IB 

Union Calendar No. 165 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1700 

[Report No. 111–295] 

To authorize the Administrator of General Services to convey a parcel of 

real property in the District of Columbia to provide for the establishment 

of a National Women’s History Museum. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 25, 2009 

Mrs. MALONEY (for herself, Mrs. CAPITO, Ms. NORTON, Ms. KAPTUR, Ms. 

DELAURO, Ms. BORDALLO, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Ms. WATSON, Ms. 

HIRONO, Ms. FALLIN, Ms. KILPATRICK of Michigan, Mrs. BLACKBURN, 

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, and Mr. MARIO DIAZ-BALART of Florida) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation 

and Infrastructure 

OCTOBER 8, 2009 

Additional sponsors: Mr. MASSA, Mr. PETERSON, Mr. FILNER, Ms. BALDWIN, 

Mr. GRAYSON, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. SIRES, Mr. KLEIN of Florida, Mr. 

MCGOVERN, Ms. DEGETTE, Ms. LEE of California, Ms. TITUS, Mr. CAO, 

Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, Mr. MEEK of Florida, Mrs. CAPPS, Mrs. 

CHRISTENSEN, Mr. WOLF, Mr. LOBIONDO, Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr. LYNCH, Mr. WEXLER, Ms. CORRINE BROWN

of Florida, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mrs. DAVIS of California, Mr. 

KENNEDY, Mr. KILDEE, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, Mr. MOORE of Kansas, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. BERMAN, Ms. FUDGE, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Ms. LINDA T. SA ́NCHEZ of California, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. STARK, and Mr. CONNOLLY of Virginia 

OCTOBER 8, 2009 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on March 25, 2009] 


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A BILL 

To authorize the Administrator of General Services to convey 

a parcel of real property in the District of Columbia 

to provide for the establishment of a National Women’s 

History Museum. 


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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 ‘‘National Women’s His5 tory Museum Act of 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act, the following definitions apply: 

8 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis9 trator’’ means the Administrator of General Services. 

10 (2) CERCLA.—The term ‘‘CERCLA’’ means the 

11 Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensa12 tion, and Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9601 et 

13 seq.). 

14 (3) COMMITTEES.—The term ‘‘Committees’’ 

15 means the Committee on Transportation and Infra16 structure of the House of Representatives and the 

17 Committee on Environment and Public Works of the 

18 Senate. 

19 (4) MUSEUM.—The term ‘‘Museum’’ means the 

20 National Women’s History Museum, Inc., a District 

21 of Columbia nonprofit corporation exempt from tax22 ation pursuant to section 501(c)(3) of the Internal 

23 Revenue Code of 1986. 

24 (5) PROPERTY.—The term ‘‘property’’ means the 

25 property located in the District of Columbia, subject 


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1 to survey and as determined by the Administrator, 

2 generally consisting of Squares 325 and 326. The 

3 property is generally bounded by 12th Street, Inde4 pendence Avenue, C Street, and the James Forrestal 

5 Building, all in Southwest Washington, District of 

6 Columbia, and shall include all associated air rights, 

7 improvements thereon, and appurtenances thereto. 

8 SEC. 3. CONVEYANCE OF PROPERTY. 

9 (a) AUTHORITY TO CONVEY.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the requirements of 

11 this Act, the Administrator shall convey the property 

12 to the Museum on such terms and conditions as the 

13 Administrator considers reasonable and appropriate 

14 to protect the interests of the United States and fur15 ther the purposes of this Act. 

16 (2) AGREEMENT.—As soon as practicable, but 

17 not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 

18 of this Act, the Administrator shall enter into an 

19 agreement with the Museum for the conveyance. 

20 (3) TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—The terms and 

21 conditions of the agreement shall address, among 

22 other things, mitigation of developmental impacts to 

23 existing Federal buildings and structures, security 

24 concerns, and operational protocols for development 

25 and use of the property. 


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1 (b) PURCHASE PRICE.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—The purchase price for the 

3 property shall be its fair market value based on its 

4 highest and best use as determined by an independent 

5 appraisal commissioned by the Administrator and 

6 paid for by the Museum. 

7 (2) SELECTION OF APPRAISER.—The appraisal 

8 shall be performed by an appraiser mutually accept9 able to the Administrator and the Museum. 

10 (3) TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR APPRAISAL.— 

11 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided by 

12 subparagraph (B), the assumptions, scope of 

13 work, and other terms and conditions related to 

14 the appraisal assignment shall be mutually ac15 ceptable to the Administrator and the Museum. 

16 (B) REQUIRED TERMS.—The appraisal 

17 shall assume that the property does not contain 

18 hazardous substances (as defined in section 101 

19 of CERCLA (42 U.S.C. 9601)) which require re20 sponse action (as defined in such section). 

21 (c) APPLICATION OF PROCEEDS.—The purchase price 

22 shall be paid into the Federal Buildings Fund established 

23 under section 592 of title 40, United States Code. Upon de24 posit, the Administrator may expend, in amounts specified 

25 in appropriations Acts, the proceeds from the conveyance 


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1 for any lawful purpose consistent with existing authorities 

2 granted to the Administrator, except that the Administrator 

3 shall provide the Committees with 30 days advance written 

4 notice of any expenditure of the proceeds. 

5 (d) QUIT CLAIM DEED.—The property shall be con6 veyed pursuant to a quit claim deed. 

7 (e) USE RESTRICTION.—The property shall be dedi8 cated for use as a site for a national women’s history mu9 seum for the 99-year period beginning on the date of convey10 ance to the Museum. 

11 (f) REVERSION.— 

12 (1) BASES FOR REVERSION.—The property shall 

13 revert to the United States, at the option of the 

14 United States, without any obligation for repayment 

15 by the United States of any amount of the purchase 

16 price for the property, if— 

17 (A) the property is not used as a site for a 

18 national women’s history museum at any time 

19 during the 99-year period referred to in sub20 section (e); or 

21 (B) the Museum has not commenced con22 struction of a museum facility on the property 

23 in the 5-year period beginning on the date of en24 actment of this Act, other than for reasons beVerDate Nov 24 2008 21:45 Oct 08, 2009 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1700.RH H1700

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1 yond the control of the Museum as reasonably 

2 determined by the Administrator. 

3 (2) ENFORCEMENT.—The Administrator may 

4 perform any acts necessary to enforce the reversionary 

5 rights provided in this section. 

6 (3) CUSTODY OF PROPERTY UPON REVERSION.— 

7 If the property reverts to the United States pursuant 

8 to this section, such property shall be under the cus9 tody and control of the Administrator. 

10 (g) CLOSING DEADLINE.—The conveyance pursuant to 

11 this Act shall occur not later than 3 years after the date 

12 of enactment of this Act. The Administrator may extend 

13 that period for such time as is reasonably necessary for the 

14 Museum to perform its obligations under section 4(a). 

15 SEC. 4. ENVIRONMENTAL MATTERS. 

16 (a) AUTHORIZATION TO CONTRACT FOR ENVIRON17 MENTAL RESPONSE ACTIONS.—The Administrator is au18 thorized to contract, in an amount not to exceed the pur19 chase price for the property, with the Museum or an affil20 iate thereof for the performance (on behalf of the Adminis21 trator) of response actions (if any) required on the property 

22 pursuant to CERCLA. 

23 (b) CREDITING OF RESPONSE COSTS.—Any costs in24 curred by the Museum or an affiliate thereof pursuant to 


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1 subsection (a) shall be credited to the purchase price for the 

2 property. 

3 (c) RELATIONSHIP TO CERCLA.—Nothing in this Act 

4 may be construed to affect or limit the application of or 

5 obligation to comply with any environmental law, includ6 ing section 120(b) of CERCLA (42 U.S.C. 9620(b)). 

7 SEC. 5. INCIDENTAL COSTS. 

8 Subject to section 4, the Museum shall bear any and 

9 all costs associated with complying with the provisions of 

10 this Act, including studies and reports, surveys, relocating 

11 tenants, and mitigating impacts to existing Federal build12 ings and structures resulting directly from the development 

13 of the property by the Museum. 

14 SEC. 6. LAND USE APPROVALS. 

15 (a) EXISTING AUTHORITIES.—Nothing in this Act 

16 shall be construed as limiting or affecting the authority or 

17 responsibilities of the National Capital Planning Commis18 sion or the Commission of Fine Arts. 

19 (b) COOPERATION.— 

20 (1) ZONING AND LAND USE.—Subject to para21 graph (2), the Administrator shall reasonably cooper22 ate with the Museum with respect to any zoning or 

23 other land use matter relating to development of the 

24 property in accordance with this Act. Such coopera25 tion shall include consenting to applications by the 


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1 Museum for applicable zoning and permitting with 

2 respect to the property. 

3 (2) LIMITATIONS.—The Administrator shall not 

4 be required to incur any costs with respect to coopera5 tion under this subsection and any consent provided 

6 under this subsection shall be premised on the prop7 erty being developed and operated in accordance with 

8 this Act. 

9 SEC. 7. REPORTS. 

10 Not later than one year after the date of enactment 

11 of this Act, and annually thereafter until the end of the 

12 5-year period following conveyance of the property or until 

13 substantial completion of the museum facility (whichever 

14 is later), the Museum shall submit annual reports to the 

15 Administrator and the Committees detailing the develop16 ment and construction activities of the Museum with respect 

17 to this Act. 


hsrobinson on DSK69SOYB1PROD with BILLS
Union Calendar No. 165 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1700 

[Report No. 111–295] 

A BILL 

To authorize the Administrator of General Services 

a National Women’s History Museum. of Columbia to provide for the establishment of to convey a parcel of real property in the District 

OCTOBER 8, 2009 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Comand ordered to be printed mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 


hsrobinson on DSK69SOYB1PROD with BILLS