I

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3887

To authorize the Secretary of Transportation to convey the vessel USS

SPHINX to the Rio Grande Military Museum for use as a military museum.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 23, 1994

Mr. ORTIZ introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee

on Merchant Marine and Fisheries

A BILL

To authorize the Secretary of Transportation to convey the

vessel USS SPHINX to the Rio Grande Military Museum for use as a military museum.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. AUTHORITY TO CONVEY VESSEL.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other law,

5 the Secretary of Transportation may convey the right,

6 title, and interest of the United States Government in and

7 to the vessel USS SPHINX (ARL–24), to the Rio Grande

8 Military Museum (a not-for-profit corporation, hereinafter

9 in this Act referred to as the ‘‘recipient’’) for use as a

10 military museum, if—
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1 (1) the recipient agrees to use the vessel as a

2 nonprofit military museum;

3 (2) the vessel is not used for commercial trans4 portation purposes;

5 (3) the recipient agrees to make the vessel

6 available to the Government when the Secretary re7 quires use of the vessel by the Government;

8 (4) the recipient agrees that when the recipient

9 no longer requires the vessel for use as a military

10 museum—

11 (A) the recipient will at the discretion of

12 the Secretary, reconvey the vessel to the Gov13 ernment in good condition except for ordinary

14 wear and tear; or

15 (B) if the Board of Directors of the recipi16 ent has decided to dissolve the recipient accord17 ing to the laws of the State of Texas, then—

18 (i) the recipient shall distribute the

19 vessel, as an asset of the recipient, to a

20 person that has been determined exempt

21 from taxation under the provisions of sec22 tion 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue

23 Code, or to the Federal Government or a

24 State or local government for a public pur25 pose; and
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1 (ii) the vessel shall be disposed of by

2 a court of competent jurisdiction of the

3 county in which the principal office of the

4 recipient is located, for such purposes as

5 the court shall determine, or to such orga6 nizations as the court shall determine are

7 organized exclusively for public purposes;

8 (5) the recipient agrees to hold the Government

9 harmless for any claims arising from exposure to as10 bestos after conveyance of the vessel, except for

11 claims arising from use by the Government under

12 paragraph (3) or (4); and

13 (6) the recipient has available, for use to re14 store the vessel, in the form of cash, liquid assets,

15 or a written loan commitment, financial resources of

16 at least $100,000.

17 (b) DELIVERY OF VESSEL.—If a conveyance is made

18 under this Act, the Secretary shall deliver the vessel at

19 the place where the vessel is located on the date of enact20 ment of this Act, in its present condition, without cost to

21 the Government.

22 (c) OTHER UNNEEDED EQUIPMENT.—The Secretary

23 may also convey any unneeded equipment from other ves24 sels in the National Defense Reserve Fleet in order to re25 store the USS SPHINX (ARL–24) to museum quality.
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1 (d) RETENTION OF VESSEL IN NDRF.—The Sec2 retary shall retain in the National Defense Reserve Fleet

3 the vessel authorized to be conveyed under subsection (a),

4 until the earlier of—

5 (1) 2 years after the date of the enactment of

6 this Act; or

7 (2) the date of conveyance of the vessel under

8 subsection (a).

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