I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2496

To authorize a national museum, including a research center and related 

visitor facilities, in the city of El Paso, Texas, to commemorate migration 

at the United States southern border. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 17, 2003

Mr. REYES introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Education and the Workforce, and in addition to the Committee on 

the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, 

in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL

To authorize a national museum, including a research center 

and related visitor facilities, in the city of El Paso, 

Texas, to commemorate migration at the United States 

southern border.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Paso al Norte National 

5 Museum of Immigration History Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that—
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1 (1) more than 20,000,000 people currently liv2 ing in the United States trace their roots to Mexico, 

3 and Mexican-Americans represent one of the fastest 

4 growing population groups in this country; 

5 (2) people of Hispanic descent have made sig6 nificant contributions in all areas of American life; 

7 (3) Hispanic-Americans, their ancestors, and 

8 other cultural groups on both sides of the border 

9 have a rich history that must be preserved and told 

10 for the benefit of current and future generations of 

11 Americans; 

12 (4) the histories of the many individuals and 

13 families, who came from many different backgrounds 

14 and who faced hardship and adversity as they mi15 grated in search of better lives for themselves and 

16 their descendants, need to be better documented and 

17 incorporated into the larger history of the United 

18 States; 

19 (5) the histories of these courageous people re20 flect the strong relationship between the people of 

21 the United States and the people of Mexico; 

22 (6) there is no museum dedicated to the history 

23 of migration at the United States southern border; 
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1 (7) historically, El Paso, Texas, has been the 

2 largest port of entry for people immigrating to the 

3 United States from Mexico; 

4 (8) El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro (the 

5 Royal Road of the Interior) passes through El Paso 

6 and served as the primary route between the colonial 

7 Spanish capital of Mexico City and the Spanish Pro8 vincial capitals San Juan de los Caballeros, San Ga9 briel, and Santa Fe, all part of the present day 

10 United States; 

11 (9) El Paso and its sister city, Ciudad Juarez, 

12 Mexico, together form the largest international bor13 der city; 

14 (10) the University of Texas at El Paso, a ma15 jority of whose students are Mexican-American, is 

16 coordinating a national effort to create in El Paso 

17 a national museum dedicated to preserving the his18 tory of people who, for many centuries, have moved 

19 between Mexico and territories that are now part of 

20 the United States; and 

21 (11) the City of El Paso has made the estab22 lishment of the Paso al Norte National Museum of 

23 Immigration History a priority in an effort to draw 

24 large numbers of visitors as part of its plan for revi25 talization and development. 
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1 SEC. 3. PASO AL NORTE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF IMMIGRA2 TION HISTORY. 

3 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—If land is made available to 

4 or by the University of Texas at El Paso as described in 

5 subsection (b), the Secretary of the Interior shall make 

6 a grant under section 4 for the establishment of the Paso 

7 al Norte National Museum of Immigration History (re8 ferred to in this Act as ‘‘the museum’’), a museum and 

9 research center for the interpretation and commemoration 

10 of migration at the United States southern border. 

11 (b) LAND.—The land referred to in subsection (a) is 

12 land within the boundary of the city of El Paso, Texas, 

13 either made available by the University of Texas at El 

14 Paso, or, if the university agrees to the location, by the 

15 city of El Paso or by any other entity. 

16 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT GRANT. 

17 (a) GRANT.—The Secretary of the Interior shall, 

18 within 90 days after receiving a proposal meeting the re19 quirements of subsection (b), award a grant to the Univer20 sity of Texas at El Paso for the establishment of the mu21 seum, including planning, design, construction, furnishing, 

22 and startup expenses. 

23 (b) GRANT PROPOSAL.—In order to receive a grant 

24 under this section the University of Texas at El Paso, in 

25 agreement with the city of El Paso, shall, not later than 

26 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, trans-
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1 mit to the Secretary of the Interior a proposal that in2 cludes—

3 (1) a designation of land made available for the 

4 museum as described in section 3(b); 

5 (2) plans detailing the location and function of 

6 each museum facility; 

7 (3) plans for design and construction that will 

8 meet all applicable Federal, State, and local building 

9 codes and laws, and that are in accordance with pro10 fessional museum standards; 

11 (4) a timetable for completion of construction 

12 and opening of the museum before October 1, 2007; 

13 (5) detailed plans concerning the operation and 

14 maintenance of the museum; 

15 (6) a description of proposed museum collec16 tions and educational programming; and 

17 (7) a plan for the design of exhibits, including 

18 collections to be exhibited, preservation, protection, 

19 environmental controls, security, and presentations 

20 in accordance with professional museum standards. 

21 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

22 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Sec23 retary of the Interior $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2004, 

24 and such sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal years 

25 2005 through 2008, to carry out this Act. All sums au-
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1 thorized to be appropriated shall remain available for ex2 penditure through fiscal year 2008.

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