To require the Secretary of the Treasury to redesign the $1 coin to commemorate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

March 17, 2005

Mr. RANGEL introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services

To require the Secretary of the Treasury to redesign the $1 coin to commemorate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE AND FINDINGS.

(a) Short Title- This Act may be cited as the `Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., $1 Coin Act'.

(b) Findings- The Congress finds the following:

(1) Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a preeminent spokesman for human civil rights in his time.

(2) The work of Dr. King affected the lives of more Americans of all races and people around the world than any other American reform leader of the 20th century.

(3) Dr. King was one of America's most erudite scholars and social and religious activists.

(4) Dr. King, because of his lifelong achievements and moral vision, was a recipient in 1964 of the Nobel Peace Prize.

(5) Dr. King mobilized leaders of all faiths, races, and creeds to support the passage of the historic civil rights laws in the 1960s.

(6) Dr. King inspired activists for human rights around the world by applying a philosophy of non-violence.

(7) Dr. King helped to mobilize the African-American civil rights movement as a founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

(8) Dr. King has been honored by the Nation with the designation of the third Monday in January as a national holiday in his name.

(9) The largest collection of materials relating to Dr. King is in the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change in Atlanta, Georgia.

SEC. 2. REDESIGN OF $1 COIN TO COMMEMORATE DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.

Section 5112(d)(1) of title 31, United States Code, is amended--

(1) by striking the 6th sentence and inserting the following: `The obverse side of the dollar shall have the likeness of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The reverse side of the dollar shall have a design emblematic of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'; and

(2) in the 4th sentence, by striking `dollar, half dollar, and quarter dollar' and inserting `half dollar and quarter dollar'.

END