I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3169 

To revise the composition of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution so that all members are individuals appointed by the President 

from a list of nominees submitted by the leadership of the Congress, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 22, 2015 

Ms. NORTON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on House Administration 

A BILL 

To revise the composition of the Board of Regents of the 

Smithsonian Institution so that all members are individuals appointed by the President from a list of nominees 

submitted by the leadership of the Congress, 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 ‘‘Smithsonian Mod5 ernization Act of 2015’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. APPOINTMENT OF MEMBERS OF SMITHSONIAN 

2 BOARD OF REGENTS. 

3 (a) NUMBER OF MEMBERS; APPOINTMENT OF ALL

4 MEMBERS FROM LIST OF NOMINEES.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 5580(a) of the Re6 vised Statutes of the United States (20 U.S.C. 

7 42(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘to be composed of’’ 

8 and all that follows and inserting the following: ‘‘to 

9 be composed of 21 members appointed by the Presi10 dent from among the list of nominees submitted 

11 under subsection (b), of whom 2 shall be residents 

12 of the District of Columbia.’’. 

13 (2) LIST OF NOMINEES.—Section 5580 of the 

14 Revised Statutes of the United States (20 U.S.C. 

15 42(a)) is amended— 

16 (A) by redesignating subsection (b) as sub17 section (c); and 

18 (B) by inserting after subsection (a) the 

19 following new subsection: 

20 ‘‘(b) The Speaker of the House of Representatives 

21 and the Majority Leader of the Senate shall each submit 

22 to the President a list of 12 nominees for appointment 

23 as members of the Board of Regents.’’. 

24 (3) REVISION OF QUORUM.—Section 5582 of 

25 the Revised Statutes of the United States (20 

26 U.S.C. 44) is amended by striking ‘‘eight shall conVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:39 Jul 25, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3169.IH H3169

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1 stitute a quorum’’ and inserting ‘‘17 shall constitute 

2 a quorum’’. 

3 (4) NO EFFECT ON CURRENT CITIZEN RE4 GENTS.—Nothing in the amendments made by this 

5 subsection may be construed to affect the authority 

6 of any individual who serves as a Regent of the 

7 Smithsonian Institution as of the date of the enact8 ment of this Act pursuant to a joint resolution of 

9 the Congress to continue to serve as a Regent after 

10 that date. 

11 (b) UNIFORM TERM OF SERVICE.—Section 5581 of 

12 the Revised Statutes of the United States (20 U.S.C. 43) 

13 is amended to read as follows: 

14 ‘‘SEC. 5581. (a) Except as provided in subsections 

15 (b) and (c), each Regent of the Smithsonian Institution 

16 shall be appointed for a term of 6 years, and may be re17 appointed for additional terms. 

18 ‘‘(b) Of the Regents who are appointed after the date 

19 of the enactment of the Smithsonian Modernization Act 

20 of 2015 who were not serving as Regents prior to that 

21 date— 

22 ‘‘(1) 4 shall be appointed for a term of 2 years 

23 (as designated in the joint resolution under which 

24 they are appointed) and may be reappointed for ad25 ditional terms of 6 years; and 


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1 ‘‘(2) 4 shall be appointed for a term of 4 years 

2 (as designated in the joint resolution under which 

3 they are appointed) and may be reappointed for ad4 ditional terms of 6 years. 

5 ‘‘(c) Any Regent appointed to fill a vacancy occurring 

6 before the expiration of the term for which the Regent’s 

7 predecessor was appointed shall be appointed only for the 

8 remainder of that term. A Regent may serve after the ex9 piration of that Regent’s term until a successor has taken 

10 office.’’. 

Æ 


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