59–010 

Calendar No. 234 

110TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! SENATE 1st Session 110–104 

COMMISSION TO STUDY THE POTENTIAL CREATION OF 

THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN LATINO 

ACT OF 2007 

JUNE 26, 2007.—Ordered to be printed 

Mr. BINGAMAN, from the Committee on Energy and Natural 

Resources, submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

[To accompany H.R. 512] 

The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was 

referred the Act (H.R. 512) to establish the Commission to Study 

the Potential Creation of the National Museum of the American 

Latino to develop a plan of action for the establishment and maintenance of a National Museum of the American Latino in Washington, DC, and for other purpose, having considered the same, reports favorably thereon without amendment and recommends that 

the Act do pass. 

PURPOSE OF THE MEASURE

The purpose of H.R. 512 is to establish a commission to study the 

potential creation of the National Museum of the American Latino 

in Washington, DC. 

BACKGROUND AND NEED

With a population exceeding 42 million, Hispanic Americans 

comprise the largest minority group in the United States. The Census Bureau estimates that in the year 2050, the Hispanic population in the U.S. will reach over 100 million. Parts of what are 

now the United States were settled by pioneers of Hispanic descent 

long before the establishment of this country. 

Despite this long history, there is presently no museum located 

in Washington, DC, that primarily tells the story of the American 

Hispanic or Latino community. H.R. 512 will establish a commisVerDate Aug 31 2005 01:27 Jun 30, 2007 Jkt 059010 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\SR104.XXX SR104

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sion to provide advice on the establishment of such a museum to 

better tell the complete and diverse story of Americans. 

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

H.R. 512, sponsored by Representative Becerra, passed the 

House of Representatives by a voice vote on February 6, 2007. A 

companion measure, S. 500, was introduced by Senator Salazar 

and 23 other Senators on February 6, 2007. During the 109th Congress, the House also passed a similar measure, H.R. 2134. 

The Subcommittee on National Parks held a hearing on H.R. 512 

and S. 500 on March 20, 2007. At its business meeting on May 23, 

2007, the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources ordered 

H.R. 512 favorably reported, without amendment. 

COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION

The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in an 

open business session on May 23, 2007, by a unanimous voice vote 

of a quorum present, recommends that the Senate pass H.R. 512. 

SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

Section 1 contains the short title, the ‘‘Commission to Study the 

Potential Creation of the National Museum of the American Latino 

Act of 2007.’’

Section 2(a) establishes the Commission to Study the Potential 

Creation of a National Museum of the American Latino. 

Subsection (b) provides that the Commission shall consist of 23 

members, with 7 appointed by the President, 3 each by the Speaker 

and Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, and 3 each 

by the Majority Leader and Minority Leader of the Senate. Each 

congressional leader is also authorized to appoint one non-voting 

member of the Commission. 

Subsection (c) lists the qualifications for Commission members. 

Section 3(a) requires the Commission to submit a report to the 

President and the Congress containing its recommendations with 

respect to a plan of action for the establishment and maintenance 

of a National Museum of the American Latino in Washington, DC. 

Subsection (b) states that the Commission shall development a 

fundraising plan for supporting the creation and maintenance of 

the museum. 

Subsection (c) directs the Commission to examine various issues 

associated with the creation and location of the museum, including 

the availability and cost of collections to be housed at the museum, 

the impact of the museum on regional Hispanic and Latino-related 

museums, possible locations for the museum and whether the museum should be part of the Smithsonian Institution. 

Subsection (d) provides that the Commission shall submit recommendations for a legislative plan of action to create and construct the museum to several congressional committees. 

Subsection (e) authorizes the Committee to convene a national 

conference on the museum. 

Section 4(a) requires the Department of the Interior to provide, 

from funds appropriated for that purpose, administrative services, 

facilities, and funds necessary for the performance of the Commission’s functions. 


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Subsection (b) provides that each member of the Commission 

who is not an officer or employee of the Federal Government may 

receive compensation while engaged in the work of the Commission. 

Subsection (c) authorizes the payment of travel expenses for 

Commission members. 

Subsection (d) states that the Federal Advisory Committee Act 

shall not apply to the Commission. 

Section 5(a) requires the Commission to submit final versions of 

the reports and plans referred to in this Act no later than 24 

months after the date of the Commission’s first meeting. 

Subsection (b) provides that the Commission shall terminate no 

later than 30 days after submitting the final versions of the reports 

and plans referred to in subsection (a). 

Section 6 authorizes the appropriation of $2.1 million for the first fiscal year beginning after the date of enactment and $1.1 million 

for the following year. 

COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS

The following estimate of the cost of this measure has been provided by the Congressional Budget Office: 

MAY 31, 2007. 

Hon. JEFF BINGAMAN, 

Chairman, Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, 

U.S. Senate, Washington, DC. 

DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: The Congressional Budget Office has prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 512, the Commission to 

Study the Potential Creation of the National Museum of the American Latino Act of 2007. 

If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be pleased 

to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Deborah Reis. 

Sincerely, 

PETER R. ORSZAG. 

Enclosure. 

H.R. 512—Commission to Study the Potential Creation of the National Museum of the American Latino Act of 2007 

H.R. 512 would establish a commission to develop a plan for creating and maintaining a National Museum of the American Latino 

Community in Washington, D.C. Under the act, the 23-member 

commission would report its recommendations for the museum to 

the Congress within two years of its first meeting. For the purpose 

of carrying out the commission’s responsibilities, the act would au- thorize the appropriation of $3.2 million over the next two years. 

Based on information provided by the National Park Service and 

assuming appropriation of the authorized amounts, CBO estimates 

that the federal government would spend about $3 million over the 

next two years to establish the commission and to develop a plan 

for the proposed museum. Most of this amount would be spent for 

feasibility studies and other research. We estimate that enacting 

H.R. 512 would have no effect on revenues or direct spending. 

H.R. 512 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would 

impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments. 


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The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Deborah Reis. This estimate was approved by Peter H. Fontaine, Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis. 

REGULATORY IMPACT EVALUATION

In compliance with paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of the Standing 

Rules of the Senate, the Committee makes the following evaluation 

of the regulatory impact which would be incurred in carrying out 

H.R. 512. The Act is not a regulatory measure in the sense of imposing Government-established standards or significant economic 

responsibilities on private individuals and businesses. 

No personal information would be collected in administering the 

program. Therefore, there would be no impact on personal privacy. 

Little, if any, additional paperwork would result from the enactment of H.R. 512, as ordered reported. 

EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS

The testimony provided by the National Park Service at the 

March 20, 2007 Subcommittee hearing on H.R. 512 follows: 

STATEMENT OF DANIEL N. WENK, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, 

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Mr. Chairman and members of the subcommittee, thank 

you for the opportunity to appear before you today to 

present the Department of the Interior’s views on S. 500 

and H.R. 512, bills to establish the Commission to Study 

the Potential Creation of a National Museum of the American Latino Community (Commission) to develop a plan of 

action for the establishment and maintenance of a National Museum of the American Latino Community in 

Washington, D.C. 

The Department has no objection to the concept of establishing a commission to study the potential creation of a 

national museum for the American Latino community, and 

we suggest that a technical correction be made to S. 500 

to make it consistent with the House-passed companion 

bill, H.R. 512. We note that other agencies, such as the 

Smithsonian Institution, may be able to provide more insight on the benefits as well as the significant budget implications of establishing and operating a separate museum in this time of constrained budgets. We suggest that 

the General Services Administration (GSA) rather than 

the Department of the Interior provide the administrative 

support, since it is our understanding that the GSA has an 

office set up to provide such services for other commissions. 

S. 500 and H.R. 512 would establish a Commission to 

study and report on the potential creation of a museum, 

the availability and cost of collections to be acquired and 

housed in the museum, possible locations, the organizational structure from which the museum should operate, 

and how to engage the American Latino Community in the 

development and design of a museum. The Commission 

would consist of 23 voting and non-voting members apVerDate Aug 31 2005 01:27 Jun 30, 2007 Jkt 059010 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6969 E:\HR\OC\SR104.XXX SR104

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pointed by the President and Congressional leadership. 

The legislation would require that the Commission convene a national conference on the museum no later than 

18 months after the commission members are selected and 

submit recommendations for a legislative plan to create 

and construct the museum based on the findings of its 

study no later than 24 months after the date of the Commission’s first meeting. The bill would require the Secretary of the Interior to provide administrative services, facilities, and funds necessary for the operation of the Commission with funds made available prior to any meetings 

of the Commission. 

We suggest that S. 500 and H.R. 512 be amended to 

drop the requirement that the Secretary of the Interior 

provide administrative services, facilities, and funds necessary for the operation of the Commission as well as determine the daily rate of compensation for Commission 

members. The Department does not have available funds 

to provide such support. We suggest, alternatively, that 

the General Services Administration (GSA) provide such 

administrative support. We recommend a technical correction be made to S. 500 to specify the Committees to receive 

the report containing the Commission’s recommendations 

for a plan of action and the report on issues. 

We appreciate that both S. 500 and H.R. 512 have been 

improved over the past versions of the legislation by providing the Commission with a full opportunity to consider 

a wide variety of potentially appropriate and worthy locations for the museum and directing the Commission to consult with the National Capital Planning Commission and 

the Commission of Fine Arts during such consideration. 

This requirement supports the purpose and follows guidelines provided by the ‘‘Memorials and Museums Master 

Plan,’’ described further below. Previous proposals contained provisions limiting the study to specific sites to be 

considered including locations on or near the National 

Mall. 

The location for a museum is of paramount importance 

to all federal agencies, including the Department of the Interior, the National Capital Planning Commission, and the 

Commission of Fine Arts. In September 2001, the Commission of Fine Arts, the National Capital Planning Commission, and the Department of the Interior through the Secretary’s National Capital Memorial Advisory Commission, 

adopted the Memorials and Museums Master Plan (2M 

Plan) to guide the location of new memorials, museums, 

and related structures in the Nation’s Capital. The 2M 

Plan states that future memorials and museums should be 

precluded from being located in ‘‘The Reserve,’’ an area described as the great cross-axis ofthe National Mall extending from the United States Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial and from the White House to the Jefferson Memorial. 

Congress concurred with the need to protect The Reserve 

from overdevelopment, calling this area ‘‘a substantially 

completed work of civic art,’’ and, on November 13, 2003, 


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with enactment of amendments to the Commemorative 

Works Act, The Reserve was established by statute. The 

amendments also preclude commemorative works which 

are primarily designed as museums from being located on 

parkland in Area I or in East Potomac Park. In addition, 

the National Capital Planning Commission and the Commission of Fine Arts, in partnership with the National 

Park Service and other key federal and local agencies, are 

developing a National Capital Framework Plan that will 

facilitate use of some of the 2M Plan sites for nationally 

significant museums and memorials. Both the 2M Plan 

and the National Capital Framework Plan will provide 

useful guidance to the new Commission. 

The National Park Service is proud to be the steward of 

monuments along Virginia Avenue to commemorate Spanish General Bernardo de Galvez, ally to the American colonies during the American Revolution, and four South 

American heroes, Simon Bolivar, Jose de San Martin, Benito Pablo Juarez, and Jose Gervasio Artigas. All five statues were memorial gifts to the people of the United States 

from the people of Spain, Venezuela, Argentina, Mexico 

and Uruguay to recognize these liberators of Bolivia, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela, Argentina, Mexico, and 

Uruguay. These memorials celebrate the bonds between 

our nations; and while American Latinos have the opportunity to trace their ancestry back to these origins, there 

is no permanent historical context in Washington, D.C. 

that provides an opportunity to focus on the significant 

cultural events and contributions representing these citizens of the United States. 

We support, in concept, the proposal to further the education and interpretation of significant segments of American history and culture, however, we feel strongly that 

this Commission move forward in a way that does not contravene the thoughtful and comprehensive plans undertaken to govern the growth of the Nation’s Capital or 

weaken the protections which Congress has provided to 

the National Mall. 

If the subcommittee decides to move S. 500 instead of 

H.R. 512, we recommend that the technical correction be 

made to S. 500 to make it consistent with the Housepassed companion bill, H.R. 512. Mr. Chairman, this concludes my prepared testimony. I would be pleased to answer any questions you or other members of the subcommittee may have. 

CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the 

Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee notes that no 

changes in existing law are made by the Act H.R. 512, as 

ordered reported. 

Æ 


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