79–010

Calendar No. 828

106TH CONGRESS REPORT

2d Session " ! SENATE 106–419

ESTABLISHMENT OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN INTERPRETIVE

CENTER

SEPTEMBER 25 (legislative day, SEPTEMBER 22), 2000.—Ordered to be printed

Mr. MURKOWSKI, from the Committee on Energy and Natural

Resources, submitted the following

REPORT

[To accompany H.R. 3084]

The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was

referred the Act (H.R. 3084) to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to contribute funds for the establishment of an interpretative

center on the life and contributions of President Abraham Lincoln,

having considered the same, reports favorably thereon with an

amendment and recommends that the Act, as amended, do pass.

The amendment is as follows:

On page 4, between lines 2 and 3, insert the following:

‘‘(3) COMPETITIVE BIDDING GUIDELINES.—As a condition

of the receipt of a grant under subsection (a), the Secretary

of the Interior shall require that the grant recipient comply with sections 303, 303A, and 303B of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 (41 U.S.C.

253–253b) as implemented by the Federal Acquisition Regulation issued pursuant to section 25 of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act (41 U.S.C. 421) in planning,

designing, and constructing the interpretive center.’’.

PURPOSE OF THE MEASURE

The purpose of H.R. 3084 is to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to contribute funds for the establishment of an interpretive

center on the life and contributions of President Abraham Lincoln.

BACKGROUND AND NEED

The National Park Service manages five sites that were established to honor President Lincoln, and the story of Lincoln’s life is
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also preserved and interpreted at venues such as the Smithsonian

Institution, the National Archives, and others. The Illinois State

Historical Library collection of Lincoln artifacts includes over

46,000 items, but has no adequate space to appropriately display

or interpret them. Despite Lincoln’s undeniable significance to the

Nation, there is no single location where the Lincoln story can be

told completely.

Planning and design for the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library is currently in progress by the State of Illinois. The 160,000

square-foot facility will occupy nearly two downtown city blocks on

land donated by the City of Springfield, and will house the entire

12 million piece collection of the Illinois State Historical Library,

including the Lincoln collection. The planned two-part presidential

library and interpretive center will include both a museum portion

and a library and archives.

H.R. 3084 authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to make

grants to contribute up to $50 million for the construction of the

center, and requires that the non-Federal funds contributed to the

project be in an amount at least double the Federal share. The

measure also specifies that none of the grant amounts may be used

for operations or maintenance of the center.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

H.R. 3084 passed the House of Representatives on June 19, 2000.

Companion legislation, S. 1734, was introduced by Senators Durbin and Fitzgerald on October 14, 1999. The Subcommittee on National Parks, Historic Preservation and Recreation held a hearing

on S. 1734 and H.R. 3084 on July 27, 2000. At the business meeting on September 20, 2000, the Committee on Energy and Natural

Resources ordered H.R. 3084, as amended, favorably reported.

COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION

The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in open business session on September 20, 2000, by a majority vote of a quorum

present, recommends that the Senate pass H.R. 3084, if amended

as described herein.

COMMITTEE AMENDMENT

During the consideration of H.R. 3084, the Committee adopted

an amendment to require the recipients of grants under the bill to

comply with Federal competitive bidding procedures.

SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

Section 1(a) requires the Secretary of the Interior to make grants

to an entity selected by the Secretary to contribute to the establishment of an interpretive center on the life and contributions of

Abraham Lincoln.

Subsection (b) specifies that the entity selected by the Secretary

must, within 18 months of the date of enactment of the legislation,

prepare and submit to the Secretary a plan and design for the interpretive center. The plan and design must be prepared in consultation with the Secretary and the Governor of Illinois, and in cooperation with other public, municipal, and private entities that

the Secretary considers appropriate.
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Subsection (c) requires that the State of Illinois or other non-Federal sources provide a match of the Federal grant in an amount at

least double the amount of the grant. A further condition of the

grant is that the recipient of the grant must agree to operate the

interpretive center in cooperation with other Federal and non-Federal historic sites, parks, and museums that represent significant

locations or events in the life of Abraham Lincoln. Such cooperative

efforts may include the use of cooperative agreements, cross references, cross promotion, and shared exhibits. The recipients of

grants must also comply with Federal competitive bidding procedures.

Subsection (d) specifies that the grant amounts may not be used

for the maintenance or operation of the interpretive center.

Subsection (e) permits the Secretary to be involved in the actual

operation of the interpretive center only at the request of the nonFederal entity responsible for its operation. Subsection (f) authorizes the appropriation of $50 million, to remain available through fiscal year 2006.

COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATION

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

U.S. CONGRESS,

CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE,

Washington, DC, 20516, September 22, 2000.

Hon. FRANK H. MURKOWSKI,

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. 3084, an act to authorize

the Secretary of the Interior to contribute funds for the establishment of an interpretive center on the life and contributions of

President Abraham Lincoln.

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

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

Sincerely,

BARRY B. ANDERSON

(For Dan L. Crippen, Director).

Enclosure.

H.R. 3084—An act to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to contribute funds for the establishment of an interpretive center on

the life and contributions of President Abraham Lincoln

H.R. 3048 would direct the Secretary of the Interior to contribute up to $50 million toward the construction of an interpretive center

in Illinois on the life and contributions of President Abraham Lincoln. Any grants, to be made to a nonfederal entity chosen by the

Secretary, would be contingent on nonfederal groups raising twice

the amount of the federal contribution. The act would authorize the

appropriation of $50 million, to be available through fiscal year

2006. No federal funds would be used to operate or maintain the

center.

Assuming appropriation of the authorized amount, CBO estimates that the federal government would spend $47 million over
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the next five years, if nonfederal contributions become available to

match the federal funding. (In fiscal year 2000, $3 million was appropriated for the center.)

H.R. 3084 would not affect direct spending or receipts; therefore,

pay-as-you-go procedures would not apply. The legislation contains

no private-sector or intergovernmental mandates as defined in the

Unfunded Mandates Reform Act.

On June 16, 2000, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for H.R.

3048 as ordered reported by the House Committee on Resources on

June 7, 2000. The two versions of the legislation are identical, as

are the cost estimates.

The CBO staff contact 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. 3084. The bill 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. 3048, as ordered reported.

EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS

On September 15, 2000, the Committee on Energy and Natural

Resources requested legislative reports from the Department of the

Interior and the Office of Management and Budget setting forth

Executive agency recommendations on H.R. 3048 was filed. When

the reports become available, the Chairman will request that they

be printed in the Congressional Record for the advice of the Senate.

The testimony provided by the National Park Service at the Subcommittee hearing follows:

STATEMENT OF DENIS P. GALVIN, DEPUTY DIRECTOR,

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Mr. Chairman, thank you for the opportunity to present

the views of the Department on S. 1734 and H.R. 3084. If

enacted, these bills would authorize the Secretary of the

Interior to contribute funds for the establishment of an interpretive center in Springfield, Illinois, on the life and

contributions of President Abraham Lincoln.

The Department has concerns with these two bills. Our

position in no way reflects on the merits of an interpretive

center on the life of President Abraham Lincoln. Our primary concern is the use of National Park Service appropriations to fund major construction projects for non-Park

Service facilities. At a time when the National Park Service has a long list of deferred maintenance and construction projects in the national parks, we are unable to support legislation that would authorize $50 million in grants
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to a non-Federal entity for the construction of an Abraham

Lincoln Interpretive Center. We are open to working with

the sponsors to see if there are ways to accomplish this result without the use of National Park Service construction

funds and in a manner that provides for suitable Federal

participation in the design and planning of this project.

Presently the National Park Service manages five sites

that were established to honor President Lincoln. These

include: Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic

Site, Kentucky; Lincoln Boyhood Home National Memorial,

Indiana; Lincoln Home National Historic Site; Illinois;

Ford’s Theatre (including the House Where Lincoln Died);

and the Lincoln Memorial, Washington, DC. Other units,

including such sites as Mount Rushmore National Memorial, South Dakota and Gettysburg National Military Park

Pennsylvania, also recognize the contributions made by

President Lincoln. The National Park Service has significant responsibilities for interpreting the role President

Abraham Lincoln played in the history of the United

States.

The National Park Service has been involved with a proposed Abraham Lincoln Center since 1990. In May 1990,

a supplemental appropriation for FY 1990 included

$150,000 to study the feasibility of developing a research

and interpretive center in Springfield, Illinois. In the FY

1992 Department of the Interior appropriations, $2.7 million was included for planning, land acquisition and site

preparation of an Abraham Lincoln Center. An additional

$1.7 million was included in the FY 1993 appropriations.

However, an Abraham Lincoln Center had not been authorized.

The National Park Service, with assistance from a private architectural and engineering firm working under a

contract, prepared a Draft Environmental Assessment

(EA) for Location of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential

Center. The subsequent public review resulted in a ‘‘Finding of No Significant Impact’’ and the EA was approved by

the National Park Service Midwest Regional Director.

Meanwhile, an additional $3 million in construction funds

was included in the FY 1994 Department of the Interior

appropriations, subject to an authorization for the center.

In 1994 the National Park Service, in partnership with the

Illinois Historic Preservation Agency and historical consultants, developed a ‘‘Draft Interpretive Prospectus’’ that

determined the thematic focus of the proposed center.

While authorization for the proposed Abraham Lincoln

Center (to be managed by the National Park Service as

part of Lincoln Home National Historic Site) had strong

support in the House of Representatives, it met opposition

in the Senate. The 103rd Congress adjourned without the

Senate voting on the project and no additional funds were

appropriated for FY 1995. Thereafter, absent an authorization, the National Park Service placed the project on hold,

including any planning and land acquisition. The federal
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funding that had been appropriated, $7.3 million less the

amounts already expended, was eventually rescinded.

The FY 2000 National Park Service appropriation for construction includes $2.775 million for the ‘‘Lincoln Library’’. The National Park Service will provide a grant to

the State of Illinois for the Illinois Historic Preservation

Agency to continue work with architectural and engineering firms. However, the Conference Report states that any

future funding for the Lincoln Library will be contingent

on enacted legislation.

We remain interested in working in an advisory capacity

with the State of Illinois on a proposed Lincoln Interpretive Center. However, we do not support the diversion of

National Park Service construction funds from the national parks to a non-Federal construction project that S.

1734 and H.R. 3084 would effect. This concludes my statement. I would be happy to answer any questions you 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 bill H.R. 3084, as ordered reported.

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