I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1247

To expand the fund raising authorities of the American Battle Monuments

Commission to expedite the establishment of the World War II memorial

in the District of Columbia and to ensure adequate funds for the repair

and long-term maintenance of the memorial, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 24, 1999

Mr. STUMP (for himself and Mr. EVANS) introduced the following bill; which

was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs

A BILL

To expand the fund raising authorities of the American Battle Monuments Commission to expedite the establishment

of the World War II memorial in the District of Columbia and to ensure adequate funds for the repair and

long-term maintenance of the memorial, 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 ‘‘World War II Memo5 rial Completion Act’’.
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1 SEC. 2. FUND RAISING BY AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS

2 COMMISSION FOR WORLD WAR II MEMORIAL.

3 (a) CODIFICATION OF EXISTING AUTHORITY; EX4 PANSION OF AUTHORITY.—(1) Chapter 21 of title 36,

5 United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the

6 following new section:

7 ‘‘§ 2113. World War II memorial in the District of Co8 lumbia

9 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:

10 ‘‘(1) The term ‘World War II memorial’ means

11 the memorial authorized by Public Law 103–32

12 (107 Stat. 90) to be established by the American

13 Battle Monuments Commission on Federal land in

14 the District of Columbia or its environs to honor

15 members of the Armed Forces who served in World

16 War II and to commemorate the participation of the

17 United States in that war.

18 ‘‘(2) The term ‘Commission’ means the Amer19 ican Battle Monuments Commission.

20 ‘‘(3) The term ‘memorial fund’ means the fund

21 created by subsection (c).

22 ‘‘(b) SOLICITATION AND ACCEPTANCE OF CONTRIBU23 TIONS.—Consistent with the authority of the Commission

24 under section 2103(e) of this title, the Commission shall

25 solicit and accept contributions for the World War II me26 morial.
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1 ‘‘(c) CREATION OF MEMORIAL FUND.—(1) There is

2 hereby created in the Treasury a fund for the World War

3 II memorial, which shall consist of the following:

4 ‘‘(A) Amounts deposited, and interest and pro5 ceeds credited, under paragraph (2).

6 ‘‘(B) Obligations obtained under paragraph (3).

7 ‘‘(C) The amount of surcharges paid to the

8 Commission for the World War II memorial under

9 the World War II 50th Anniversary Commemorative

10 Coins Act.

11 ‘‘(D) Amounts borrowed using the authority

12 provided under subsection (e).

13 ‘‘(E) Any funds received by the Commission

14 under section 2103(l) of this title in exchange for

15 use of, or the right to use, any mark, copyright or

16 patent.

17 ‘‘(2) The Chairman of the Commission shall deposit

18 in the memorial fund the amounts accepted as contribu19 tions under subsection (b). The Secretary of the Treasury

20 shall credit to the memorial fund the interest on, and the

21 proceeds from sale or redemption of, obligations held in

22 the memorial fund.

23 ‘‘(3) The Secretary of the Treasury shall invest any

24 portion of the memorial fund that, as determined by the

25 Chairman of the Commission, is not required to meet cur-
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1 rent expenses. Each investment shall be made in an inter2 est bearing obligation of the United States or an obligation

3 guaranteed as to principal and interest by the United

4 States that, as determined by the Chairman of the Com5 mission, has a maturity suitable for the memorial fund.

6 ‘‘(d) USE OF MEMORIAL FUND.—The memorial fund

7 shall be available to the Commission for—

8 ‘‘(1) the expenses of establishing the World

9 War II memorial, including the maintenance and

10 preservation amount provided for in section 8(b) of

11 the Commemorative Works Act (40 U.S.C. 1008(b));

12 ‘‘(2) such other expenses, other than routine

13 maintenance, with respect to the World War II me14 morial as the Commission considers warranted; and

15 ‘‘(3) to secure, obtain, register, enforce, protect,

16 and license any mark, copyright or patent that is

17 owned by, assigned to, or licensed to the Commission

18 under section 2103(l) of this title to aid or facilitate

19 the construction of the World War II memorial.

20 ‘‘(e) SPECIAL BORROWING AUTHORITY.—(1) To as21 sure that groundbreaking, construction, and dedication of

22 the World War II memorial are completed on a timely

23 basis, the Commission may borrow money from the Treas24 ury of the United States in such amounts as the Commis25 sion considers necessary, but not to exceed a total of
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1 $65,000,000. Borrowed amounts shall bear interest at a

2 rate determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, taking

3 into consideration the average market yield on outstanding

4 marketable obligations of the United States of comparable

5 maturities during the month preceding the month in which

6 the obligations of the Commission are issued. The interest

7 payments on such obligations may be deferred with the

8 approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, but any interest

9 payment so deferred shall also bear interest.

10 ‘‘(2) The borrowing of money by the Commission

11 under paragraph (1) shall be subject to such maturities,

12 terms, and conditions as may be agreed upon by the Com13 mission and the Secretary of the Treasury, except that

14 the maturities may not exceed 20 years and such bor15 rowings may be redeemable at the option of the Commis16 sion before maturity.

17 ‘‘(3) The obligations of the Commission shall be

18 issued in amounts and at prices approved by the Secretary

19 of the Treasury. The authority of the Commission to issue

20 obligations under this subsection shall remain available

21 without fiscal year limitation. The Secretary of the Treas22 ury shall purchase any obligations of the Commission to

23 be issued under this subsection, and for such purpose the

24 Secretary of the Treasury may use as a public debt trans25 action of the United States the proceeds from the sale of
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1 any securities issued under chapter 31 of title 31. The

2 purposes for which securities may be issued under such

3 chapter are extended to include any purchase of the Com4 mission’s obligations under this subsection.

5 ‘‘(4) Repayment of the interest and principal on any

6 funds borrowed by the Commission under paragraph (1)

7 shall be made from amounts in the memorial fund. The

8 Commission may not use for such purpose any funds ap9 propriated for any other activities of the Commission.

10 ‘‘(f) TREATMENT OF BORROWING AUTHORITY.—In

11 determining whether the Commission has sufficient funds

12 to complete construction of the World War II memorial,

13 as required by section 8 of the Commemorative Works Act

14 (40 U.S.C. 1008), the Secretary of the Interior shall con15 sider the funds that the Commission may borrow from the

16 Treasury under subsection (e) as funds available to com17 plete construction of the memorial, whether or not the

18 Commission has actually exercised the authority to borrow

19 such funds.

20 ‘‘(g) VOLUNTARY SERVICES.—(1) Notwithstanding

21 section 1342 of title 31, the Commission may accept from

22 any person voluntary services to be provided in further23 ance of the fund-raising activities of the Commission relat24 ing to the World War II memorial.
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1 ‘‘(2) A person providing voluntary services under this

2 subsection shall be considered to be a Federal employee

3 for purposes of chapter 81 of title 5, relating to compensa4 tion for work-related injuries, and chapter 171 of title 28,

5 relating to tort claims. A volunteer who is not otherwise

6 employed by the Federal Government shall not be consid7 ered to be a Federal employee for any other purpose by

8 reason of the provision of such voluntary service, except

9 that any volunteers given responsibility for the handling

10 of funds or the carrying out of a Federal function are sub11 ject to the conflict of interest laws contained in chapter

12 11 of title 18, and the administrative standards of conduct

13 contained in part 2635 of title 5, Code of Federal Regula14 tions.

15 ‘‘(3) The Commission may provide for reimbursement

16 of incidental expenses which are incurred by a person pro17 viding voluntary services under this subsection. The Com18 mission shall determine which expenses are eligible for re19 imbursement under this paragraph.

20 ‘‘(4) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to

21 require Federal employees to work without compensation

22 or to allow the use of volunteer services to displace or re23 place Federal employees.

24 ‘‘(h) TREATMENT OF CERTAIN CONTRACTS.—A con25 tract entered into by the Commission for the design or
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1 construction of the World War II memorial is not funding

2 agreement as that term is defined in section 201 of title

3 35.

4 ‘‘(i) EXTENSION OF AUTHORITY TO ESTABLISH ME5 MORIAL.—Notwithstanding section 10 of the Commemora6 tive Works Act (40 U.S.C. 1010), the legislative author7 ization for the construction of the World War II memorial

8 contained in Public Law 103–32 (107 Stat. 90) shall not

9 expire until December 31, 2005.’’.

10 (2) The table of sections at the beginning of such

11 chapter is amended by adding at the end the following

12 new item:

‘‘2113. World War II memorial in the District of Columbia.’’.

13 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Public Law 103–

14 32 (107 Stat. 90) is amended by striking sections 3, 4,

15 and 5.

16 (c) EFFECT OF REPEAL OF CURRENT MEMORIAL

17 FUND.—Upon the enactment of this Act, the Secretary

18 of the Treasury shall transfer amounts in the fund created

19 by section 4(a) of Public Law 103–32 (107 Stat. 91) to

20 the fund created by section 2113 of title 36, United States

21 Code, as added by subsection (a).
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1 SEC. 3. GENERAL AUTHORITY OF AMERICAN BATTLE

2 MONUMENTS COMMISSION TO SOLICIT AND

3 RECEIVE CONTRIBUTIONS.

4 Subsection (e) of section 2103 of title 36, United

5 States Code, is amended to read as follows:

6 ‘‘(e) SOLICITATION AND RECEIPT OF CONTRIBU7 TIONS.—(1) The Commission may solicit and receive

8 funds and in-kind donations and gifts from any State, mu9 nicipal, or private source to carry out the purposes of this

10 chapter. The Commission shall deposit such funds in a

11 separate account in the Treasury. Funds from this ac12 count shall be disbursed upon vouchers approved by the

13 Chairman of the Commission as well as by a Federal offi14 cial authorized to sign payment vouchers.

15 ‘‘(2) The Commission shall establish written guide16 lines setting forth the criteria to be used in determining

17 whether the acceptance of funds and in-kind donations

18 and gifts under paragraph (1) would—

19 ‘‘(A) reflect unfavorably on the ability of the

20 Commission, or any employee of the Commission, to

21 carry out the responsibilities or official duties of the

22 Commission in a fair and objective manner; or

23 ‘‘(B) compromise the integrity or the appear24 ance of the integrity of the programs of the Commis25 sion or any official involved in those programs.’’.
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1 SEC. 4. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND RELATED ITEMS.

2 Section 2103 of title 36, United States Code, is

3 amended by adding at the end the following new sub4 section:

5 ‘‘(l) INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND RELATED

6 ITEMS.—(1) The Commission may—

7 ‘‘(A) adopt, use, register, and license trade8 marks, service marks, and other marks;

9 ‘‘(B) obtain, use, register, and license the use

10 of copyrights consistent with section 105 of title 17;

11 ‘‘(C) obtain, use, and license patents; and

12 ‘‘(D) accept gifts of marks, copyrights, patents

13 and licenses for use by the Commission.

14 ‘‘(2) The Commission may grant exclusive and non15 exclusive licenses in connection with any mark, copyright,

16 patent, or license for the use of such mark, copyright or

17 patent, except to extent the grant of such license by the

18 Commission would be contrary to any contract or license

19 by which the use of such mark, copyright or patent was

20 obtained.

21 ‘‘(3) The Commission may enforce any mark, copy22 right, or patent by an action in the district courts under

23 any law providing for the protection of such marks, copy24 rights, or patents.

25 ‘‘(4) The Attorney General shall furnish the Commis26 sion with such legal representation as the Commission
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1 may require under paragraph (3). The Secretary of De2 fense shall provide representation for the Commission in

3 administrative proceedings before the Patent and Trade4 mark Office and Copyright Office.

5 ‘‘(5) Section 203 of title 17 shall not apply to any

6 copyright transferred in any manner to the Commission.’’.

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