The United States Foreign Service Commemorative Coin Act
S. 2229
Introduced in the U.S. Senate by Senators Dan Sullivan (Sponsor) and Chris Van Hollen (Original Co-Sponsor). The companion bill in the U.S. House of Representatives will soon be introduced by Representatives Ami Bera (D-CA) and Maria Elvira Salazar (R-FL). The bill honors U.S. diplomacy, the U.S. Foreign Service, and the lives and sacrifices of hundreds of U.S. diplomats who lost their lives in the line of duty. The bill also honors the longstanding role of the U.S. Marine Corps security guards in safeguarding U.S. embassies and consulates, as well as the shared expeditionary spirit and enduring 250-year partnership between the U.S. Marine Corps and the U.S Foreign Service.
Since its establishment through the Rogers Act of 1924, the U.S. Foreign Service has been central to conducting U.S. diplomacy, protecting American citizens abroad, supporting U.S. businesses and economic interests, and promoting American prosperity and security.
As we get closer to America’s 250th anniversary, please join in supporting this recognition and tribute to American diplomacy, American diplomats and their families, including those who have given their lives in service to the country, the U.S. Marine Security Guard detachments who serve alongside them, and their dedication of making America “safer, stronger, and more prosperous.”
- The bill is budget-neutral, and the mint year would be 2029, the 250th anniversary of our first diplomat, Benjamin Franklin, presenting credentials at the French court in 1779.
- The bill directs the Secretary of the Treasury to mint $5 gold, $1 silver, and half-dollar clad coins.
- The revenue from coin sales, after the U.S. Mint reimburses itself for all costs, would benefit the non-partisan Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training (ADST) and support its unique diplomatic oral history program, praised as a national treasure.
- ADST is a non-partisan 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to collecting and sharing the oral histories of American diplomats and illustrating the contribution of diplomacy to the nation’s history. ADST’s collection of around 3,000 narratives is a highly praised, unique source of firsthand accounts of the work that goes into implementing U.S. foreign policy and promoting U.S. interests around the globe.
- The sale of the coins will support the modernization of ADST’s foreign affairs oral history collection, its curation, and the sharing of United States diplomatic and national security history with the American people.
“The Marines are more than trusted colleagues. They are…the kind of friends you want to have around when the going gets tough.”
– Ambassador Richard J. Griffin, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Diplomatic Security, September 14, 2006
