On the recordNovember 14, 2012
I yield myself such time as I may consume, and I rise in support of the Senate amendment to H.R. 2453, the Mark Twain Commemorative Coin Act. The underlying legislation, which passed the House by a vote of 408-4 on April 18 and the Senate by unanimous consent in September, will allow the U.S. Treasury to mint $1 and $5 commemorative coins in 2016, which will promote the important legacy of Mark Twain and benefit four institutions that bear his name: the Mark Twain House & Museum in Hartford, Connecticut; the University of California Berkeley; Elmira College in New York; and in my congressional district, the Mark Twain Boyhood Home & Museum in Hannibal, Missouri. I want to remind my colleagues that this bill will cost the American taxpayers nothing. In fact, the Senate has included language that specifically ensures that the minting and issuing of coins under this act will not result in any net cost to the United States Government and that no funds can be disbursed to the recipients until the total cost of designing and issuing all coins is first recovered by the U.S. Treasury. I would like to thank my colleague, Mr. Larson of Connecticut, for his leadership on this legislation. I also would like to acknowledge Hannibal's Mark Twain Boyhood Home & Museum executive director Dr. Cindy Lovell and the museum's curator Henry Sweets, as well as their dedicated staff, for their incredible work to promote awareness and appreciation of the life and works of Mark Twain.…
