The FATE of the US Dollar Bill being debated by Congress

A trio of U.S. House members have introduced a bill to eliminate the dollar bill, long a high legislative priority for the amusement game trade.

"Representatives David Schweikert (Ariz.) and two other House Republicans - including supercommittee co-chairman Jeb Hensarling (Texas) - introduced legislation last week aimed at retiring the paper dollar," reported the website TheHill.com, which covers Congress. "Schweikert said his bill would save billions of dollars over the next few decades by transitioning to a dollar coin in four years, or as soon as $600 million worth of dollar coins are in circulation. Schweikert said 3 billion paper dollars are shredded every year, and the constant need to destroy these dollars and create new ones is a cost the government can no longer bear. He said metal coins would last longer and therefore save money."

However, a counter measure has been proposed by Massa chussetts senators Scott Brown and John Kerry to protect the dollar bill, which was also a longstanding position supported by the late senator Ted Kennedy.

"The Brown-Kerry bill would prevent the minting of $1 coins when a surplus of them exists. The two senators argue that $1.2 billion worth of $1 dollar coins are sitting in the Federal Reserve's vaults, not in circulation, which is adding to the Fed's storage costs," The Hill explained, noting that the dollar bill is produced on paper supplied by Mass.-based Crane & Co.