I

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2885

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

OCTOBER 6, 2000

Referred to the Committee on Government Reform

AN ACT

To establish the Jamestown 400th Commemoration

Commission, 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 ‘‘Jamestown 400th

5 Commemoration Commission Act of 2000’’.
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

2 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—

3 (1) the founding of the colony at Jamestown,

4 Virginia in 1607, the first permanent English colony

5 in the New World, and the capital of Virginia for 92

6 years, has major significance in the history of the

7 United States;

8 (2) the settlement brought people from

9 throughout the Atlantic Basin together to form a

10 multicultural society, including English, other Euro11 peans, Native Americans, and Africans;

12 (3) the economic, political, religious, and social

13 institutions that developed during the first 9 decades

14 of the existence of Jamestown continue to have pro15 found effects on the United States, particularly in

16 English common law and language, cross cultural re17 lationships, and economic structure and status;

18 (4) the National Park Service, the Association

19 for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities, and the

20 Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation of the Common21 wealth of Virginia collectively own and operate sig22 nificant resources related to the early history of

23 Jamestown; and

24 (5) in 1996—

25 (A) the Commonwealth of Virginia des26 ignated the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation
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1 as the State agency responsible for planning

2 and implementing the Commonwealth’s portion

3 of the commemoration of the 400th anniversary

4 of the founding of the Jamestown settlement;

5 (B) the Foundation created the Celebra6 tion 2007 Steering Committee, known as the

7 Jamestown 2007 Steering Committee; and

8 (C) planning for the commemoration

9 began.

10 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to estab11 lish the Jamestown 400th Commemoration Commission

12 to—

13 (1) ensure a suitable national observance of the

14 Jamestown 2007 anniversary by complementing the

15 programs and activities of the Commonwealth of

16 Virginia;

17 (2) cooperate with and assist the programs and

18 activities of the State in observance of the James19 town 2007 anniversary;

20 (3) assist in ensuring that Jamestown 2007 ob21 servances provide an excellent visitor experience and

22 beneficial interaction between visitors and the nat23 ural and cultural resources of the Jamestown sites;

24 (4) assist in ensuring that the Jamestown 2007

25 observances are inclusive and appropriately recognize
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1 the experiences of all people present in 17th century

2 Jamestown;

3 (5) provide assistance to the development of

4 Jamestown-related programs and activities;

5 (6) facilitate international involvement in the

6 Jamestown 2007 observances;

7 (7) support and facilitate marketing efforts for

8 a commemorative coin, stamp, and related activities

9 for the Jamestown 2007 observances; and

10 (8) assist in the appropriate development of

11 heritage tourism and economic benefits to the

12 United States.

13 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

14 In this Act:

15 (1) COMMEMORATION.—The term ‘‘commemo16 ration’’ means the commemoration of the 400th an17 niversary of the founding of the Jamestown settle18 ment.

19 (2) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’

20 means the Jamestown 400th Commemoration Com21 mission established by section 4(a).

22 (3) GOVERNOR.—The term ‘‘Governor’’ means

23 the Governor of Virginia.

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

25 the Secretary of the Interior.
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1 (5) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the Com2 monwealth of Virginia, including agencies and enti3 ties of the Commonwealth.

4 SEC. 4. JAMESTOWN 400TH COMMEMORATION COMMIS5 SION.

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is established a commission

7 to be known as the ‘‘Jamestown 400th Commemoration

8 Commission’’.

9 (b) MEMBERSHIP.—

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall be

11 composed of 15 members, of whom—

12 (A) 4 members shall be appointed by the

13 Secretary, taking into consideration the rec14 ommendations of the Chairperson of the James15 town 2007 Steering Committee;

16 (B) 4 members shall be appointed by the

17 Secretary, taking into consideration the rec18 ommendations of the Governor;

19 (C) 2 members shall be employees of the

20 National Park Service, of which—

21 (i) 1 shall be the Director of the Na22 tional Park Service (or a designee); and

23 (ii) 1 shall be an employee of the Na24 tional Park Service having experience rel-
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1 evant to the commemoration, to be ap2 pointed by the Secretary; and

3 (D) 5 members shall be individuals that

4 have an interest in, support for, and expertise

5 appropriate to, the commemoration, to be ap6 pointed by the Secretary.

7 (2) TERM; VACANCIES.—

8 (A) TERM.—A member of the Commission

9 shall be appointed for the life of the Commis10 sion.

11 (B) VACANCIES.—

12 (i) IN GENERAL.—A vacancy on the

13 Commission shall be filled in the same

14 manner in which the original appointment

15 was made.

16 (ii) PARTIAL TERM.—A member ap17 pointed to fill a vacancy on the Commis18 sion shall serve for the remainder of the

19 term for which the predecessor of the

20 member was appointed.

21 (3) MEETINGS.—

22 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall

23 meet—

24 (i) at least twice each year; or
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1 (ii) at the call of the Chairperson or

2 the majority of the members of the Com3 mission.

4 (B) INITIAL MEETING.—Not later than 30

5 days after the date on which all members of the

6 Commission have been appointed, the Commis7 sion shall hold the initial meeting of the Com8 mission.

9 (4) VOTING.—

10 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall

11 act only on an affirmative vote of a majority of

12 the members of the Commission.

13 (B) QUORUM.—A majority of the Commis14 sion shall constitute a quorum.

15 (5) CHAIRPERSON.—The Secretary shall ap16 point a Chairperson of the Commission, taking into

17 consideration any recommendations of the Governor.

18 (c) DUTIES.—

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall—

20 (A) plan, develop, and execute programs

21 and activities appropriate to commemorate the

22 400th anniversary of the founding of James23 town;

24 (B) generally facilitate Jamestown-related

25 activities throughout the United States;
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1 (C) encourage civic, patriotic, historical,

2 educational, religious, economic, and other or3 ganizations throughout the United States to or4 ganize and participate in anniversary activities

5 to expand the understanding and appreciation

6 of the significance of the founding and early

7 history of Jamestown;

8 (D) coordinate and facilitate for the public

9 scholarly research on, publication about, and in10 terpretation of, Jamestown; and

11 (E) ensure that the 400th anniversary of

12 Jamestown provides a lasting legacy and long13 term public benefit by assisting in the develop14 ment of appropriate programs and facilities.

15 (2) PLANS; REPORTS.—

16 (A) STRATEGIC PLAN; ANNUAL PERFORM17 ANCE PLANS.—In accordance with the Govern18 ment Performance and Results Act of 1993

19 (Public Law 103–62; 107 Stat. 285), the Com20 mission shall prepare a strategic plan and an21 nual performance plans for the activities of the

22 Commission carried out under this Act.

23 (B) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than Sep24 tember 30, 2008, the Commission shall com25 plete a final report that contains—
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1 (i) a summary of the activities of the

2 Commission;

3 (ii) a final accounting of funds re4 ceived and expended by the Commission;

5 and

6 (iii) the findings and recommenda7 tions of the Commission.

8 (d) POWERS OF THE COMMISSION.—The Commission

9 may—

10 (1) accept donations and make dispersions of

11 money, personal services, and real and personal

12 property related to Jamestown and of the signifi13 cance of Jamestown in the history of the United

14 States;

15 (2) appoint such advisory committees as the

16 Commission determines to be necessary to carry out

17 this Act;

18 (3) authorize any member or employee of the

19 Commission to take any action that the Commission

20 is authorized to take by this Act;

21 (4) procure supplies, services, and property, and

22 make or enter into contracts, leases or other legal

23 agreements, to carry out this Act (except that any

24 contracts, leases or other legal agreements made or
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1 entered into by the Commission shall not extend be2 yond the date of termination of the Commission);

3 (5) use the United States mails in the same

4 manner and under the same conditions as other

5 Federal agencies;

6 (6) subject to approval by the Commission,

7 make grants in amounts not to exceed $10,000 to

8 communities and nonprofit organizations to develop

9 programs to assist in the commemoration;

10 (7) make grants to research and scholarly orga11 nizations to research, publish, or distribute informa12 tion relating to the early history of Jamestown; and

13 (8) provide technical assistance to States, local14 ities, and nonprofit organizations to further the com15 memoration.

16 (e) COMMISSION PERSONNEL MATTERS.—

17 (1) COMPENSATION OF MEMBERS OF THE COM18 MISSION.—

19 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in

20 subparagraph (B), a member of the Commis21 sion shall serve without compensation.

22 (B) FEDERAL EMPLOYEES.—A member of

23 the Commission who is an officer or employee

24 of the Federal Government shall serve without

25 compensation in addition to the compensation
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1 received for the services of the member as an

2 officer or employee of the Federal Government.

3 (C) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—A member of the

4 Commission shall be allowed travel expenses, in5 cluding per diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates

6 authorized for an employee of an agency under

7 subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, United

8 States Code, while away from the home or reg9 ular place of business of the member in the per10 formance of the duties of the Commission.

11 (2) STAFF.—

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

13 Commission may, without regard to the civil

14 service laws (including regulations), appoint

15 and terminate an executive director and such

16 other additional personnel as are necessary to

17 enable the Commission to perform the duties of

18 the Commission.

19 (B) CONFIRMATION OF EXECUTIVE DIREC20 TOR.—The employment of an executive director

21 shall be subject to confirmation by the Commis22 sion.

23 (3) COMPENSATION.—

24 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in

25 subparagraph (B), the Chairperson of the Com-
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1 mission may fix the compensation of the execu2 tive director and other personnel without regard

3 to the provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter

4 III of chapter 53 of title 5, United States Code,

5 relating to classification of positions and Gen6 eral Schedule pay rates.

7 (B) MAXIMUM RATE OF PAY.—The rate of

8 pay for the executive director and other per9 sonnel shall not exceed the rate payable for

10 level V of the Executive Schedule under section

11 5316 of title 5, United States Code.

12 (4) DETAIL OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES.—

13 (A) FEDERAL EMPLOYEES.—

14 (i) IN GENERAL.—On the request of

15 the Commission, the head of any Federal

16 agency may detail, on a reimbursable or

17 non-reimbursable basis, any of the per18 sonnel of the agency to the Commission to

19 assist the Commission in carrying out the

20 duties of the Commission under this Act.

21 (ii) CIVIL SERVICE STATUS.—The de22 tail of an employee under clause (i) shall

23 be without interruption or loss of civil serv24 ice status or privilege.
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1 (B) STATE EMPLOYEES.—The Commission

2 may—

3 (i) accept the services of personnel de4 tailed from States (including subdivisions

5 of States); and

6 (ii) reimburse States for services of

7 detailed personnel.

8 (5) VOLUNTEER AND UNCOMPENSATED SERV9 ICES.—Notwithstanding section 1342 of title 31,

10 United States Code, the Commission may accept and

11 use voluntary and uncompensated services as the

12 Commission determines necessary.

13 (6) SUPPORT SERVICES.—The Director of the

14 National Park Service shall provide to the Commis15 sion, on a reimbursable basis, such administrative

16 support services as the Commission may request.

17 (f) PROCUREMENT OF TEMPORARY AND INTERMIT18 TENT SERVICES.—The Chairperson of the Commission

19 may procure temporary and intermittent services in ac20 cordance with section 3109(b) of title 5, United States

21 Code, at rates for individuals that do not exceed the daily

22 equivalent of the annual rate of basic pay prescribed for

23 level V of the Executive Schedule under section 5316 of

24 that title.
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1 (g) FACA NONAPPLICABILITY.—Section 14(b) of the

2 Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not

3 apply to the Commission.

4 (h) NO EFFECT ON AUTHORITY.—Nothing in this

5 section supersedes the authority of the State, the National

6 Park Service, or the Association for the Preservation of

7 Virginia Antiquities, concerning the commemoration.

8 (i) TERMINATION.—The Commission shall terminate

9 on December 31, 2008.

10 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

11 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums

12 as are necessary to carry out this Act.

Passed the Senate October 5 (legislative day, September 22), 2000.

Attest: GARY SISCO,

Secretary.