Kildee's Native American Coin Bill Passes House

Press Release

Kildee's Native American Coin Bill Passes House

Congressman Dale Kildee (D-MI) announced today that his bill, the Native American One Dollar Coin Act, which seeks to honor the important contributions made by Native Americans and tribes, passed the U.S. House Representatives by voice vote with strong bipartisan support. This bill now needs to be approved by the Senate before it can be signed by the President. Congressman Kildee is chief sponsor of the bill and is the Democratic Chairman of the Congressional Native American Caucus.

"I was glad to introduce this bill. I can think of no better way to pay tribute to the Native American people than to honor their contribution to the development of the United States and her history," Congressman Kildee said. "The designs on the coin will take the American people through a journey of different experiences of native peoples by exposing them to their unique histories while preserving the memory of Sakakawea."

The Native American One Dollar Coin Act would authorize the Secretary of Treasury to mint and issue coins that honor the outstanding contributions of Native Americans. One side of the coin would continue to feature Sakakawea, the young Shoshone Native American woman who assisted Lewis and Clark on their expedition to the Pacific Northwest more than 200 years ago.

The design on the reverse side of the coin would be changed annually in order to commemorate the achievements of other Native Americans and tribes. These designs will be decided by the Secretary of Treasury in consultation with the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, House Congressional Native American Caucus, National Congress of American Indians, U.S. Commission of Fine Arts and the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee.

The bill also has a cost savings aspect, as it is expected that the revolving reverse designs will increase demand by consumers and collectors of one dollar coins. Currently, the static design of the Sakakawea has caused it to not be in as great of demand as the new revolving Presidential dollar coins -- which has created a surplus of these coins. Congressman Kildee expects that the new program of changing designs on the reverse of the Sakakawea will increase demand, and in turn save the government millions of dollars a year by eliminating this disparity in demand.

Source