49–006 

114TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 1st Session 114–252 

NATIONAL LIBERTY MEMORIAL CLARIFICATION ACT OF 

2015 

SEPTEMBER 8, 2015.—Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State 

of the Union and ordered to be printed 

Mr. BISHOP of Utah, from the Committee on Natural Resources, 

submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

[To accompany H.R. 1949] 

[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office] 

The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred the 

bill (H.R. 1949) to provide for the consideration and submission of 

site and design proposals for the National Liberty Memorial approved for establishment in the District of Columbia, having considered the same, report favorably thereon without amendment and 

recommend that the bill do pass. 

PURPOSE OF THE BILL

The purpose of H.R. 1949 is to provide for the consideration and 

submission of site and design proposals for the National Liberty 

Memorial approved for establishment in the District of Columbia. 

BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

H.R. 1949 amends the Military Construction Authorization Act 

for Fiscal Year 2013 with respect to the submission of site and design proposals by the National Mall Liberty Fund D.C. for the National Liberty Memorial to honor the slaves and free black persons 

who served as soldiers and sailors or provided civilian assistance 

during the American Revolution. The site and design approval 

process is revised to make the Secretary of Agriculture, rather than 

the Secretary of the Interior or the Administrator of General Services, responsible for consideration of these site and design proposals 

and their submission, on behalf of the sponsor, to the Commission 

of Fine Arts and National Capital Planning Commission. 


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Public Law 112–239, the National Defense Authorization Act for 

Fiscal Year 2013, authorized The National Mall Liberty Fund to establish a memorial on eligible federal land to honor the more than 

5,000 courageous slaves and free black persons who served as soldiers and sailors or provided civilian assistance during the American Revolution. 

Under the Commemorative Works Act (CWA), which details a 

process for placement of memorials and monuments in Washington, 

D.C., memorials must be recommended by the Government Services Administration (GSA) or the Department of the Interior for 

placement within what is known as Area I, as defined by the CWA. 

Area I is generally the locations around the National Mall but not 

on the Mall itself. A recommendation is made if GSA finds that the 

proposed memorial is ‘‘of preeminence and lasting significance.’’ 

On June 3, 2014, GSA notified the Natural Resources Committee 

that it found the proposed National Liberty Memorial to be ‘‘of preeminence and lasting significance.’’ Under the requirements of the 

CWA, upon this notification, Congress had 150 days to concur with 

the finding with a joint resolution clearing the memorial to be 

placed within Area I. On September 26, 2014, President Obama 

signed Public Law 113–176 approving the recommendation made 

by GSA to locate the memorial authorized by Public Law 112–239 

in Area I. The approved site is located on the northeast corner of 

14th Street and Independence Avenue in what is currently a surface parking lot adjacent to the Department of Agriculture. 

Because the approved site is located next to the Department of 

Agriculture, H.R. 1949 would transfer responsibility over site and 

design proposals and the submission of such proposals from the 

Secretary of the Interior or Administrator of General Services to 

the Secretary of Agriculture. 

COMMITTEE ACTION

H.R. 1949 was introduced on April 22, 2015, by Congressman 

G.K. Butterfield (D–NC). The bill was referred to the Committee on 

Natural Resources, and within the Committee to the Subcommittee 

on Federal Lands. On July 8, 2015, the Natural Resources Committee met to consider the bill. The Subcommittee was discharged 

by unanimous consent. No amendments were offered and the bill 

was ordered favorably reported to the House of Representatives by 

unanimous consent on July 9, 2015. 

COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Regarding clause 2(b)(1) of rule X and clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII 

of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the Committee on 

Natural Resources’ oversight findings and recommendations are reflected in the body of this report. 

COMPLIANCE WITH HOUSE RULE XIII 

1. Cost of Legislation. Clause 3(d)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules of 

the House of Representatives requires an estimate and a comparison by the Committee of the costs which would be incurred in carrying out this bill. However, clause 3(d)(2)(B) of that rule provides 

that this requirement does not apply when the Committee has included in its report a timely submitted cost estimate of the bill preVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:53 Sep 11, 2015 Jkt 049006 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\HR252.XXX HR252

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pared by the Director of the Congressional Budget Office under section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974. Under clause 

3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and 

section 403 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee has received the following cost estimate for this bill from the 

Director of the Congressional Budget Office: 

H.R. 1949—National Liberty Memorial Clarification Act of 2015 

H.R. 1949 would amend the Military Construction Authorization 

Act for Fiscal Year 2013 to make the Secretary of Agriculture responsible for reviewing and approving site and design proposals for 

the National Liberty Memorial in Washington, D.C. Under current 

law, either the Secretary of the Interior or the Administrator of 

General Services Administration will oversee the site and design 

approval process for that memorial, pursuant to the Commemorative Works Act. 

CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 1949 would have no significant impact on the federal budget because it would just shift 

certain responsibilities from one agency of the government to another. Enacting H.R. 1949 would not affect direct spending or revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply. 

H.R. 1949 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would 

not affect the budgets of state, local, or tribal governments. 

The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Marin Burnett. The estimate was approved by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy Assistant 

Director for Budget Analysis. 

2. Section 308(a) of Congressional Budget Act. As required by 

clause 3(c)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and section 308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, 

this bill does not contain any new budget authority, spending authority, credit authority, or an increase or decrease in revenues or 

tax expenditures. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that 

implementation of this bill would ‘‘have no significant impact on 

the federal budget because it would just shift certain responsibilities from one agency of the government to another.’’ 

3. General Performance Goals and Objectives. As required by 

clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII, the general performance goal or objective 

of this bill is to provide for the consideration and submission of site 

and design proposals for the National Liberty Memorial approved 

for establishment in the District of Columbia. 

EARMARK STATEMENT

This bill does not contain any Congressional earmarks, limited 

tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined under clause 9(e), 

9(f), and 9(g) of rule XXI of the Rules of the House of Representatives. 

COMPLIANCE WITH PUBLIC LAW 104–4 

This bill contains no unfunded mandates. 


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COMPLIANCE WITH H. RES. 5 

Directed Rule Making. The Chairman does not believe that this 

bill directs any executive branch official to conduct any specific 

rule-making proceedings. 

Duplication of Existing Programs. This bill does not establish or 

reauthorize a program of the federal government known to be duplicative of another program. Such program was not included in 

any report from the Government Accountability Office to Congress 

pursuant to section 21 of Public Law 111–139 or identified in the 

most recent Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance published pursuant to the Federal Program Information Act (Public Law 95–220, 

as amended by Public Law 98–169) as relating to other programs. 

PREEMPTION OF STATE, LOCAL OR TRIBAL LAW

This bill is not intended to preempt any State, local or tribal law. 

CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW MADE BY THE BILL, AS REPORTED

In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 

House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by the bill, 

as reported, are shown as follows (existing law proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black brackets, new matter is printed in italic, 

and existing law in which no change is proposed is shown in 

roman): 

MILITARY CONSTRUCTION AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR 

FISCAL YEAR 2013 

* * * * * * * 

DIVISION B—MILITARY CONSTRUCTION 

AUTHORIZATIONS 

* * * * * * * 

TITLE XXVIII 

MILITARY CONSTRUCTION GENERAL PROVISIONS 

* * * * * * * 

SUBTITLE F—OTHER MATTERS

* * * * * * * 

SEC. 2860. ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMEMORATIVE WORK 

TO SLAVES AND FREE BLACK PERSONS WHO SERVED IN 

AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 

(a) ELIGIBLE FEDERAL LAND.—In this section, the term ‘‘eligible 

Federal land’’ means Federal land depicted as ‘‘Area I’’ or ‘‘Area II’’ 

on the map numbered 869/86501 B and dated June 24, 2003. The 

term does not include the Reserve (as defined in section 8902(a) of 

title 40, United States Code). 

(b) COMMEMORATIVE WORK AUTHORIZED.—The National Mall 

Liberty Fund D.C. may establish a memorial on eligible Federal 

land to honor the more than 5,000 courageous slaves and free 

Black persons who served as soldiers and sailors or provided civilian assistance during the American Revolution. 


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(c) COMPLIANCE WITH STANDARDS FOR COMMEMORATIVE

WORKS.—Chapter 89 of title 40, United States Code, and other applicable Federal laws and regulations shall apply to the establishment of the commemorative work authorized by this sectionø.¿, except that, under subsections (a)(2) and (b) of section 8905, the Secretary of Agriculture, rather than the Secretary of the Interior or the 

Administrator of General Services, shall be responsible for the consideration of site and design proposals and the submission of such 

proposals on behalf of the sponsor to the Commission of Fine Arts 

and National Capital Planning Commission 

(d) PROHIBITION ON USE OF FEDERAL FUNDS.—The National Mall 

Liberty Fund D.C. may not use Federal funds to establish the commemorative work authorized by this section. 

(e) DEPOSIT OF EXCESS FUNDS.— 

(1) UPON ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMEMORATIVE WORK.—If, 

upon payment of all expenses for the establishment of the commemorative work authorized by this section (including the 

maintenance and preservation amounts required by section 

8906(b)(1) of title 40, United States Code), there remains a balance of funds received for the establishment of the commemorative work, the National Mall Liberty Fund D.C. shall transmit the amount of the balance to the account provided for in 

section 8906(b)(3) of such title. 

(2) UPON EXPIRATION OF AUTHORITY TO ESTABLISH COMMEMO- RATIVE WORK.—If, upon expiration of the authority for the commemorative work under section 8903(e) of title 40, United 

Sates Code, there remains a balance of funds received for the 

establishment of the commemorative work, the National Mall 

Liberty Fund D.C. shall transmit the amount of the balance to 

a separate account with the National Park Foundation for memorials, to be available to the Secretary of the Interior or Administrator of General Services (as appropriate) following the 

process provided in section 8906(b)(4) of such title for accounts 

established under section 8906(b)(3) of such title. 

(f) REPEAL OF JOINT RESOLUTIONS.—Public Law 99-558 (110 Stat. 

3144; 40 U.S.C. 8903 note) and Public Law 100-265 (102 Stat. 39; 

40 U.S.C. 8903 note) are repealed. 

* * * * * * * 

Æ 


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