To require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint coins in commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the birth of Thomas Jefferson, Americans who have been prisoners of war, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the Memorial, and the Women in Military Service for America Memorial, and for other purposes.
Public Law 103-186 · H.R. 3616 · 103rd Congress · began in the House
Signed by Bill Clinton (D) on Dec 14, 1993 · Commemorations
Sponsor: Rep. Joseph Kennedy (D-MA-8)
Cosponsors: None
Passage votes
- HouseUnanimous consent
- SenateVoice vote
Data notes
The final version of the law, as each chamber passed it. A chamber that passed it by voice vote or unanimous consent has no count. “Method not stated” means the record does not say how the chamber voted. Where the record has a member-by-member vote, the “Who voted for it” section shows who voted yea.
Summary
The Congressional Research Service’s plain-language summary of what the law does.
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Title I: Thomas Jefferson Commemorative Coin
Title II: U.S. Veterans Commemorative Coins
Title III: Reform of Commemorative Coin Programs
Title IV: Bicentennial of the United States Capitol
Commemorative Coin Act
Title I: Thomas Jefferson Commemorative Coin - Jefferson Commemorative Coin Act of 1993 - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to: (1) issue one-dollar coins emblematic of Thomas Jefferson and his home, Monticello; and (2) pay surcharges from coin sales to the Jefferson Endowment Fund and to the Corporation for Jefferson's Poplar Forest.
Title II: U.S. Veterans Commemorative Coins - United States Veterans Commemorative Coin Act of 1993 - Directs the Secretary to issue the following three types of one-dollar commemorative coins: (1) emblematic of the experience of Americans who have been prisoners of war; (2) emblematic of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial; and (3) symbolic of women's service in the armed forces.
Requires the Secretary to pay specified amounts of surcharges received from coin sales to: (1) the Secretary of the Interior for construction of the Andersonville Prisoner-of-War Museum in Andersonville, Georgia; (2) an endowment fund to be established by this Act for the maintenance of the Museum; (3) the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to maintain national cemeteries; (4) the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund to help raise an endowment for the Memorial's maintenance and for the addition of names; and (5) the Women in Military Service for America Memorial Foundation, Inc., to create, endow, and dedicate the Women in Military Service for America Memorial.
Title III: Reform of Commemorative Coin Programs - Declares that specified congressional committees should not report or otherwise clear legislation for consideration by the House of Representatives or the Senate that provides more than two commemorative coin programs for any year, unless the committees determine, on the basis of a recommendation by the Citizens Commemorative Coin Advisory Committee, that extraordinary merit exists for an additional commemorative coin program.
Requires: (1) recipients of commemorative coin surcharges to file quarterly and final expenditure reports with the Director of the United States Mint and the Comptroller General; and (2) the Comptroller General to report to the Congress on the payment and expenditure of any surcharges based on such reports.
Title IV: Bicentennial of the United States Capitol Commemorative Coin Act - Bicentennial of the United States Capitol Commemorative Coin Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to: (1) mint and issue one-dollar coins emblematic of the bicentennial of the United States Capitol; and (2) deposit surcharges from coin sales into the Capitol Preservation Fund to be available to the United States Capitol Preservation Commission.
Committees
The committees the bill was sent to, and what each did with it.
Data notes
A committee links to its page only where it exists in the current Congress; older and renamed committees are named without a link.
Timeline
From introduction to signing, newest first: the committees, the floor and the president. 11 actions.
- Dec 14, 1993Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 103-186.
- Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
- Dec 8, 1993PresidentPresident · Presented to President.
- Nov 24, 1993FloorFloor · Passed Senate without amendment by Voice Vote.
- Nov 23, 1993FloorFloor · Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
- FloorFloor · On passage Passed without objection.
- FloorFloor · Mr. Kennedy asked unanimous consent to discharge from committee and consider.
- FloorFloor · Considered by unanimous consent.
- CommitteeCommittee · Discharged from House Financial Services Committee
- CommitteeCommittee · Referred to House Financial Services Committee
- Nov 22, 1993IntroducedIntroduced · Introduced in the House
Data notes
Shows the introduction, each committee and subcommittee step the source dates (referral, hearings, markup, report, discharge), and the floor, conference, presidential and became-law steps. Calendar placements, messages between the chambers, amendments and committee report numbers are not shown for laws before the 108th Congress. Two entries the source lists twice are shown once.
Official record
The bill’s full text and every action, including introduction and committee steps, are on Congress.gov. Data through Oct 7, 2026.