I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 727 

To establish a National Council on African American History and Culture 

within the National Endowment for the Humanities, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 1, 2023 

Mr. MFUME (for himself, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mrs. MCBATH, Ms. NORTON, 

Ms. WILSON of Florida, Ms. BROWN, Mr. EVANS, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Ms. SEWELL, Mr. BOWMAN, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. CARSON, Mr. 

COHEN, Mrs. BEATTY, Mr. THANEDAR, Ms. WILLIAMS of Georgia, Ms. 

TITUS, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, Mr. JOHNSON of 

Georgia, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. GREEN of Texas, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. CONNOLLY, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. 

MCGOVERN, Mrs. HAYES, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, Ms. PLASKETT, Mr. 

CLEAVER, Ms. LEE of California, Ms. KAMLAGER-DOVE, Ms. BUSH, Mr. 

DAVID SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. HORSFORD, Mr. IVEY, Ms. TLAIB, Mr. 

CA ́RDENAS, Mr. CARTER of Louisiana, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Ms. 

JACOBS, Mr. NADLER, Ms. CROCKETT, Mr. RUPPERSBERGER, Ms. 

BLUNT ROCHESTER, Mr. RASKIN, Mr. LYNCH, Mr. SARBANES, Ms. STEVENS, and Ms. MENG) introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To establish a National Council on African American History 

and Culture within the National Endowment for the 

Humanities, and for other purposes. 

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


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Council on 

3 African American History and Culture Act of 2023’’. 

4 SEC. 2. COUNCIL ON AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY AND 

5 CULTURE. 

6 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 

7 National Endowment for the Humanities a National 

8 Council on African American History and Culture (re9 ferred to in this section as the ‘‘Council’’). 

10 (b) MEMBERSHIP.— 

11 (1) NUMBER AND APPOINTMENT.—The Council 

12 shall be composed of 12 members appointed by the 

13 President, by and with the advice and consent of the 

14 Senate. 

15 (2) QUALIFICATIONS.—The members of the 

16 Council shall be individuals who— 

17 (A) are selected from among private citi18 zens of the United States who are recognized 

19 for their broad knowledge of, expertise in, or 

20 commitment to the preservation and celebration 

21 of African-American history and culture; 

22 (B) are not currently employees of the 

23 Federal Government; and 

24 (C) have established records of distin25 guished service, scholarship, or creativity. 


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1 (3) CONSIDERATIONS.—In appointing members 

2 to the Council under paragraph (1), the President— 

3 (A) shall give due regard to equitable rep4 resentation of women, people of color, and indi5 viduals with disabilities who are involved in the 

6 humanities; and 

7 (B) shall select such members in a manner 

8 that ensures a comprehensive representation of 

9 the views of scholars and professional practi10 tioners in the humanities and of the public 

11 throughout the United States. 

12 (4) CHAIRPERSON; VICE CHAIRPERSON.—The 

13 Chairperson and Vice Chairperson of the Council 

14 shall be designated by the President from among the 

15 members of the Council. The Vice Chairperson shall 

16 act as Chairperson in the absence of the Chair17 person. 

18 (5) TERM OF OFFICE; VACANCIES; REAPPOINT19 MENT.— 

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—Each member shall be 

21 appointed for a term of five years, except as 

22 provided in subparagraphs (B) and (C). 

23 (B) TERMS OF INITIAL APPOINTEES.—As 

24 designated by the President at the time of the 


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1 appointment, of the members first appointed to 

2 the Council under paragraph (1)— 

3 (i) six shall be appointed for terms of 

4 three years; and 

5 (ii) six shall be appointed for terms of 

6 five years. 

7 (C) VACANCIES.—Any member appointed 

8 to fill a vacancy occurring before the expiration 

9 of the term for which the member’s predecessor 

10 was appointed shall be appointed only for the 

11 remainder of that term. A member may serve 

12 after the expiration of that member’s term until 

13 a successor has taken office. 

14 (D) REAPPOINTMENT.—No member shall 

15 be eligible for reappointment during the two16 year period following the expiration of such 

17 member’s term. 

18 (6) BASIC PAY.— 

19 (A) RATES OF PAY.—Members shall re20 ceive compensation at a rate of 50 percent of 

21 the daily rate of the highest rate of basic pay 

22 payable for the senior-level positions classified 

23 above GS–15 pursuant to section 5108 of title 

24 5, United States Code, for each day (including 

25 travel time) during which they are engaged in 


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1 the actual performance of duties vested in the 

2 Council. 

3 (B) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—Each member 

4 shall receive travel expenses, including per diem 

5 in lieu of subsistence, in accordance with appli6 cable provisions under subchapter 1 of chapter 

7 57 of title 5, United States Code. 

8 (7) QUORUM.—Nine members of the Council 

9 shall constitute a quorum. The Council cannot hold 

10 hearings without a full quorum. 

11 (8) MEETINGS.—The Council shall meet at the 

12 call of the Chairperson but not less frequently than 

13 twice during each calendar year. 

14 (c) DUTIES.—The duties of the Council shall be— 

15 (1) to prepare an annual report to be submitted 

16 to the Chairperson of the National Endowment for 

17 the Humanities on the work of the National Endow18 ment to preserve and celebrate African-American 

19 history and culture; 

20 (2) to gather timely and authoritative informa21 tion concerning historical developments and cultural 

22 trends in African-American history and culture, as 

23 well as to monitor the work of museums and organi24 zations dedicated to the preservation of African25 American history and culture, and to analyze and inVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:09 Feb 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H727.IH H727

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1 terpret such information for the purpose of deter2 mining whether national policy is necessary to fur3 ther support those efforts; 

4 (3) to evaluate the various programs and activi5 ties of the National Endowment for the Humanities 

6 for the purpose of determining the extent to which 

7 such programs and activities are contributing, and 

8 the extent to which they are not contributing, to the 

9 successful preservation and celebration of African10 American history and culture, and to make rec11 ommendations to the President with respect to such 

12 programs and activities; 

13 (4) to develop and recommend to the Chair14 person national policies to foster and promote the 

15 understanding of African-American history, the pres16 ervation of African-American culture, and the cele17 bration of African Americans as contributors to the 

18 country’s economic, cultural, and political success; 

19 and 

20 (5) to make and furnish such studies, reports 

21 thereon, and recommendations with respect to mat22 ters of cultural preservation and African-American 

23 history as the Chairperson may request. 

24 (d) APPLICABILITY OF FACA.—Section 14 of the 

25 Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.; relating 


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1 to termination of advisory committees) shall not apply to 

2 the Council. 

3 (e) TERMINATION.—The Council shall terminate 10 

4 years after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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