Commems Collection Modern: 2001 National Museum Of The American Indian - Congress / Part II

Continuing the story of the 2001 National Museum of the American Indian Silver Dollar in Congress...

As I've noted previously (2001 National Museum of the American Indian - Congress / Part I), the House version of the bill gained nearly 300 co-sponsors. This enabled the legislation to proceed with consideration. In September 2000, James Albert Smith Leach (R-IA), Chairman of the House Committee on Banking and Financial Services, motioned to suspend the rules and have the bill considered by the House in the absence of a Committee Report. As no objection was voiced, the House proceeded with consideration of the bill.

As part of his introductory remarks in support of the bill, Leach stated:

"...it is anticipated that this new National Museum of the American Indian will draw 5 million to 7 million visitors a year. The coin authorized in this legislation will be magnificent, a silver representation of one of the most-collected and best-loved coins in American history."

Note: Recent visitors to the NMAI have been far lower than Leach's estimate, being under 1 million. During its first year of operation (2004-2005), visitor attendance was ~2.4 million - the Museum's peak attendance year,

Leach also noted:

"The design is a replica of the socalled Buffalo nickel. Collectors tell me that the design, depicting on its face an Indian Head and on its reverse the West's greatest beast, is so treasured that this commemorative coin is likely to be extremely popular with the numismatic community as well as with that part of the American public interested in American history."

Note: Leach was accurate with this comment - the Silver Dollars proved to be very popular and were a sell out from the Mint within weeks of release.

There wasn't any debate over the merits of the bill in the House, though John Joseph LaFalce (D-NY) and Representative Leach had a somewhat humorous exchange:

LaFalce: How wonderful it would be if part of the outreach efforts of the Museum of the American Indian, how wonderful it would be if an affiliate of the Smithsonian could be at the Turtle within Niagara Falls, New York, part of the Buffalo-Niagara Falls region so that the American Buffalo coin bill could be used to reach out to Americans, to help enhance their knowledge of the history of the Indian in the United States of America where tourists come. That is where we should have our facilities also.

Leach:Mr. Speaker, let me say to the gentleman from New York (Mr. LAFALCE) that pork sometimes gives this Congress a bad name, but turtles never. But on a more serious note, this coin does have implications for outreach education. More profoundly, the duty of the Smithsonian is to reach out to all sectors of America, and this wondrous collection of artifacts is so large that it would be very thoughtful if some of it could be shared in more distant parts of the country.

You can't fault a guy for trying to support his constituency - or can you?

The House passed the coin bill via voice vote and sent it on to the Senate. The Senate raised no objections, and passed the bill within two weeks of receipt. US President William "Bill" Clinton signed the bill into law on October 27, 2000.


For a discussion of the Silver Dollar, see:

- 2001 National Museum of the American Indian Silver Dollar - The Coin


For more of my stories about commemorative coins and medals, including other modern US commemorative coin stories, see: Commems Collection.