is not intended to merely ratify proposals, but is intended to be able to speak with its own voice.

It will review all designs or redesigns of circulating and commemorative coins and of Congressional Gold Medals ideas that the Mint puts forward. This committee will be made up of a coin collector, an internationally recognized coin museum curator, an expert in American history, and either a sculptor or a medallic artist--all appointed by the Treasury Secretary--as well as four persons named by the leadership in the House and Senate. It will be able to provide the Secretary with a broad range of expertise and input to ensure that any redesign of circulating coinage, as well as the designs for commemorative coins and Congressional Gold Medals, be artistically appropriate and consistent with broad American themes and values.

Finally, Mr. Speaker, unlike a predecessor design review panel that reported to the Mint and considered only commemorative coin designs, this panel will meet in public.

Additionally, Title II of my legislation clarifies language in the Commemorative Coin Reform Act of 1995 regarding the distribution of surcharge money raised by this sale of commemorative coins. That legislation specified that no surcharges were to be paid out until taxpayers had been repaid for the cost of the program, reforming a commemorative coins program that had cost taxpayers tens of millions of dollars in the past.

After taxpayer costs were recovered, it specified that beneficiary organizations enumerated in the enabling legislation can benefit from these surcharges.

H.R. 258 clarifies the intent of the specified disbursement procedure. Two programs have not received any surcharge disbursement despite having raised substantial private funds: the Black Revolutionary War Patriots coin program and the Leif Ericson coin program.

The University of Virginia will benefit from this change and be able to fund a student exchange program with Iceland, that will help foster Jeffersonian ideals between these two long standing democracies.

Mr. Speaker, this bill represents the bipartisan work of the entire Virginia delegation and will result in honoring the courageous Lewis and Clark expedition and its benefactor, Thomas Jefferson. I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 258 today.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of this important resolution, H. Con. Res. 40, permitting the use of the United States Capitol rotunda to observe, Yom Hashoah, the Day of Remembrance for Victims of the Holocaust.

Madam Speaker, seventy years ago a tyrant as evil as any known in the history of man, rose to power preaching an agenda of hate and racial superiority. His shadow caused darkness to fall upon the earth. He slew the innocent and pure, men and women and children, with vapors of poison and burned them with fire. And when the light of freedom shined again, tens of millions lay dead, cities and nations lay in ruin and a world stood awe struck at the horrors that had occurred.

Sadly today, even in our time, we face again totalitarian regimes led by maniacal dictators who threaten the peace and stability of the world. The rotunda of the United States Capitol represents the seat of free and open discourse, the foundation of our democracy, and is an anathema to those tyrannical leaders and their regimes.

We in the United States, the birthplace of Thomas Jefferson and Martin Luther King, enjoy a great deal of freedom. We must not take these freedoms for granted. We must not forget that genocide and human rights abuses continue to occur around the world. We must not remain silent when such atrocities occur, and we must dedicate ourselves to continue to educate people around the globe about the horrors of the Holocaust. We must be forever mindful of the danger of such intolerance and ensure that it never happens again.

Madam Speaker, that is why there can be no place more fitting than the rotunda of our Capitol, where freedom shines, to remember those innocent who suffered from a tyrant past, and to speak to the hope of those oppressed people who suffer from the tyrants of today.

Mr. Speaker, our Nation mourns the loss of the seven astronauts of Shuttle Columbia. We honor the lives of some of our finest men and women from America's space program and their desire and sacrifice to make this world a better place.

We in Virginia take a moment to remember one of those astronauts, Captain David M. Brown, Mission Specialist aboard Shuttle Columbia. I extend special condolences to the family of Capt. Brown, son of Dorothy and Paul Brown of Massies Corner, from the Seventh District of Virginia. Capt. Brown was a graduate of the College of William and Mary and also graduated from Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk, VA. Virginians will long remember and honor the accomplishments and the life of Captain David Brown.

We recognize the crew of Shuttle Columbia's courage and devotion to the expansion not only of our Nation's scientific knowledge, but our national security as well. Although this tragedy strikes a terrible blow, it is important to remember the words of our fellow Virginian, Capt. David Brown: ``This program must go on.''

I would like to express my deepest sympathy to the grieving families. My prayers are with the entire Shuttle Columbia crew's families and loved ones during this tragic time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to support H. Res. 61, and I thank the gentlewoman from Florida and the gentleman from California for their work in bringing this resolution to the floor.

On January 28, citizens in Israel exercised their right to vote in a free, transparent and democratic election. In Israel, like the United States, the right of citizens to vote is not denied or abridged on account of race, color, creed, sex or religion. Unfortunately, commitment to democracy and equal rights is a rarity in the Middle East. Israel's neighbors, like Syria, Iran, Iraq and others, do not share our respect for freedom. Behaviors that we consider basic rights, like free speech, fair trials, freedom of the press and freedom of religion are nonexistent. The concepts of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are often demonized in some countries as sinful products of the Great Satan culture of the West.

That is, Mr. Speaker, why I stand here today and congratulate our only democratic ally in the Middle East, Israel, a country that stands with the United States on the key principles of human rights, freedom, peace and democracy, a country like no other in its region.

Mr. Speaker, like the United States, Israel is currently fighting a war on terrorism against people dedicated to hate and destruction, people dedicated to ending freedom and democracy, and dedicated to suppressing the basic rights of life and liberty.

It is incomprehensible, but these armies of evil believe that they can destroy, maim, and kill innocent people in the name of God. For the past 22\1/2\ years, Israel has faced an unrelenting campaign of violence and terror against her citizens, a war that began just months after the region stood at the doorstep of peace waiting to enter and then the door was abruptly shut. Throughout all of this unrest, it is amazing that on January 28 just a few weeks ago, the Israeli people engaged in the most basic and important feature of democracy. They held free, open, and competitive elections, an act in stark contrast to their dictatorial enemies.

Mr. Speaker, we in the United States consider Israel a real friend, a true ally. We must maintain our commitment to Israel's security. We must stand steadfast with President Bush and hold the Palestinian Authority to the strict guidelines laid out during the President's June 24 Rose Garden speech. We know from past experience that imposing an artificial deadline will not result in peace in the Middle East. Peace will only come with security, not in spite of it. Israel has always made a sincere commitment to peace in the region. Many times her commitment to peace has come at the expense of innocent life. We need to make sure we stand with and support our only democratic ally in the region.

I join my colleagues today in congratulating Israel on free and democratic elections, and I welcome a continued dialogue on how to best stop the violence and bring about peace and stability in this vitally important region.