I

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 3137

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

OCTOBER 26, 2000

Referred to the Committee on Government Reform

AN ACT

To establish a commission to commemorate the 250th

anniversary of the birth of James Madison.

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; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the

5 ‘‘James Madison Commemoration Commission Act’’.
2

S 3137 RFH

1 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for

2 this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.

Sec. 2. Congressional findings.

Sec. 3. Establishment.

Sec. 4. Duties.

Sec. 5. Membership.

Sec. 6. Powers.

Sec. 7. Staffing and support.

Sec. 8. Contributions.

Sec. 9. Reports.

Sec. 10. Audit of financial transactions.

Sec. 11. Termination.

Sec. 12. Authorization of appropriations.

3 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS.

4 Congress finds that—

5 (1) March 16, 2001, marks the 250th anniver6 sary of the birth of James Madison;

7 (2) as a delegate to the Continental Congress,

8 and to the Annapolis Convention of 1786, James

9 Madison foresaw the need for a more effective na10 tional government and was a persuasive advocate for

11 such a government at the Philadelphia Constitu12 tional Convention of 1787;

13 (3) James Madison worked tirelessly and suc14 cessfully at the Constitutional Convention to mold a

15 national charter, the United States Constitution,

16 that combined both energy and restraint, empow17 ering the legislature, the executive, and the judici18 ary, within a framework of limited government, sep19 arated powers, and a system of federalism;
3

S 3137 RFH

1 (4) James Madison was an eloquent proponent

2 of the first 10 amendments to the Constitution, the

3 Bill of Rights;

4 (5) James Madison faithfully served his country

5 as a Representative in Congress from 1789 to 1797,

6 as Secretary of State from 1801 to 1809, and as

7 President of the United States from 1809 to 1817;

8 (6) as President, James Madison showed cour9 age and resolute will in leading the United States to

10 victory over Great Britain in the War of 1812;

11 (7) James Madison’s political writings, as ex12 emplified by his Notes on the Federal Convention

13 and his contributions to The Federalist Papers, are

14 among the most distinguished of American state pa15 pers;

16 (8) by his learning, his devotion to ordered lib17 erty, and by the force of his intellect, James Madi18 son made an indispensable contribution to the Amer19 ican tradition of democratic constitutional repub20 licanism embodied in the Constitution of the United

21 States, and is justifiably acclaimed as father of the

22 Constitution;

23 (9) it is appropriate to remember, honor, and

24 renew the legacy of James Madison for the Amer25 ican people and, indeed for all mankind; and
4

S 3137 RFH

1 (10) as the Nation approaches March 16, 2001,

2 marking the anniversary of the birth of James Madi3 son, it is appropriate to establish a commission for

4 the commemoration of that anniversary.

5 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT.

6 A commission to be known as the James Madison

7 Commemoration Commission (in this Act referred to as

8 the ‘‘Commission’’) and a committee to be known as the

9 James Madison Commemoration Advisory Committee (in

10 this Act referred to as the ‘‘Advisory Committee’’) are es11 tablished.

12 SEC. 4. DUTIES.

13 (a) COMMISSION.—The Commission shall—

14 (1) in cooperation with the Advisory Committee

15 and the Library of Congress, direct the Government

16 Printing Office to compile and publish a substantial

17 number of copies of a book (as directed by the Com18 mission) containing a selection of the most impor19 tant writings of James Madison and tributes to him

20 by members of the Commission and other persons

21 that the Commission deems appropriate;

22 (2) in cooperation with the Advisory Committee

23 and the Library of Congress, plan and coordinate 1

24 or more symposia, at least 1 of which will be held

25 on March 16, 2001, and all of which will be devoted
5

S 3137 RFH

1 to providing a better understanding of James Madi2 son’s contribution to American political culture;

3 (3) in cooperation with the Advisory Committee

4 recognize such other events celebrating James Madi5 son’s birth and life as official events of the Commis6 sion;

7 (4) develop and coordinate any other activities

8 relating to the anniversary of the birth of James

9 Madison as may be appropriate;

10 (5) accept essay papers (via the Internet or oth11 erwise) from students attending public and private

12 institutions of elementary and secondary education

13 in any State regarding James Madison’s life and

14 contributions to America and award certificates to

15 students who author exceptional papers on this sub16 ject; and

17 (6) bestow honorary memberships to the Com18 mission or to the Advisory Committee upon such

19 persons as it deems appropriate.

20 (b) ADVISORY COMMITTEE.—The Advisory Com21 mittee shall—

22 (1) submit a suggested selection of James

23 Madison’s most important writings to the Commis24 sion for the Commission to consider for inclusion in

25 the book printed as provided in subsection (a)(1);
6

S 3137 RFH

1 (2) submit a list and description of events con2 cerning the birth and life of James Madison to the

3 Commission for the Commission’s consideration in

4 recognizing such events as official ‘‘Commission

5 Events’’; and

6 (3) make such other recommendations to the

7 Commission as a majority of its members deem ap8 propriate.

9 SEC. 5. MEMBERSHIP.

10 (a) MEMBERSHIP OF THE COMMISSION.—

11 (1) NUMBER AND APPOINTMENT.—The Com12 mission shall be composed of 19 members, as fol13 lows:

14 (A) The Chief Justice of the United States

15 or such individual’s delegate who is an Asso16 ciate Justice of the Supreme Court of the

17 United States.

18 (B) The Majority Leader and the Minority

19 Leader of the Senate or each such individual’s

20 delegate who is a Member of the Senate.

21 (C) The Speaker of the House of Rep22 resentatives and the Minority Leader of the

23 House of Representatives or each such individ24 ual’s delegate who is a Member of the House of

25 Representatives.
7

S 3137 RFH

1 (D) The Chairman and the Ranking Mem2 ber of the Committee on the Judiciary of the

3 Senate or each such individual’s delegate who is

4 a member of such committee.

5 (E) The Chairman and the Ranking Mem6 ber of the Committee on the Judiciary of the

7 House of Representatives or each such individ8 ual’s delegate who is a member of such com9 mittee.

10 (F) Two Members of the Senate selected

11 by the Majority Leader of the Senate and 2

12 Members of the Senate selected by the Minority

13 Leader of the Senate.

14 (G) Two members of the House of Rep15 resentatives selected by the Speaker of the

16 House of Representatives and 2 Members of the

17 House of Representatives selected by the Minor18 ity Leader of the House of Representatives.

19 (H) Two members of the executive branch

20 selected by the President of the United States.

21 (2) CHAIRMAN AND VICE CHAIRMAN.—The

22 Chief Justice of the United States shall serve as

23 Chairman of the Commission and the members of

24 the Commission shall select a vice chairman from its

25 members, unless the Chief Justice appoints a dele-
8

S 3137 RFH

1 gate to serve in his stead, in which circumstance, the

2 members of the Commission shall select a chairman

3 and vice chairman from its members.

4 (b) MEMBERSHIP OF THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE.—

5 (1) NUMBER AND APPOINTMENT.—The Advi6 sory Committee shall be composed of 14 members,

7 as follows:

8 (A) The Archivist of the United States or

9 such individual’s delegate.

10 (B) The Secretary of the Smithsonian In11 stitution or such individual’s delegate.

12 (C) The Executive Director of Montpelier,

13 the home of James Madison, and the 2001

14 Planning Committee of Montpelier or such indi15 vidual’s delegate.

16 (D) The President of James Madison Uni17 versity in Harrisonburg, Virginia or such indi18 vidual’s delegate.

19 (E) The Director of the James Madison

20 Center, James Madison University in Harrison21 burg, Virginia or such individual’s delegate.

22 (F) The President of the James Madison

23 Memorial Fellowship Foundation or such indi24 vidual’s delegate.
9

S 3137 RFH

1 (G) Two members, who are not Members

2 of Congress but have expertise on the legal and

3 historical significance of James Madison, se4 lected by the Majority Leader of the Senate,

5 and 2 members, who are not Members of Con6 gress but have expertise on the legal and histor7 ical significance of James Madison, selected by

8 the Minority Leader of the Senate.

9 (H) Two members, who are not Members

10 of Congress but who have expertise on the legal

11 and historical significance of James Madison,

12 selected by the Speaker of the House of Rep13 resentatives, and 2 members, who are not Mem14 bers of Congress but who have expertise on the

15 legal and historical significance of James Madi16 son, selected by the Minority Leader of the

17 House of Representatives.

18 (2) CHAIRMAN AND VICE CHAIRMAN.—The

19 members of the Advisory Committee shall select a

20 chairman and vice chairman from its members.

21 (c) TERMS.—Each member of the Commission shall

22 be selected and each member of the Advisory Committee

23 shall be selected not later than 90 days after the date of

24 enactment of this Act and shall serve for the life of the

25 Commission and the Advisory Committee, respectively.
10

S 3137 RFH

1 (d) VACANCIES.—A vacancy in the Commission shall

2 be filled in the same manner in which the original appoint3 ment was made in subsection (a). A vacancy in the Advi4 sory Committee shall be filled by the person holding the

5 office named in subsection (b) or his designate.

6 (e) COMPENSATION.—

7 (1) RATES OF PAY.—Members of the Commis8 sion and the Advisory Committee shall serve without

9 pay.

10 (2) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—Each member of the

11 Commission and the Advisory Committee may re12 ceive travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of

13 subsistence, in accordance with sections 5702 and

14 5703 of title 5, United States Code.

15 (f) MEETINGS.—The Commission shall meet at the

16 call of its chairman or a majority of its members. The

17 Advisory Committee shall meet at the call of the chairman

18 or a majority of its members.

19 (g) APPROVAL OF ACTIONS.—All official actions of

20 the Commission under this Act shall be approved by the

21 affirmative vote of not less than a majority of the mem22 bers. All official actions of the Advisory Committee under

23 this Act shall be approved by the affirmative vote of not

24 less than a majority of the members.
11

S 3137 RFH

1 SEC. 6. POWERS.

2 (a) DELEGATION OF AUTHORITY.—Any member or

3 staff person of the Commission may, if authorized by the

4 Commission, take any action that the Commission is au5 thorized to take by this Act.

6 (b) CONTRACT AUTHORITY.—

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission may pro8 cure services and property, and make or enter into

9 contracts, leases, or other legal agreements, in order

10 to carry out this Act.

11 (2) RESTRICTION.—The contracts, leases, or

12 other legal agreements made or entered into by the

13 Commission shall not extend beyond the date of ter14 mination of the Commission.

15 (3) TERMINATION.—All supplies and property

16 acquired by the Commission under this Act that re17 main in the possession of the Commission on the

18 date of termination of the Commission shall become

19 the property of the General Services Administration

20 upon the date of the termination.

21 (c) INFORMATION.—

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission may secure

23 directly from any Federal agency information nec24 essary to enable it to carry out this Act. Upon re25 quest of the chairperson of the Commission, the
12

S 3137 RFH

1 head of the Federal agency shall furnish the infor2 mation to the Commission.

3 (2) EXCEPTION.—Paragraph (1) shall not

4 apply to any information that the Commission is

5 prohibited to secure or request by another law.

6 (d) RULES AND REGULATIONS.—The Commission

7 may adopt such rules and regulations as may be necessary

8 to conduct meetings and carry out its duties under this

9 Act. The Commission may also adopt such rules for the

10 Advisory Committee.

11 (e) MAILS.—The Commission may use the United

12 States mails in the same manner and under the same con13 ditions as other Federal agencies, and the Committee on

14 the Judiciary of the Senate may mail items on behalf of

15 the Commission.

16 (f) NECESSARY AND PROPER POWERS.—The Com17 mission may exercise such other powers as are necessary

18 and proper in carrying out and effecting the purposes of

19 this Act.

20 SEC. 7. STAFFING AND SUPPORT.

21 The Chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary of

22 the Senate, the Chairman of the Committee on the Judici23 ary of the House of Representatives, and the Librarian

24 of Congress shall provide the Commission and the Advi25 sory Committee with such assistance, including staff sup-
13

S 3137 RFH

1 port, facilities, and supplies at no charge, as may be nec2 essary to carry out its duties.

3 SEC. 8. CONTRIBUTIONS.

4 (a) DONATIONS.—The Commission may accept dona5 tions of money, personal services, and property, both real

6 and personal, including books, manuscripts, miscellaneous

7 printed matter, memorabilia, relics, and other materials

8 related to James Madison.

9 (b) USE OF FUNDS.—

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Any funds donated to the

11 Commission may be used by the Commission to

12 carry out this Act. The source and amount of such

13 funds shall be listed in the interim and final reports

14 required under section 9.

15 (2) PROCUREMENT REQUIREMENTS.—

16 (A) IN GENERAL.—In addition to any pro17 curement requirement otherwise applicable to

18 the Commission, the Commission shall conduct

19 procurements of property or services involving

20 donated funds pursuant to the small purchase

21 procedures required by section 303(g) of the

22 Federal Property and Administrative Services

23 Act of 1949 (41 U.S.C. 253(g)). Section 15(j)

24 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 644(j))

25 shall not apply to such procurements.
14

S 3137 RFH

1 (B) DEFINITION.—In this paragraph, the

2 term ‘‘donated funds’’ means any funds of

3 which 50 percent or more derive from funds do4 nated to the Commission.

5 (c) VOLUNTEER SERVICES.—Notwithstanding sec6 tion 1342 of title 31, United States Code, the Commission

7 may accept and use voluntary and uncompensated services

8 as the Commission determines necessary.

9 (d) REMAINING FUNDS.—Funds remaining upon the

10 date of termination of the Commission shall be used to

11 ensure the proper disposition of property donated to the

12 Commission as specified in the final report required by

13 section 9.

14 SEC. 9. REPORTS.

15 (a) INTERIM REPORT.—Not later than February 15,

16 2001, the Commission shall prepare and submit to the

17 President and Congress an interim report detailing the ac18 tivities of the Commission, including an accounting of

19 funds received and expended by the Commission, during

20 the period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act

21 and ending on December 31, 2000.

22 (b) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than February 15,

23 2002, the Commission shall submit to the President and

24 to Congress a final report containing—
15

S 3137 RFH

1 (1) a summary of the activities of the Commis2 sion;

3 (2) a final accounting of funds received and ex4 pended by the Commission;

5 (3) the findings, conclusions, and recommenda6 tions of the Commission;

7 (4) specific recommendations concerning the

8 final disposition of historically significant items do9 nated to the Commission under section 8(a), if any;

10 and

11 (5) any additional views of any member of the

12 Commission concerning the Commission’s rec13 ommendations that such member requests to be in14 cluded in the final report.

15 SEC. 10. AUDIT OF FINANCIAL TRANSACTIONS.

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Inspector General of the Gen17 eral Services Administration shall audit financial trans18 actions of the Commission, including financial trans19 actions involving donated funds, in accordance with gen20 erally accepted auditing standards. In conducting an audit

21 pursuant to this section, the Inspector General shall have

22 access to all books, accounts, financial records, reports,

23 files, and other papers, items, or property in use by the

24 Commission, as necessary to facilitate the audit, and shall

25 be afforded full facilities for verifying transactions with
16

S 3137 RFH

1 the balances or securities held by depositories, fiscal

2 agents, and custodians.

3 (b) AUDIT REPORTS.—Not later than March 15,

4 2001, the Inspector General of the General Services Ad5 ministration shall submit to the President and to Congress

6 a report detailing the results of any audit of the financial

7 transactions of the Commission conducted before January

8 1, 2001. Not later than March 15, 2002, such Inspector

9 General shall submit to the President and to Congress a

10 report detailing the results of any audit of the financial

11 transactions of the Commission conducted during the pe12 riod beginning on January 1, 2001, and ending on Decem13 ber 31, 2001.

14 SEC. 11. TERMINATION.

15 The Commission and the Advisory Committee shall

16 terminate not later than 60 days following submission of

17 the final report required by section 9.

18 SEC. 12. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

19 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out

20 this Act $250,000 for fiscal year 2001.

Passed the Senate October 25 (legislative day, September 22), 2000.

Attest: GARY SISCO,

Secretary.