106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2303

AN ACT

To direct the Librarian of Congress to prepare the

history of the House of Representatives, and forother purposes.
106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2303

AN ACT

To direct the Librarian of Congress to prepare the history

of the House of Representatives, 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,
2

•HR 2303 EH

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘History of the House

3 Awareness and Preservation Act’’.

4 SEC. 2. WRITTEN HISTORY OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENT5 ATIVES.

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to available funding and

7 in accordance with the requirements of this Act, the Li8 brarian of Congress shall prepare, print, distribute, and

9 arrange for the funding of, a new and complete written

10 history of the House of Representatives, in consultation

11 with the Committee on House Administration. In pre12 paring this written history, the Librarian of Congress shall

13 consult, commission, or engage the services or participa14 tion of, eminent historians, Members, and former Mem15 bers of the House of Representatives.

16 (b) GUIDELINES.—In carrying out subsection (a), the

17 Librarian of Congress shall take into account the fol18 lowing:

19 (1) The history should be an illustrated, nar20 rative history of the House of Representatives, orga21 nized chronologically.

22 (2) The history’s intended audience is the gen23 eral reader, as well as Members of Congress and

24 their staffs.

25 (3) The history should include a discussion of

26 the First and Second Continental Congresses and
3

•HR 2303 EH

1 the Constitutional Convention, especially with regard

2 to their roles in creating the House of Representa3 tives.

4 (c) PRINTING.—

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Librarian of Congress

6 shall arrange for the printing of the history.

7 (2) PRINTING ARRANGEMENTS.—The printing

8 may be performed—

9 (A) by the Public Printer pursuant to the

10 provisions of chapter 5 of title 44, United

11 States Code;

12 (B) under a cooperative arrangement

13 among the Librarian of Congress, a private

14 funding source obtained pursuant to subsection

15 (e), and a publisher in the private sector; or

16 (C) under subparagraphs (A) and (B).

17 (3) INTERNET DISSEMINATION.—Any arrange18 ment under paragraph (2) shall include terms for

19 dissemination of the history over the Internet via fa20 cilities maintained by the United States Govern21 ment.

22 (4) MEMBER COPIES.—To the extent that the

23 history is printed by the Public Printer, copies of the

24 history provided to the Congress under subsection

25 (d) shall be charged to the Government Printing Of-
4

•HR 2303 EH

1 fice’s congressional allotment for printing and bind2 ing.

3 (d) DISTRIBUTION.—The Librarian of Congress shall

4 make the history available for sale to the public, and shall

5 make available, free of charge, 5 copies to each Member

6 of the House of Representatives and 250 copies to the

7 Senate.

8 (e) PRIVATE FUNDING.—The Librarian of Congress

9 shall solicit and accept funding for the preparation, publi10 cation, marketing, and public distribution of the history

11 from private individuals, organizations, or entities.

12 SEC. 3. ORAL HISTORY OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTA13 TIVES.

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Librarian of Congress shall

15 accept for deposit, preserve, maintain, and make accessible

16 an oral history of the House of Representatives, as told

17 by its Members and former Members, compiled and up18 dated (on a voluntary or contract basis) by the United

19 States Association of Former Members of Congress or

20 other private organization. In carrying out this section,

21 the Librarian of Congress may enlist the voluntary aid or

22 assistance of such organization, or may contract with it

23 for such services as may be necessary.

24 (b) DEFINITION OF ORAL HISTORY.—In this section,

25 the term ‘‘oral history’’ means a story or history consisting
5

•HR 2303 EH

1 of personal recollection as recorded by any one or more

2 of the following means:

3 (1) Interviews.

4 (2) Transcripts.

5 (3) Audio recordings.

6 (4) Video recordings.

7 (5) Such other form or means as may be suit8 able for the recording and preservation of such in9 formation.

10 SEC. 4. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.

11 It is the sense of the Congress that—

12 (1) orientation programs for freshman Members

13 of the House of Representatives should contain a

14 seminar on the history of the House of Representa15 tives; and

16 (2) the Speaker of the House of Representa17 tives should conduct a series of forums on the topic

18 of the history of the House of Representatives.

Passed the House of Representatives October 25,

1999.

Attest:

Clerk.