For the discussion of the Duty First coin bill introduced in the House of Representatives, see What If? 2018 Duty First / HouseA coin bill related to the one introduced by Representative Steve Russell (R-OK) in the House of Representatives ("House") was introduced in the Senate in April 2017 by Jerry Moran (R-KS). As with the House bill, it called for a three-coin program consisting of a Gold Half Eagle, a Silver Dollar and a Clad Half Dollar. Also aligned with the previous bill were the requested maximum mintage totals: 20,000, 100,000 and 200,000, respectively.
The Senate bill also called for Proof and Uncirculated versions, surcharges of $35/$10/$5, respectively, and listed the Society of the 1st Infantry Division as the surcharge beneficiary with the funds to be used for Memorial/Monument maintenance.
Differences in the Senate bill can be found in its reformatting/rewording of the Findings section (no Findings were added/deleted but the reformat resulted in 29 Findings vs. the House bill's 22), and its switch of the date to be featured on the coins - it specified a date of "2018" vs. the House bill's "2017". (I'm sure that made the Treasury/Mint happy!)
The bill was referred to the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
Neither the House nor Senate bill progressed past its Committee referral, or was considered independently by its respective chamber. As a result, the coin bills died for lack of action when the 115th Congress adjourned. (IMO, the bills were introduced too late to gain the needed support - the 1st Division's 100th Anniversary year was already underway at the time of the coin proposals.)
The 1st Infantry Division Memorial/Monument in Washington, DC is part of the National Park System ("NPS"). The Society of the 1st Infantry Division collaborates with the NPS regarding ongoing Memorial maintenance and updates.
To learn more about the Memorial, see:
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1st Infantry Division Memorial/Monument - National Park Service.
For more of my stories about commemorative coins and medals, including other What If? stories, see:
Commems Collection.
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