Please Help Secure Congressional Support

To Create Special TR Coins Benefiting Sagamore Hill

      Congressman Peter T. King, who represents the district where Sagamore Hill National Historic Site is located, has introduced,  H.R. 2404, legislation that would authorize the Treasury to mint up to 1 million in one-dollar silver coins in 2006 honoring the centennial of the award of the Nobel Peace Prize to Theodore Roosevelt.

     These special coins would be sold for the cost of production plus a surcharge of $10 per coin. The surcharge fees, which could amount to as much as $10 million, would go to the Theodore Roosevelt Association (TRA), on a matching basis, to fund educational programs and facilities, including a new visitor's center, at Sagamore Hill National Historic Site.

      Obviously, Congressman King's bill, H.R. 2404, is a tremendous opportunity for the Theodore Roosevelt Association. We believe that the bill would have an excellent chance of passage in the House of Representatives. But in order for a commemorative coin bill to come to a vote, the House requires co-sponsorship by two-thirds of its members, or 290 Congressmen. This requirement cannot be waived.

      Please contact your Member of the U.S. House of Representatives as soon as possible and ask him or her to become a co-sponsor of H.R. 2404, introduced by Congressman Peter T. King of New York. Because it is an election year, work on legislation like this probably needs to be completed by July 4 or the measure will die.

      H.R. 2404 calls for the TR commemorative coins to be struck in two designs: one with the James Earle Fraser profile from the TRA logo on one side, and the Augustus Saint-Gaudens eagle from the old gold coins on the other side; and one with the Fraser statue of TR at New York's American Museum of Natural History on one side, and the TRA's logo of the crusader's flaming sword on the other side. 

      After the coin bill passes the House, it must of course go to the Senate, and we are currently working on sponsorship in the Senate. But we have no bill number or other information at this time. We will let you know when a Senate bill is ready.

      Federal law requires that funds from commemorative coin bills be matched by privately secured funds raised by the group receiving the surcharges, in this case the TRA. All told, between surcharges and this fundraising, there is a chance to pump as much as $20 million into Sagamore Hill. That is money that could be used wisely and well.

      At Sagamore Hill we currently have no auditorium or adequate media theater. The old visitor center is too small to accommodate the public. We also need conference rooms and a library, and there is not sufficient space at the site for offices for the TRA.  H.R. 2404 gives us a chance not only to meet these pressing needs, but also to raise an endowment to support all we do in the future at Sagamore Hill.

                                                           John Allen Gable
                                                            Executive Director

P.S. Here is the possible text of a letter to your member of Congress in support of our bill:

Dear Congressman________:

      I urge you to become a co-sponsor of H.R.  2404, the bill introduced by Congressman Peter T. King of New York which authorizes the minting of commemorative coins honoring Theodore Roosevelt, which would raise needed funds for Theodore Roosevelt's home, Sagamore Hill National Historic Site in Oyster Bay, NY. The funds would go for educational programs and a new visitor center at the site. Please contact Congressman King's office and sign on as a co-sponsor for H.R. 2404.  This means much to preserving TR's legacy for future generations.

                                                      
      Sincerely yours,