I

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 5212

To direct the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress to establish

a program to collect video and audio recordings of personal histories

and testimonials of American war veterans, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

SEPTEMBER 19, 2000

Mr. KIND (for himself, Mr. HOUGHTON, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mr. ACKERMAN,

Mr. ALLEN, Mr. ANDREWS, Mr. BACA, Mr. BAIRD, Mr. BALDACCI, Ms.

BALDWIN, Mr. BARCIA, Mr. BARRETT of Wisconsin, Mr. BARRETT of Nebraska, Mr. BASS, Mr. BECERRA, Mr. BENTSEN, Ms. BERKLEY, Mr.

BERRY, Mrs. BIGGERT, Mr. BILIRAKIS, Mr. BISHOP, Mr. BLUMENAUER,

Mr. BOEHLERT, Mr. BOEHNER, Mr. BONIOR, Mrs. BONO, Mr. BORSKI,

Mr. BOSWELL, Mr. BOYD, Mr. BRADY of Texas, Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania, Ms. BROWN of Florida, Mrs. CAPPS, Mr. CAPUANO, Mr. CARDIN,

Mr. CASTLE, Mr. CHAMBLISS, Mr. CLEMENT, Mr. CLYBURN, Mr.

CONDIT, Mr. COOKSEY, Mr. COYNE, Mr. CRAMER, Mr. CROWLEY, Mrs.

CUBIN, Ms. DANNER, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. DAVIS of Florida, Mr.

DEFAZIO, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. DELAY, Mr. DEUTSCH, Mr. DICKEY, Mr.

DICKS, Mr. DINGELL, Mr. DIXON, Mr. DOOLEY of California, Mr.

DOYLE, Mr. DREIER, Mr. EDWARDS, Mr. EHLERS, Mr. ENGLISH, Mr.

ETHERIDGE, Mr. EVANS, Mr. EWING, Mr. FARR of California, Mr. FILNER, Mr. FOLEY, Mr. FORD, Mr. FOSSELLA, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. FRANKS of New Jersey, Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN, Mr. FROST, Mr.

GILCHREST, Mr. GILMAN, Mr. GOODE, Mr. GORDON, Mr. GRAHAM, Mr.

GREEN of Wisconsin, Mr. GREEN of Texas, Mr. GREENWOOD, Mr. GUTKNECHT, Mr. HALL of Texas, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. HASTINGS

of Washington, Mr. HAYWORTH, Mr. HILL of Indiana, Mr. HILL of Montana, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. HINOJOSA, Mr. HOBSON, Mr. HOEFFEL, Mr.

HOEKSTRA, Mr. HOLDEN, Mr. HOLT, Ms. HOOLEY of Oregon, Mr.

HOYER, Mr. HULSHOF, Mr. HUNTER, Mr. HUTCHINSON, Mr. HYDE, Mr.

INSLEE, Mr. ISAKSON, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. JEFFERSON, Mr.

JOHN, Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas, Mrs. JOHNSON of Connecticut, Mr.

JONES of North Carolina, Mrs. JONES of Ohio, Mr. KANJORSKI, Mrs.

KELLY, Mr. KENNEDY of Rhode Island, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. KING, Mr.

KINGSTON, Mr. KLECZKA, Mr. KUCINICH, Mr. LAHOOD, Mr. LANTOS,

Mr. LARGENT, Mr. LARSON, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr.

LUTHER, Mr. MALONEY of Connecticut, Mr. MANZULLO, Mr. MARKEY,

Mr. MASCARA, Mr. MATSUI, Ms. MCCARTHY of Missouri, Mrs. MCCAR-
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THY of New York, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. MCINTYRE,

Mr. MCKEON, Mr. MCNULTY, Mrs. MEEK of Florida, Mr. MEEKS of New

York, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. METCALF, Mr. GARY MILLER of California,

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, Mrs. MINK of Hawaii, Mr. MOLLOHAN, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Mrs. MORELLA, Mr. MURTHA, Mrs.

NAPOLITANO, Mr. NEAL of Massachusetts, Mr. NETHERCUTT, Mr.

NUSSLE, Mr. OBERSTAR, Mr. OBEY, Mr. OLVER, Mr. ORTIZ, Mr.

OWENS, Mr. OXLEY, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. PASCRELL, Mr. PEASE, Ms.

PELOSI, Mr. PETERSON of Minnesota, Mr. PETRI, Mr. PHELPS, Mr.

POMEROY, Mr. PRICE of North Carolina, Mr. QUINN, Mr. RAHALL, Mr.

RAMSTAD, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. REYES, Ms. RIVERS, Mr. ROEMER, Mr.

ROHRABACHER, Mr. ROTHMAN, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin, Mr. RYUN of Kansas, Mr. SABO, Mr. SALMON, Ms. SANCHEZ, Mr.

SANDERS, Mr. SANDLIN, Mr. SAWYER, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. SCOTT,

Mr. SENSENBRENNER, Mr. SHAYS, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. SHIMKUS, Mr.

SHOWS, Mr. SKELTON, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Mr.

SNYDER, Mr. SPRATT, Ms. STABENOW, Mr. STARK, Mr. STENHOLM, Mr.

STRICKLAND, Mr. STUMP, Mr. STUPAK, Mr. SUNUNU, Mr. SWEENEY,

Mr. TANNER, Mrs. TAUSCHER, Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina, Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi, Mrs. THURMAN, Mr. TIERNEY, Mr. TOWNS, Mr.

UDALL of New Mexico, Mr. UDALL of Colorado, Mr. UPTON, Mr.

WALSH, Mr. WAMP, Ms. WATERS, Mr. WATKINS, Mr. WAXMAN, Mr.

WEXLER, Mr. WEYGAND, Mr. WICKER, Mrs. WILSON, Ms. WOOLSEY,

Mr. WU, Mr. WYNN, and Mr. WATT of North Carolina) introduced the

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Administration

A BILL

To direct the American Folklife Center at the Library of

Congress to establish a program to collect video and

audio recordings of personal histories and testimonials

of American war veterans, 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,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Veterans’ Oral History

5 Project Act’’.
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSE.

2 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds as follows:

3 (1) Military service during a time of war is the

4 highest sacrifice a citizen may make for his or her

5 country.

6 (2) 4,700,000 Americans served in World War

7 I, 16,500,000 Americans served in World War II,

8 6,800,000 Americans served in the Korean Conflict,

9 9,200,000 Americans served in the Vietnam Con10 flict, 3,800,000 Americans served in the Persian

11 Gulf War, and countless other Americans served in

12 military engagements overseas throughout the 20th

13 century.

14 (3) The Veterans Administration reports that

15 there are almost 19,000,000 war veterans living in

16 this Nation today.

17 (4) Today there are only approximately 3,400

18 living veterans of World War I, and of the some

19 6,000,000 veterans of World War II alive today, al20 most 1,500 die each day.

21 (5) Oral histories are of immeasurable value to

22 historians, researchers, authors, journalists, film

23 makers, scholars, students, and citizens of all walks

24 of life.

25 (6) War veterans possess an invaluable resource

26 in their memories of the conflicts in which they
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1 served, and can provide a rich history of our Nation

2 and its people through the retelling of those memo3 ries, yet frequently those who served during times of

4 conflict are reticent to family and friends about their

5 experiences.

6 (7) It is in the Nation’s best interest to collect

7 and catalog oral histories of American war veterans

8 so that future generations will have original sources

9 of information regarding the lives and times of those

10 who served in war and the conditions under which

11 they endured, so that Americans will always remem12 ber those who served in war and may learn first13 hand of the heroics, tediousness, horrors, and tri14 umphs of war.

15 (8) The Library of Congress, as the Nation’s

16 oldest Federal cultural institution and largest and

17 most inclusive library in human history (with nearly

18 119,000,000 items in its multimedia collection) is an

19 appropriate repository to collect, preserve, and make

20 available to the public an archive of these oral his21 tories. The Library’s American Folklife Center has

22 expertise in the management of documentation

23 projects and experience in the development of cul24 tural and educational programs for the public.
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1 (b) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this Act to create

2 a new federally sponsored, authorized, and funded pro3 gram that will coordinate at a national level the collection

4 of video and audio recordings of personal histories and

5 testimonials of American war veterans, and to assist and

6 encourage local efforts to preserve the memories of this

7 Nation’s war veterans so that Americans of all current and

8 future generations may hear directly from veterans and

9 better appreciate the realities of war and the sacrifices

10 made by those who served in uniform during wartime.

11 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM AT AMERICAN

12 FOLKLIFE CENTER TO COLLECT VIDEO AND

13 AUDIO RECORDINGS OF HISTORIES OF VET14 ERANS.

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the American

16 Folklife Center at the Library of Congress shall establish

17 an oral history program—

18 (1) to collect video and audio recordings of per19 sonal histories and testimonials of veterans of the

20 armed forces who served during a period of war;

21 (2) to create a collection of the recordings ob22 tained (including a catalog and index) which will be

23 available for public use through the National Digital

24 Library of the Library of Congress and such other
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1 methods as the Director considers appropriate to the

2 extent feasible subject to available resources; and

3 (3) to solicit, reproduce, and collect written ma4 terials (such as letters and diaries) relevant to the

5 personal histories of veterans of the armed forces

6 who served during a period of war and to catalog

7 such materials in a manner the Director considers

8 appropriate, consistent with and complimentary to

9 the efforts described in paragraphs (1) and (2).

10 (b) USE OF AND CONSULTATION WITH OTHER ENTI11 TIES.—The Director may carry out the activities described

12 in paragraphs (1) and (3) of subsection (a) through agree13 ments and partnerships entered into with other govern14 ment and private entities, and may otherwise consult with

15 interested persons (within the limits of available re16 sources) and develop appropriate guidelines and arrange17 ments for soliciting, acquiring, and making available re18 cordings under the program under this Act.

19 (c) PRIVATE SUPPORT.—The Librarian of Congress

20 may solicit and accept gifts and in-kind contributions to

21 carry out the activities described in subsection (a).

22 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

23 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out

24 this Act—

25 (1) $250,000 for fiscal year 2001; and
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1 (2) such sums as may be necessary for each

2 succeeding fiscal year.

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