I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6947 

To establish within the Department of Veterans Affairs a Veterans Affairs 

History Office, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 10, 2024 

Mr. TURNER (for himself and Mr. LANDSMAN) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To establish within the Department of Veterans Affairs a 

Veterans Affairs History Office, 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 ‘‘Veterans Affairs Cen5 tennial and Heritage Act of 2024’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 

8 (1) On January 19, 2017, Secretary of Vet9 erans Affairs Robert A. McDonald signed a Memo10 randum of Agreement that established goals for the 

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1 Department of Veterans Affairs and regional leaders 

2 of Dayton, Ohio, to advance a history office as a 

3 community partnership. 

4 (2) A report commissioned by the Department 

5 determined that, ‘‘a central History Office, properly 

6 staffed and resourced, can become an essential ally 

7 for the Department’s senior staff at Headquarters 

8 and in the field.’’. 

9 (3) The establishment of a History Office in the 

10 Department pursuant to an executive memorandum 

11 of the Department, dated April 10, 2020, is a vital 

12 contribution to honoring veterans and improving the 

13 understanding of how they served the United States. 

14 (4) Department of Veterans Affairs Directive 

15 7777, titled ‘‘Implementation of the VA History 

16 Program’’, was issued on February 9, 2021, and es17 tablished the policies, responsibilities, and manage18 ment directions for the Department of Veterans Af19 fairs History Program. 

20 (5) The centennial year of the Department is 

21 2030 and such year is a goal for establishing a ro22 bust program of ongoing history outreach activities 

23 and permanent public exhibits telling the story of 

24 the Department. 

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1 SEC. 3. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS HISTORY OF2 FICE. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 3 of title 38, United 

4 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol5 lowing new section: 

6 ‘‘§ 325. History Office 

7 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There is established within 

9 the Department an office comprising a history pro10 gram and a national history center. 

11 ‘‘(2) DESIGNATION.—The office established by 

12 paragraph (1) shall be known as the ‘Department of 

13 Veterans Affairs History Office’ (in this section the 

14 ‘Office’). 

15 ‘‘(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the Office are— 

16 ‘‘(1) to collect, preserve, and provide access to 

17 relevant historical records, artifacts, and cultural re18 sources of the Department (including those of its 

19 predecessor organizations); and 

20 ‘‘(2) to tell a comprehensive story of the De21 partment and its predecessor organizations to vet22 erans, government agencies, and the public. 

23 ‘‘(c) CHIEF HISTORIAN AND STAFF.—The Office 

24 shall be led by the Chief Historian of the Department of 

25 Veterans Affairs (in this section referred to as the ‘Chief 

26 Historian’) who may be assisted by such professional and 

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1 administrative staff as the Secretary considers necessary 

2 to carry out the purposes of the Office under subsection 

3 (b) and the requirements set forth under subsection (d). 

4 ‘‘(d) REQUIREMENTS.—The Office shall— 

5 ‘‘(1) carry out the activities set forth in Depart6 ment Directive 7777 (relating to implementation of 

7 a Department history program), or successor direc8 tive; 

9 ‘‘(2) assist with planning appropriate history10 related events leading up to the centennial of the 

11 Department in 2030 (in this section referred to as 

12 the ‘Centennial’) and in events after the Centennial 

13 as the Chief Historian considers appropriate in the 

14 context of the purposes of the Office set forth under 

15 subsection (b); 

16 ‘‘(3) carry out public activities and educational 

17 opportunities, including print and web-based publica18 tions and exhibits, that increase awareness of the 

19 contributions of the Department in supporting vet20 erans; 

21 ‘‘(4) construct, renovate, repair, operate, and 

22 maintain new or existing Department facilities used 

23 for— 

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1 ‘‘(A) preservation, restoration, and public 

2 access to Department historic materials, ar3 chives, and artifacts; 

4 ‘‘(B) training on the preservation of his5 toric materials, archives, and artifacts; or 

6 ‘‘(C) education relating to the history of 

7 the Department and its predecessor organiza8 tions; 

9 ‘‘(5) maintain facilities for access to, and stor10 age of, historic materials, artifacts, and archives, 

11 compliant with recognized specifications for such fa12 cilities, which may include storage, conference, and 

13 public exhibit space; and 

14 ‘‘(6) conduct education and training on the 

15 preservation of historical materials, archival manage16 ment, digitization, restoration, historical research, 

17 and related subjects to assist the Department. 

18 ‘‘(e) GIFTS AND BEQUESTS.— 

19 ‘‘(1) AUTHORITY TO ACCEPT.—The Secretary 

20 may accept, hold, administer, and spend any gift, 

21 devise, or bequest of real property, personal prop22 erty, or money made on the condition that the gift, 

23 devise, or bequest be used for the benefit, or in con24 nection with, the purposes and activities of the OfVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:22 Jan 13, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6947.IH H6947
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1 fice, including a gift, devise, or bequest of an im2 provement made pursuant to subsection (f)(3). 

3 ‘‘(2) DISPOSITION OF PROPERTY.—The Sec4 retary may authorize the sale of donated property 

5 received under paragraph (1). A sale under this 

6 paragraph need not be conducted in accordance with 

7 disposal requirements that would otherwise apply, so 

8 long as the sale is conducted at arms-length and in9 cludes an auditable transaction record. 

10 ‘‘(3) USE OF MONEY AND PROCEEDS.—Any 

11 money received under paragraph (1) and any pro12 ceeds from the sale of property under paragraph (2) 

13 shall be deposited into a fund established in the 

14 Treasury to support the purposes and activities of 

15 the Office. 

16 ‘‘(f) PARTNERSHIPS, COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS, 

17 AND LEASE AUTHORITY.— 

18 ‘‘(1) PARTNERSHIPS.—The Secretary may enter 

19 into a partnership or cooperative agreement with an 

20 organization to support the purposes set forth in 

21 subsection (b). 

22 ‘‘(2) LEASE AUTHORITY.— 

23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may 

24 lease portions of any real property or facility of 

25 the Office to a nonprofit organization for use in 

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1 generating revenue for the support of activities 

2 of the Office and for such administrative pur3 poses as may be necessary for support of the 

4 Office. 

5 ‘‘(B) RENT.—Any rent received by the 

6 Secretary under a lease under subparagraph 

7 (A), including rent-in-kind, shall be used solely 

8 to cover or defray the costs of carrying out sub9 section (b) or (d). 

10 ‘‘(3) IMPROVEMENTS.—The Secretary may per11 mit a nonprofit organization to make improvements 

12 to real property or a facility of the Office for the 

13 construction of a multipurpose facility to be used for 

14 historical displays for public viewing, curation, and 

15 storage of artifacts, research facilities, classrooms, 

16 offices, and associated activities consistent with the 

17 mission of the Office. 

18 ‘‘(g) INTERNAL COORDINATION GROUP.— 

19 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 

21 days after the date of the enactment of the Vet22 erans Affairs Centennial and Heritage Act of 

23 2024, the Secretary shall establish an internal 

24 coordinating group (in this subsection the 

25 ‘Group’) to assist the Office in carrying out the 

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1 purposes under subsection (b) and the require2 ments of subsection (d) by advising the Office 

3 on matters relating to operations of the Office, 

4 which may include advising on matters relating 

5 to the provisions of continuity and resourcing 

6 for the Centennial or for development of the 

7 history program or the history center described 

8 in subsection (a). 

9 ‘‘(B) PROCEDURES AND CHARTER.—The 

10 Group shall operate in accordance with such 

11 procedures as the Secretary may establish and 

12 in accordance with a charter the Secretary shall 

13 establish for the Group. 

14 ‘‘(2) COMPOSITION.—The Group shall be com15 posed of the following: 

16 ‘‘(A) The Deputy Secretary of Veterans 

17 Affairs. 

18 ‘‘(B) The Assistant Secretary for Manage19 ment and Chief Financial Officer, or designee. 

20 ‘‘(C) The Chief Historian. 

21 ‘‘(D) A senior employee selected by the 

22 Secretary from each of the following: 

23 ‘‘(i) The Veterans Experience Office. 

24 ‘‘(ii) The Office of Congressional and 

25 Legislative Affairs. 

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1 ‘‘(iii) The Office of Acquisition Logis2 tics and Construction. 

3 ‘‘(iv) The Office of the General Coun4 sel. 

5 ‘‘(v) The Veterans Health Administra6 tion. 

7 ‘‘(vi) The Veterans Benefits Adminis8 tration. 

9 ‘‘(vii) The National Cemetery Admin10 istration. 

11 ‘‘(E) Such other officers and employees of 

12 the Department as the Secretary considers ap13 propriate. 

14 ‘‘(3) CHAIRPERSON.—The chairperson of the 

15 Group shall be the Deputy Secretary of Veterans Af16 fairs. 

17 ‘‘(h) NONCONFLICT.—This section shall not be con18 strued to affect the authority of the Archivist of the 

19 United States for management of permanent records of 

20 the Department. 

21 ‘‘(i) DEFINITION OF NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION.— 

22 In this section, the term ‘nonprofit organization means’ 

23 an organization described in section 501(c)(3) of the In24 ternal Revenue Code of 1986 and exempt from taxation 

25 under section 501(a) of that Code.’’. 

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1 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

2 at the beginning of chapter 3 of such title is amended by 

3 adding at the end the following new item: 

‘‘325. History Office.’’. 

4 SEC. 4. REPORTS. 

5 (a) LONG-RANGE PLANNING.—Not later than 180 

6 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec7 retary of Veterans Affairs shall submit to the Committee 

8 on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on 

9 Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Representatives a report 

10 on proposed activities of the Department of Veterans Af11 fairs History Office established pursuant to section 325(a) 

12 of title 38, United States Code, as added by section 3, 

13 leading up to the centennial described in subsection (d)(2) 

14 of such section 325. 

15 (b) CONTENTS.—The report submitted pursuant to 

16 subsection (a) shall include plans for the following: 

17 (1) Staffing and budget. 

18 (2) Organization charts pertaining to the cur19 rent staff and location of the History Office within 

20 the Department. 

21 (3) Construction and renovation of facilities 

22 supporting the History Office, including the Na23 tional Department of Veterans Affairs History Cen24 ter. 

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1 (4) Public activities to mark the centennial de2 scribed in subsection (a). 

3 (5) Such recommendations for legislative or ad4 ministrative action as the Secretary may have with 

5 respect to the History Office and the centennial de6 scribed in subsection (a). 

7 (c) ANNUAL PROGRESS REPORTS.—Not later than 

8 one year after the date on which the Secretary submits 

9 the report required by subsection (a) pursuant to such 

10 subsection and not less frequently than once each year 

11 thereafter until December 31, 2030, the Chief Historian 

12 of the Department of Veterans Affairs shall submit to the 

13 committees described in such subsection a report on the 

14 progress of the History Office. 

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