Austin Scott: “I urge today that the House pass H.R. 188, which was introduced by the distinguished gentleman from New Jersey…”

“I urge today that the House pass H.R. 188, which was introduced by the distinguished gentleman from New Jersey, Representative Pallone. This bill has the simple purpose of addressing a glitch in the distribution of surcharges on the sale of commemorative coins that honor America's great inventor, Thomas Edison. In 1988, legislation authorizing the production of the coin was enacted and the U.S. Mint minted and issued the coin in 2004. But as a result of some unclear language in the documents provided both the Mint and to recipient organizations, it was unclear that the matching funds required by law in the order for recipient organizations to receive the coin's proceeds must be raised entirely from private sources and that no other government funds could be used for this purpose. This bill extends for a period of 6 months the amount of time in which the recipients of surcharges on the sales of the Thomas Edison commemorative coin are allowed to raise matching funds.”