II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1686 

To amend the Constitution Heritage Act of 1988 to provide for the operation 

of the National Constitution Center. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 12, 2005 

Mr. SANTORUM introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL

To amend the Constitution Heritage Act of 1988 to provide 

for the operation of the National Constitution Center.

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 Constitution 

5 Center Operations Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. NAME CLARIFICATION. 

7 Section 3(a) of the Constitution Heritage Act of 1988 

8 (16 U.S.C. 407bb(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘(hereafter 

9 in this Act referred to as the ‘Center’)’’ and inserting 

10 ‘‘(hereafter in this Act referred to as the ‘NCC’)’’. 
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1 SEC. 3. OPERATION OF THE NATIONAL CONSTITUTION CEN2 TER. 

3 Section 4 of the Constitution Heritage Act of 1988 

4 (16 U.S.C. 407cc) is amended by adding at the end the 

5 following: 

6 ‘‘(c) OPERATION OF THE NCC.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A cooperative agreement 

8 entered into under subsection (b) shall— 

9 ‘‘(A) authorize the NCC to— 

10 ‘‘(i) operate the NCC; 

11 ‘‘(ii) provide to visitors to the NCC 

12 any activities and services relating to and 

13 consistent with any functions of the NCC 

14 under section 3(b); 

15 ‘‘(iii) carry out activities that are ap16 propriate for the operation of the NCC, in17 cluding charging fees, conducting events, 

18 and selling and marketing merchandise, 

19 tickets for activities of the NCC, and food 

20 to visitors to the NCC; and 

21 ‘‘(iv) negotiate and enter into any 

22 agreements, leases, contracts, or other ar23 rangements with any person, firm, associa24 tion, organization, corporation, or govern25 mental entity (including the Federal Gov26 ernment and any State and local govern-
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1 ments) that are appropriate for carrying 

2 out activities at the NCC or that are nor3 mally associated with the operation of a fa4 cility like the NCC, including an agree5 ment, contract, or other arrangement for 

6 janitorial service, building maintenance, 

7 food service, information technology main8 tenance, or the operation of a museum 

9 store; 

10 ‘‘(B) provide that any revenues from facili11 ties and services of the NCC shall be made 

12 available to the NCC, without further appro13 priation, to offset the expenses of operating the 

14 NCC; 

15 ‘‘(C) authorize the NCC to occupy the site 

16 and any structures provided under subsection 

17 (a)— 

18 ‘‘(i) for a term specified in the cooper19 ative agreement not to exceed 30 years; 

20 and 

21 ‘‘(ii) in accordance with any terms 

22 and conditions of the cooperative agree23 ment; 

24 ‘‘(D)(i) provide that the NCC shall main25 tain, during the term of the cooperative agree-
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1 ment and at the expense of the NCC, insurance 

2 on the NCC covering such risks, in such 

3 amounts, and including such terms and condi4 tions as the Secretary determines to be appro5 priate; and 

6 ‘‘(ii) provide that any repairs or recon7 struction carried out using payments made to 

8 the NCC under an insurance policy maintained 

9 under clause (i) shall be subject to the approval 

10 of the Secretary; 

11 ‘‘(E) provide that the NCC shall maintain 

12 the status as an organization described in sec13 tion 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 

14 1986 that is exempt from taxation under sec15 tion 501(a) of the Code; 

16 ‘‘(F) provide that the NCC shall make 

17 available to the Secretary and the Comptroller 

18 General of the United States all books, docu19 ments, papers, and records of the NCC that are 

20 necessary for an audit; 

21 ‘‘(G) provide that the NCC shall submit to 

22 the Secretary or Congress an annual report 

23 that— 

24 ‘‘(i) describes the activities of the 

25 NCC during the preceding fiscal year; 
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1 ‘‘(ii) compares the goals and objec2 tives of the NCC to the actual accomplish3 ments of the NCC during the preceding 

4 fiscal year; and 

5 ‘‘(iii) includes a plan for the NCC for 

6 the subsequent fiscal year; and 

7 ‘‘(H) include any other terms and condi8 tions that the Secretary determines to be appro9 priate. 

10 ‘‘(2) TERMINATION OF AGREEMENT.—The Sec11 retary may terminate the cooperative agreement en12 tered into under paragraph (1) if the Secretary de13 termines that termination is in the best interest of 

14 the public. 

15 ‘‘(3) EFFECT ON EXISTING AGREEMENT.—The 

16 agreement between the National Park Service and 

17 the NCC numbered CA–4450–99–9018 shall remain 

18 in effect until the date on which— 

19 ‘‘(A) the agreement is terminated in ac20 cordance with the terms of the agreement; or 

21 ‘‘(B) a cooperative agreement is entered 

22 into under paragraph (1). 

23 ‘‘(4) ADMINISTRATION OF INDEPENDENCE NA24 TIONAL HISTORICAL PARK.—Nothing in this sub25 section affects the authority of the Secretary to 
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1 enter into a contract or other agreement with any 

2 organization or entity that provides for the adminis3 tration of Independence National Historical Park so 

4 long as the agreement does not conflict with the co5 operative agreement entered into under paragraph 

6 (1). 

7 ‘‘(5) EXEMPTION FROM APPLICABLE LAW.—An 

8 agreement, lease, contract, or other arrangement en9 tered into under paragraph (1) shall not be subject 

10 to section 3(k) of Public Law 91–383 (16 U.S.C. 

11 1a–2(k)), section 321 of the Act of June 30, 1939 

12 (40 U.S.C. 303(b)), or section 403 of the National 

13 Parks Omnibus Management Act of 1998 (16 

14 U.S.C. 5952).’’. 

15 SEC. 4. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS. 

16 (a) Section 3 of the Constitution Heritage Act of 

17 1988 (16 U.S.C. 407bb) is amended— 

18 (1) in the second sentence of subsection (a), by 

19 striking ‘‘Center’’ and inserting ‘‘NCC’’; and 

20 (2) in subsection (b)— 

21 (A) in the subsection heading, by striking 

22 ‘‘CENTER’’ and inserting ‘‘NCC’’; 

23 (B) in the matter before paragraph (1), by 

24 striking ‘‘Center’’ and inserting ‘‘NCC’’; and 
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1 (C) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘Cen2 ter’s’’ and inserting ‘‘NCC’s’’. 

3 (b) Section 4 of the Constitution Heritage Act of 

4 1988 (16 U.S.C. 407cc) is amended— 

5 (1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘CEN6 TER’’ and inserting ‘‘NCC’’; 

7 (2) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘Center’’ each 

8 place it appears and inserting ‘‘NCC’’; and 

9 (3) in subsection (b)— 

10 (A) in the subsection heading, by striking 

11 ‘‘CENTER’’ and inserting ‘‘NCC’’; 

12 (B) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘Cen13 ter’’ the second place it appears and inserting 

14 ‘‘NCC’’; and 

15 (C) in the second sentence, by striking 

16 ‘‘National Constitution Center’’ and inserting 

17 ‘‘NCC’’. 

18 (c) Section 5 of the Constitution Heritage Act of 

19 1988 (16 U.S.C. 407cc) is amended in subsections (c) and 

20 (e) by striking ‘‘National Constitution Center’’ each place 

21 it appears and inserting ‘‘NCC’’.

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