Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions
STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS
By Mr. DURBIN:
S. 811. A bill to require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint coins in commemoration of the bicentennial of the birth of Abraham Lincoln; to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, today I am introducing a bill that will honor Abraham Lincoln with a commemorative coin and provide funds to the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission, which has been charged by Congress with planning the celebration of Lincoln's bicentennial in 2009.
The bill authorizes the Treasury to mint 500,000 one dollar silver coins. The design, which will represent the life and legacy of Abraham Lincoln, will be selected by the Secretary after consultation with the Commission of Fine Arts and the ALBC and reviewed by the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee.
The coins will be sold for face value plus a $10 surcharge and the cost of designing and issuing them. All funds collected by the surcharge will be provided to the ALBC to further its work.
Abraham Lincoln was one of our greatest leaders, demonstrating enormous courage and strength of character during the Civil War, perhaps the greatest crisis in our Nation's history. Lincoln was born in Kentucky, grew to adulthood in Indiana, achieved fame in Illinois, and led the Nation in Washington, D.C. He rose to the Presidency through a combination of honesty, integrity, intelligence, and commitment to the United States.
Adhering to the belief that all men are created equal, Lincoln led the effort to free all slaves in the United States. Despite the great passions aroused by the Civil War, Lincoln had a generous heart and acted with malice toward none and with charity for all. Lincoln made the ultimate sacrifice for the country he loved, dying from an assassin's bullet on April 15, 1865. All Americans could benefit from studying the life of Abraham Lincoln, As we near the bicentennial of Lincoln's birth, we should recognize his great achievement in ensuring that the United States remained one Nation, united and inseparable.
http://thomas.loc.gov/