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.

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

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'.

END