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103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 3567

To amend the John F. Kennedy Center Act to transfer operating responsibilities to the Board of Trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for

the Performing Arts, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

NOVEMBER 19, 1993

Mr. MINETA (for himself, Mr. MCDADE, Mr. WILSON, Mr. VENTO, Mr.

TRAFICANT, Mr. DUNCAN, and Ms. NORTON) (all by request) introduced

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Public Works

and Transportation

A BILL

To amend the John F. Kennedy Center Act to transfer

operating responsibilities to the Board of Trustees of

the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts,

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 ‘‘John F. Kennedy Cen5 ter Act Amendments of 1993’’.
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1 SEC. 2. BUREAU, BOARD OF TRUSTEES, AND ADVISORY

2 COMMITTEE.

3 Section 2 of the John F. Kennedy Center Act (here4 after referred to as the ‘‘Act’’) (20 U.S.C. 76h) is amend5 ed—

6 (1) by redesignating subsections (a), (b), and

7 (c) as subsections (b), (c), and (d);

8 (2) by inserting before subsection (b) (as redes9 ignated in paragraph (1)) the following new sub10 sections:

11 ‘‘(a) The Congress finds that—

12 ‘‘(1) the late John Fitzgerald Kennedy served

13 with distinction as President of the United States,

14 and as a Member of the Senate and the House of

15 Representatives;

16 ‘‘(2) by the untimely death of John Fitzgerald

17 Kennedy this Nation and the world have suffered a

18 great loss;

19 ‘‘(3) the late John Fitzgerald Kennedy was par20 ticularly devoted to education and cultural under21 standing and the advancement of the performing

22 arts;

23 ‘‘(4) it is fitting and proper that a living insti24 tution of the performing arts, designated as the Na25 tional Center for the Performing Arts, named in the

26 memory and honor of this great leader, shall serve
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1 as the sole national monument to his memory within

2 the city of Washington and its environs;

3 ‘‘(5) such a living memorial serves all of the

4 people of the United States by preserving, fostering,

5 and transmitting the performing arts traditions of

6 the people of this Nation and other countries by pro7 ducing and presenting music, opera, theater, dance,

8 and other performing arts; and

9 ‘‘(6) such a living memorial should be housed in

10 the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing

11 Arts, located in the District of Columbia.’’;

12 (3) in subsection (b) (as redesignated in para13 graph (1)),

14 (A) in the first sentence, by inserting ‘‘as

15 the National Center for the Performing Arts, a

16 living memorial to John Fitzgerald Kennedy,’’

17 after ‘‘thereof’’; and

18 (B) in the second sentence—by striking

19 ‘‘Chairman of the District of Columbia Recre20 ation Board’’ and inserting ‘‘Superintendent of

21 Schools of the District of Columbia’’;

22 (4) by amending subsection (c) (as redesignated

23 in paragraph (1)) to read as follows:

24 ‘‘(c) The general trustees shall be appointed by the

25 President of the United States and each such trustee shall
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1 hold office as a member of the Board for a term of 6 years,

2 except that—

3 ‘‘(1) any member appointed to fill a vacancy oc4 curring prior to the expiration of the term for which

5 such member’s predecessor was appointed shall be

6 appointed for the remainder of such term;

7 ‘‘(2) a member shall continue to serve until

8 such member’s successor has been appointed; and

9 ‘‘(3) the term of office of a member appointed

10 prior to the date of enactment of this subsection

11 shall expire as designated at the time of appoint12 ment.’’;

13 (5) in subsection (d) (as redesignated in para14 graph (1)),

15 (A) in the first sentence, by inserting ‘‘of

16 the United States’’ after ‘‘President’’ and be17 fore ‘‘may’’;

18 (B) in the fourth sentence, by striking

19 ‘‘in’’ after ‘‘cultural activities to be carried on’’

20 and substituting ‘‘by’’; and

21 (C) by inserting a period after ‘‘compensa22 tion’’ and striking the remainder of the last

23 sentence.

24 (6) EFFECTIVE DATE FOR CERTAIN APPOINT25 MENTS.—The appointment made pursuant to the
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1 amendment made by clause (ii) of subsection (3)(B)

2 shall not commence until the expiration of the term

3 of the chairman of the District of Columbia Recre4 ation Board, serving as a trustee of the John F.

5 Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on the date

6 of enactment of this Act.

7 SEC. 3. PRESENTATIONS, PROGRAMS, FACILITIES FOR AC8 TIVITIES, AND MEMORIAL IN HONOR OF THE

9 LATE PRESIDENT; RESTRICTION ON ADDI10 TIONAL MEMORIALS.

11 Subsection (a) of section 4 of the Act (20 U.S.C. 76j)

12 is amended to read as follows:

13 ‘‘(a)(1) The Board shall—

14 ‘‘(A) present classical and contemporary music,

15 opera, drama, dance, and other performing arts

16 from the United States and other countries;

17 ‘‘(B) promote and maintain the Center as the

18 National Center for the Performing Arts by—

19 ‘‘(i) developing and maintaining a leader20 ship role in national performing arts education

21 policy and programs, including developing and

22 presenting original and innovative performing

23 arts and educational programs for children,

24 youth, families, adults, and educators designed
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1 specifically to foster an appreciation and under2 standing of the performing arts;

3 ‘‘(ii) developing and maintaining, a com4 prehensive and broad program for national and

5 community outreach, including establishing

6 model programs for adaptation by other pre7 senting and educational institutions; and

8 ‘‘(iii) conducting joint initiatives with the

9 national education and outreach programs of

10 the Very Special Arts, an entity affiliated with

11 the John F. Kennedy Center for the Perform12 ing Arts which has an established program for

13 the identification, development and implementa14 tion of model programs and projects in the arts

15 for disabled individuals;

16 ‘‘(C) strive to ensure that the John F. Kennedy

17 Center for the Performing Arts education and out18 reach programs and policies meet the highest level of

19 excellence and reflect the cultural diversity of the

20 Nation;

21 ‘‘(D) provide facilities for other civic activities

22 at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing

23 Arts;
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1 ‘‘(E) provide within the John F. Kennedy Cen2 ter for the Performing Arts a suitable memorial in

3 honor of the late President;

4 ‘‘(F) develop a comprehensive building needs

5 plan for the existing features of the John F. Ken6 nedy Center for the Performing Arts;

7 ‘‘(G) plan, design, and construct all major cap8 ital projects at the John F. Kennedy Center for the

9 Performing Arts; and

10 ‘‘(H) provide information and interpretation; all

11 maintenance, repair, and alteration of the building;

12 and janitorial, security, and all other services nec13 essary for operating the building and site.

14 ‘‘(2)(A) The Board, in accordance with applicable

15 law, may enter into contracts or other arrangements with,

16 and make payments to, public agencies or private organi17 zations or persons in order to carry out the Board’s func18 tions under this Act. This includes, but is not limited to,

19 utilizing the services and facilities of other agencies, in20 cluding the Department of the Interior, General Services

21 Administration, and Smithsonian Institution.

22 ‘‘(B) The Board shall prepare a budget pursuant to

23 31 U.S.C. sections 1104 and 1105(a) and subject to 31

24 U.S.C. section 1513(b).
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1 ‘‘(C) The Board may utilize or employ the services

2 of personnel of any agency or instrumentality of the Fed3 eral Government or of the District of Columbia, with the

4 consent of the agency or the instrumentality concerned,

5 upon a reimbursable basis, or utilize voluntary or uncom6 pensated personnel.

7 ‘‘(D) In carrying out its duties under this Act, the

8 Board may negotiate any contract for an environmental

9 system, a protection system or a repair to, maintenance

10 of, or restoration of the John F. Kennedy Center for the

11 Performing Arts with selected contractors and award the

12 contract on the basis of contractor qualifications as well

13 as price.

14 ‘‘(E) The Board shall maintain the Hall of Nations,

15 the Hall of States, and the Grand Foyer in a manner that

16 is suitable to a national performing arts center that is op17 erated as a Presidential memorial.’’

18 SEC. 4. OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES, REVIEW OF BOARD

19 ACTIONS.

20 Section 5 of the Act (20 U.S.C. 76k) is amended—

21 (1) in the first sentence of subsection (a), by

22 striking ‘‘Smithsonian Institution’’ and inserting

23 ‘‘John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts,

24 as a bureau of the Smithsonian Institution,’’;

25 (2) in subsection (b)—
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1 (A) in the section heading, by deleting

2 ‘‘DIRECTOR, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR,’’ and in3 serting ‘‘CHAIRPERSON’’.

4 (B) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘di5 rector, an assistant director, and a secretary of

6 the John F. Kennedy Center for the Perform7 ing Arts and of’’ and inserting ‘‘chairperson of

8 the John F. Kennedy Center for the Perform9 ing Arts (hereafter in this Act referred to as

10 the ‘chairperson’), who shall serve as the chief

11 executive officer of the Center, and a secretary

12 of the Center. The chairperson may appoint a

13 senior level executive who, by virtue of the indi14 vidual’s background, shall be well suited to be

15 responsible for facilities management and serv16 ices and who may, without regard to the provi17 sions of title 5, be appointed and compensated

18 with appropriated funds, provided that com19 pensation does not exceed the maximum rate of

20 pay under 5 U.S.C. section 5376 for Senior21 Level IV positions, and’’

22 (C) in the last sentence by striking ‘‘direc23 tor, assistant director,’’ and inserting ‘‘chair24 person’’; and
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1 (3) by redesignating subsection (c) as sub2 section (e) in this section, and amending it to read

3 as follows:

4 ‘‘(e) The actions of the Board relating to performing

5 arts and to payments made or directed to be made by it

6 from any trust funds shall not be subject to review by any

7 officer or agency other than a court of law.’’; and

8 (4) by adding after subsection (b) the following

9 new subsections:

10 ‘‘(c) TRANSFER.—The property, liabilities, contracts,

11 records, and unexpended balance of appropriations, au12 thorizations, allocations and other funds employed, held,

13 used, arising from, available to or to be made available

14 in connection with the functions transferred from the Sec15 retary of the Interior by enactment of this law, subject

16 to 31 U.S.C. section 1531, shall be transferred to the

17 Board as the Board and the Secretary of the Interior may

18 determine, but not later than October 1, 1995. Unex19 pended funds transferred pursuant to this subsection shall

20 be used only for the purposes for, and subject to the terms

21 under, which the funds were originally authorized and ap22 propriated.

23 ‘‘(d) TRANSFER OF PERSONNEL.—Employees of the

24 National Park Service assigned to duties related to those

25 functions being undertaken by the Board will be trans-
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1 ferred with their functions to the John F. Kennedy Center

2 Board of Trustees not later than October 1, 1995. These

3 employees shall remain in the Federal competitive service

4 retaining all benefits and rights provided under title 5 of

5 the United States Code. For a period of not less than

6 three years, transferred employees will retain the right of

7 priority consideration under merit promotion procedures

8 or lateral reassignment for all vacancies within the De9 partment of the Interior. All United States Park Police

10 employees assigned to the John F. Kennedy Center will

11 remain employees of the National Park Service. Appro12 priations provided for the John F. Kennedy Center for the

13 Performing Arts will bear all costs associated with adverse

14 action or grievance procedures resulting from this transfer

15 of function, and from the abolishment of law enforcement

16 and security services performed by the United States Park

17 Police which are incurred during the transition period

18 when the United States Park Police are performing func19 tions within the building and site of the John F. Kennedy

20 Center for the Performing Arts. Nothing contained herein

21 shall, following the transfer specified herein, be deemed

22 to prohibit the Board of Trustees from reorganizing func23 tions at the Center in accord with the law governing such

24 reorganizations.’’
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1 SEC. 5. OFFICIAL SEAL, BOARD VACANCIES, AND QUORUM,

2 TRUSTEE POWERS AND OBLIGATIONS, RE3 PORTS, NATIONAL PARK SERVICE INTERPRE4 TIVE FUNCTIONS, SUPPORT SERVICES, RE5 VIEWS AND AUDIT, SECRETARY OF THE INTE6 RIOR’S FUNCTIONS, ESTABLISHMENT OF

7 FUND.

8 Section 6 of the Act (20 U.S.C. 761) is amended—

9 (1) in subsection (c)—by striking ‘‘its’’ and in10 serting ‘‘the Board’s’’;

11 (2) by striking subsection (e); and

12 (3) by striking subsection (f) and inserting the

13 following new subsections—

14 ‘‘(f) The General Accounting Office shall review and

15 audit, at least every 3 years, the accounts of the John

16 F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts for the pur17 pose of examining expenditures of funds appropriated

18 under authority provided herein.

19 ‘‘(g) The functions of the Board funded by amounts

20 appropriated under section 12 shall be subject to the re21 quirements of the Inspector General Act of 1978, as

22 amended. The Inspector General of the Smithsonian Insti23 tution is authorized to carry out the requirements of that

24 Act on behalf of the Board, on a reimbursable basis.

25 ‘‘(h) The Board may procure insurance against any

26 loss in connection with its property and other assets ad-
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1 ministered by it. The Board’s employees and volunteers

2 shall be deemed civil employees of the United States with3 in the meaning of the term ‘employee’ as defined in 5

4 U.S.C. section 8101, except that the Board shall continue

5 to provide benefits with respect to any disability or death

6 resulting from an injury to its nonappropriated fund em7 ployees pursuant to the District of Columbia workers com8 pensation statute; and such benefits, whether under work9 ers compensation statutes or the Federal Employees Com10 pensation Act, shall continue to be the exclusive liability

11 of the Board and the United States with respect to all

12 employees and volunteers; but in no circumstance may an

13 employee bring suit against the United States under the

14 Federal Tort Claims Procedure, chapter 171 of title 28

15 of the United States Code, for disability or death resulting

16 from personal injury sustained while in the performance

17 of the employee’s duties for the Board.

18 ‘‘(i) Any settlement, award or judgment, made or en19 tered pursuant to chapter 171 of title 28 of the United

20 States Code, arising from any act or omission of a Ken21 nedy Center Board employee in the performance of a

22 nonappropriated fund activity, shall be paid only from

23 funds available to the Board for its performing arts activi24 ties.’’
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1 SEC. 6. TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.

2 Section 10 of the Act (20 U.S.C. 76p) is amended—

3 (1) by striking ‘‘he’’ and inserting ‘‘the Sec4 retary’’; and

5 (2) by striking ‘‘his’’ and inserting ‘‘the Sec6 retary’s’’.

7 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

8 The Act is amended by inserting at the end thereof

9 the following new section 12 (20 U.S.C. 76r):

10 ‘‘SEC. 12. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

11 ‘‘(a) MAINTENANCE, REPAIR AND SECURITY.—There

12 are authorized to be appropriated to the Board

13 $12,000,000 for fiscal year 1995 and each succeeding fis14 cal year through fiscal year 1999 to carry out subpara15 graph (H) of section 4(a)(1).

16 ‘‘(b) CAPITAL PROJECTS.—There are authorized to

17 be appropriated to the Board $9,000,000 for fiscal year

18 1994 and each succeeding fiscal year through fiscal year

19 1999 to carry out subparagraphs (F) and (G) of section

20 4(a)(1).

21 ‘‘(c) FEDERAL FUNDS.—No funds appropriated pur22 suant to this section shall be used for the direct expenses

23 incurred in the production of performing arts attractions,

24 or for personnel (including supplies and equipment used

25 by them) who are involved in performing arts administra26 tion, or for production, staging, public relations, market-
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1 ing, fundraising, ticket sales, and education. However,

2 funds appropriated directly to the Board shall not affect

3 nor diminish other Federal funds sought for performing

4 arts functions and may be used to reimburse the Board

5 for that portion of costs that are Federal costs reasonably

6 allocated to building services and theater maintenance and

7 repairs.’’

8 SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS.

9 The Act is amended by inserting at the end thereof

10 a new section 13 (20 U.S.C. 76s)—

11 ‘‘SEC. 13. DEFINITIONS.

12 ‘‘For the purpose of this Act—

13 ‘‘(1) the term ‘capital projects’ means capital

14 repairs, replacements, improvements, rehabilitations,

15 alterations, and modifications to the existing fea16 tures of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Per17 forming Arts building and the site, including the

18 theaters, garage, plaza, and building walkways;

19 ‘‘(2) the term ‘maintenance, repair, and secu20 rity services’ means all services and equipment nec21 essary to maintain and operate the existing features

22 of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing

23 Arts building and the site, including the theater, ga24 rage, plaza, and building walkways in a manner con-
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1 sistent with the requirements for high quality oper2 ations;

3 ‘‘(3) the terms ‘building and site of the John F.

4 Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts’ and

5 ‘grounds of the John F. Kennedy Center for the

6 Performing Arts’ mean the site in the District of

7 Columbia on which the John F. Kennedy Center

8 building is constructed and which extends to the line

9 of the west face of the west retaining walls and

10 curbs of the Inner Loop Freeway on the east, the

11 north face of the north retaining walls and curbs of

12 the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge approaches on the

13 south, the east face of the east retaining walls and

14 curbs of Rock Creek Parkway on the west, and the

15 south curbs of New Hampshire Avenue and F Street

16 on the north.’’

17 SEC. 9. RULES AND REGULATIONS.

18 Sections 193r, 193u, and 193v of title 40 are amend19 ed as follows:

20 (1) 40 U.S.C. section 193r is amended by strik21 ing ‘‘and’’ after ‘‘Institution’’ and substituting a

22 comma, and by adding ‘‘, and the Trustees of the

23 John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts,’’

24 after ‘‘National Gallery of Art’’;
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1 (2) 40 U.S.C. section 103u is amended by strik2 ing ‘‘and’’ after ‘‘Institution’’ where ‘‘Institution’’

3 twice appears, and substituting in both places a

4 comma, and by adding ‘‘, and the Trustees of the

5 John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts,’’

6 after ‘‘National Gallery of Art’’ in both places where

7 ‘‘National Gallery of Art’’ appears; and

8 (3) 40 U.S.C. section 193v is amended by add9 ing a new subsection (3)—

10 ‘‘(3) The site of the John F. Kennedy Center

11 for the Performing Arts, which shall be held to ex12 tend to the line of the west face of the west retain13 ing walls and curbs of the Inner Loop Freeway on

14 the east, the north face of the north retaining walls

15 and curbs of the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge ap16 proaches on the south, the east face of the east re17 taining walls and curbs of Rock Creek Parkway on

18 the west, and the south curbs of New Hampshire

19 Avenue and F Street on the north.’’

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