Introduction Of The Make No Cents Until It Makes Sense Act
8 November 2007
HON. RON PAUL
OF TEXAS
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Thursday, November 8, 2007
2007 Ron Paul 104:1
Mr. PAUL. Madam Speaker, I am introducing this bill in response to H.R. 3956,
which would unconstitutionally delegate the
authority to determine the metal content of
coins to the Secretary of the Treasury. While
I am concerned at the high cost of minting
pennies, I am not entirely convinced that the
Mint needs to mint as many pennies as it
does. Over the past 30 years, over 300 billion
pennies have been minted, more than twice
as many coins as all other denominations
combined. This is over 1,000 pennies for each
man, woman, and child in this country.
2007 Ron Paul 104:2
I find it hard to believe that with this many pennies having been minted, we still have a
shortage of pennies. My bill would prohibit the
minting of pennies until the Treasury and Federal
Reserve certify that there is no surplus of
pennies. If there is a surplus of pennies, it
makes no sense for the Mint to continue to
coin them if each penny costs more than one
cent to produce. If there really were a shortage,
the onus would be on the Treasury and
Federal Reserve to conduct their survey in a
timely fashion in order to facilitate further
penny production.
2007 Ron Paul 104:3
In the event of a shortage I would urge my colleagues to consider Mr. ROSKAMs H.R.
4036, which addresses the cost issue by
changing the composition of pennies while
maintaining the Congressional control and
oversight mandated by the Constitution.