Coin Metal Modification Authorization and Cost Savings Act of 2020
Floor Speech
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Mr. AMODEI. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleagues from Missouri and Ohio for their graciousness in granting me some time, and also my colleagues from Tennessee for their comments.
In short, this bill is about savings. It has already been mentioned, H.R. 7995 wants to save money when it comes to the fact that it costs the Mint almost a half-cent to make a nickel. It costs them 1.75 cents to make a penny. The dime and the quarter are not far behind.
No disrespect to anybody here who has spoken before, but quite frankly, when all else fails, read the Constitution and read the bill. The Constitution says that we have the ability to coin money, to regulate the value of the money, and foreign money, and we also have weights and measures.
H.R. 7995 is not a long bill, ladies and gentlemen. Essentially, it is two pages long, and it talks about changing the metal content. Nowhere in Article I does it say anything about the content of the metal of the coin. So when my colleague from Missouri says this is a commonsense measure that is just meant to save money, it is like that is it. There is no mystery here.
We lose money on every one of those pennies and nickels that we coin. We want to regulate. We want to give the Mint the ability to regulate the metal content.
I am going to say it once more, and then I will stop. We want, through H.R. 7995, to give the Mint the ability to regulate the metal content of the coin. None of the things that are covered in this provision are in the Constitution, with all due respect.
But guess what? It is not like: Okay, that is it. End of analysis. Please support the bill.
The last part is this. Despite the fact that it is not in there about metal content and changing any of the specifically enumerated constitutional provisions, there are still provisions in this bill that say: But out of an abundance of caution, let's go ahead and make sure that the Congress knows when we change the metallic content of a coin, with the idea of saving money for taxpayers, and make sure that other stakeholders don't have objections.
So, if anything, we have expanded the meaning of that provision in the Constitution to say, oh, by the way, let's talk to Congress and make sure they are okay, even though it is not in this section.
So, with all due respect, I would request your favorable consideration. I thank the committee of jurisdiction for its look at this, and I urge your support.
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