II

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2133

To authorize the establishment of the Center for American Cultural Heritage

within the National Museum of American History of the Smithsonian

Institution, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

SEPTEMBER 26, 1996

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

to the Committee on Rules and Administration

A BILL

To authorize the establishment of the Center for American

Cultural Heritage within the National Museum of American History of the Smithsonian Institution, 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 ‘‘Center for American

5 Cultural Heritage Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 Congress finds the following:
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1 (1) The history of the United States is in large

2 measure the history of how the United States was

3 populated.

4 (2) The evolution of the American population is

5 broadly termed the ‘‘peopling of America’’ and is

6 characterized by the movement of groups of people

7 across external and internal boundaries of the Unit8 ed States as well as by the interactions of such

9 groups with each other.

10 (3) Each of these groups has made unique, im11 portant contributions to American history, culture,

12 art, and life.

13 (4) The spiritual, intellectual, cultural, political,

14 and economic vitality of the United States is a result

15 of the pluralism and diversity of the population.

16 (5) The Smithsonian Institution operates 16

17 museums and galleries, a zoological park, and 5

18 major research facilities. None of these public enti19 ties is a national institution dedicated to presenting

20 the history of the peopling of the United States as

21 described in paragraph (2).

22 (6) The respective missions of the National Mu23 seum of American History of the Smithsonian Insti24 tution and the Ellis Island Immigration Museum of

25 the National Park Service limit the ability of such
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1 museums to present fully and adequately the history

2 of the diverse population and rich cultures of the

3 United States.

4 (7) The absence of a national facility dedicated

5 solely to presenting the history of the peopling of the

6 United States restricts the ability of the citizens of

7 the United States to fully understand the rich and

8 varied heritage of the United States derived from

9 the unique histories of many peoples from many

10 lands.

11 (8) The establishment of a Center for American

12 Cultural Heritage to conduct educational and inter13 pretive programs on the history of the United

14 States’ multiethnic, multiracial character will help to

15 inspire and better inform the citizens of the United

16 States about the rich and diverse cultural heritage

17 of the citizens of the United States.

18 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE CENTER FOR AMERICAN

19 CULTURAL HERITAGE.

20 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established within

21 the National Museum of American History of the Smithso22 nian Institution a facility that shall be known as the ‘‘Cen23 ter for American Cultural Heritage’’.

24 (b) PURPOSES OF THE CENTER.—The purposes of

25 the Center are to—
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1 (1) promote knowledge of the life, art, culture,

2 and history of the many groups of people who com3 prise the United States;

4 (2) illustrate how such groups cooperated, com5 peted, or otherwise interacted with each other; and

6 (3) explain how the diverse, individual experi7 ences of each group collectively helped forge a uni8 fied national experience.

9 (c) COMPONENTS OF THE CENTER.—The Center

10 shall include—

11 (1) a location for permanent and temporary ex12 hibits depicting the historical process by which the

13 United States was populated;

14 (2) a center for research and scholarship relat15 ing to the life, art, culture, and history of the groups

16 of people of the United States;

17 (3) a repository for the collection, study, and

18 preservation of artifacts, artworks, and documents

19 relating to the diverse population of the United

20 States;

21 (4) a venue for public education programs de22 signed to explicate the multicultural past and

23 present of the United States;

24 (5) a location for the development of a stand25 ardized index of documents, artifacts, and artworks
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1 in collections that are held by the Smithsonian Insti2 tution and classified in a manner consistent with the

3 purposes of the Center;

4 (6) a clearinghouse for information on docu5 ments, artifacts, and artworks on the groups of peo6 ple of the United States that may be available to re7 searchers, scholars, or the general public through

8 non-Smithsonian collections, such as documents, ar9 tifacts, and artworks of such groups held by other

10 Federal agencies, museums, universities, individuals,

11 and foreign institutions;

12 (7) a folklife center committed to highlighting

13 the cultural expressions of various peoples within the

14 United States;

15 (8) a center to promote mutual understanding

16 and tolerance among the groups of people of the

17 United States through exhibits, films, brochures,

18 and other appropriate means;

19 (9) an oral history library developed through

20 interviews with volunteers, including visitors;

21 (10) a location for a visitor center that shall

22 provide individually tailored orientation guides for

23 visitors to all Smithsonian Institution facilities;

24 (11) a location for the training of museum pro25 fessionals and others in the arts, humanities, and
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1 sciences with respect to museum practices relating

2 to the life, art, history, and culture of the various

3 groups of people of the United States; and

4 (12) a location for developing, testing, dem5 onstrating, evaluating, and implementing new mu6 seum-related technologies that assist to fulfill the

7 purposes of the Center, enhance the operation of the

8 Center, and improve accessibility of the Center.

9 SEC. 4. LOCATION AND CONSTRUCTION.

10 (a) LOCATION.—The Center shall be located in new

11 or existing Smithsonian Institution facilities on or near

12 the National Mall located in the District of Columbia.

13 (b) CONSTRUCTION.—The Board of Regents is au14 thorized to plan, design, reconstruct, or construct appro15 priate facilities to house the Center.

16 SEC. 5. DIRECTOR AND STAFF.

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Smithsonian

18 Institution shall appoint and fix the compensation and du19 ties of a Director, Assistant Director, Secretary, and Chief

20 Curator of the Center and any other officers and employ21 ees necessary for the operation of the Center. The Director

22 of the Center shall report to the Director of the National

23 Museum of American History. The Director, Assistant Di24 rector, Secretary, and Chief Curator shall be qualified
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1 through experience and training to perform the duties of

2 their offices.

3 (b) APPLICABILITY OF CERTAIN CIVIL SERVICE

4 LAWS.—The Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution

5 may—

6 (1) appoint the Director and 5 employees under

7 subsection (a), without regard to the provisions of

8 title 5, United States Code, governing appointments

9 in the competitive service; and

10 (2) fix the pay of the Director and such 5 em11 ployees, without regard to the provisions of chapter

12 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of such title,

13 relating to classification and General Schedule pay

14 rates.

15 SEC. 6. ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON AMERICAN CULTURAL

16 HERITAGE.

17 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF ADVISORY COMMITTEE.—

18 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established an

19 advisory committee to be known as the ‘‘Advisory

20 Committee on American Cultural Heritage’’.

21 (2) MEMBERSHIP.—

22 (A) COMPOSITION.—The Committee shall

23 be composed of 15 members who shall—

24 (i) be appointed by the Secretary;
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1 (ii) have expertise in immigration his2 tory, ethnic studies, museum science, or

3 any other academic or professional field

4 that involves matters relating to the cul5 tural heritage of the citizens of the United

6 States; and

7 (iii) reflect the diversity of the citizens

8 of the United States.

9 (B) INITIAL APPOINTMENTS.—The initial

10 appointments of the members of the Committee

11 shall be made not later than 6 months after the

12 date of enactment of this Act.

13 (3) PERIOD OF APPOINTMENT; VACANCIES.—

14 Members shall be appointed for the life of the Com15 mittee. Any vacancy in the Committee shall not af16 fect its powers, but shall be filled in the same man17 ner as the original appointment.

18 (4) INITIAL MEETING.—Not later than 30 days

19 after the date on which all members of the Commit20 tee have been appointed, the Committee shall hold

21 its first meeting.

22 (5) MEETINGS.—The Committee shall meet at

23 the call of the Chairperson, but shall meet not less

24 than 2 times each fiscal year.
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1 (6) QUORUM.—A majority of the members of

2 the Committee shall constitute a quorum, but a less3 er number of members may hold hearings.

4 (7) CHAIRPERSON AND VICE CHAIRPERSON.—

5 The Committee shall select a Chairperson and Vice

6 Chairperson from among its members.

7 (b) DUTIES OF THE COMMITTEE.—The Committee

8 shall advise the Secretary, the Director of the National

9 Museum of American History, and the Director of the

10 Center on policies and programs affecting the Center.

11 (c) COMMITTEE PERSONNEL MATTERS.—

12 (1) COMPENSATION OF MEMBERS.—Each mem13 ber of the Committee who is not an officer or em14 ployee of the Federal Government shall be com15 pensated at a rate equal to the daily equivalent of

16 the annual rate of basic pay prescribed for level IV

17 of the Executive Schedule under section 5315 of title

18 5, United States Code, for each day (including travel

19 time) during which such member is engaged in the

20 performance of the duties of the Committee. All

21 members of the Committee who are officers or em22 ployees of the United States shall serve without com23 pensation in addition to that received for their serv24 ices as officers or employees of the United States.
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1 (2) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—The members of the

2 Committee shall be allowed travel expenses, includ3 ing per diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates author4 ized for employees of agencies under subchapter I of

5 chapter 57 of title 5, United States Code, while

6 away from their homes or regular places of business

7 in the performance of services for the Committee.

8 (3) STAFF.—

9 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Chairperson of the

10 Committee may, without regard to the civil

11 service laws and regulations, appoint and termi12 nate an executive director and such other addi13 tional personnel as may be necessary to enable

14 the Committee to perform its duties. The em15 ployment of an executive director shall be sub16 ject to confirmation by the Committee.

17 (B) COMPENSATION.—The Chairperson of

18 the Committee may fix the compensation of the

19 executive director and other personnel without

20 regard to the provisions of chapter 51 and sub21 chapter III of chapter 53 of title 5, United

22 States Code, relating to classification of posi23 tions and General Schedule pay rates, except

24 that the rate of pay for the executive director

25 and other personnel may not exceed the rate
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1 payable for level V of the Executive Schedule

2 under section 5316 of such title.

3 (4) DETAIL OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES.—

4 Any Federal Government employee may be detailed

5 to the Committee without reimbursement, and such

6 detail shall be without interruption or loss of civil

7 service status or privilege.

8 (5) PROCUREMENT OF TEMPORARY AND INTER9 MITTENT SERVICES.—The Chairperson of the Com10 mittee may procure temporary and intermittent serv11 ices under section 3109(b) of title 5, United States

12 Code, at rates for individuals which do not exceed

13 the daily equivalent of the annual rate of basic pay

14 prescribed for level V of the Executive Schedule

15 under section 5316 of such title.

16 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS.

17 As used in this Act:

18 (1) BOARD OF REGENTS.—The term ‘‘Board of

19 Regents’’ means the Board of Regents of the Smith20 sonian Institution.

21 (2) CENTER.—The term ‘‘Center’’ means the

22 Center for American Cultural Heritage established

23 under section 3(a).
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1 (3) COMMITTEE.—The term ‘‘Committee’’

2 means the advisory Committee on American Cultural

3 Heritage established under section 8(a).

4 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

5 the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution.

6 SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

7 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out

8 this Act such sums as may be necessary for each fiscal

9 year.

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