II 

Calendar No. 1088 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3477 

To amend title 44, United States Code, to authorize grants for Presidential 

Centers of Historical Excellence. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 11, 2008 

Mr. WARNER (for himself and Mr. WEBB) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and 

Governmental Affairs 

SEPTEMBER 25 (legislative day, SEPTEMBER 17), 2008 

Reported by Mr. LIEBERMAN, with amendments 

[Omit the part struck through and insert the part printed in italic] 

A BILL 

To amend title 44, United States Code, to authorize grants 

for Presidential Centers of Historical Excellence. 

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 ‘‘Presidential Historical 

5 Records Preservation Act of 2008’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. GRANT PROGRAM. 

2 Section 2504 of title 44, United States Code, is 

3 amended by— 

4 (1) redesignating subsection (f) as subsection 

5 (g); and 

6 (2) amending subsection (g)(1) (as so redesig7 nated by paragraph (1))— 

8 (A) in subparagraph (R), by striking 

9 ‘‘and’’; 

10 (B) in subparagraph (S), by striking the 

11 period and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

12 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(T) $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2010.’’; 

14 and 

15 (3) inserting after subsection (e), the following: 

16 (2) inserting after subsection (e) the following: 

17 ‘‘(f) GRANTS FOR PRESIDENTIAL CENTERS OF HIS18 TORICAL EXCELLENCE.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Archivist, with the rec20 ommendation of the Commission, shallmay make 

21 grants, on a competitive basis and in accordance 

22 with this subsection, to eligible entities to promote 

23 the historical preservation of, and public access to, 

24 historical records and documents relating to any 

25 former President who does not have a Presidential 

26 archival depository currently managed and mainVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:07 Sep 26, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3477.RS S3477

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1 tained by the Federal Government pursuant to sec2 tion 2112 (commonly known as the ‘Presidential Li3 braries Act of 1955’). 

4 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—For purposes of this 

5 subsection, an eligible entity is— 

6 ‘‘(A) an organization described under sec7 tion 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 

8 1986 and exempt from taxation under section 

9 501(a) of that Code; or 

10 ‘‘(B) a State or local government of the 

11 United States. 

12 ‘‘(3) USE OF FUNDS.—Amounts received by an 

13 eligible entity under paragraph (1) shall be used to 

14 promote the historical preservation of, and public ac15 cess to, historical records or historical documents re16 lating to any former President covered under para17 graph (1). 

18 ‘‘(4) PROHIBITION ON USE OF FUNDS.— 

19 Amounts received by an eligible entity under para20 graph (1) may not be used for the maintenance, op21 erating costs, or construction of any facility to house 

22 the historical records or historical documents relat23 ing to any former President covered under para24 graph (1). 

25 ‘‘(5) APPLICATION.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity 

2 seeking a grant under this subsection shall sub3 mit to the Commission an application at such 

4 time, in such manner, and containing or accom5 panied by such information as the Commission 

6 may require, including a description of the ac7 tivities for which a grant under this subsection 

8 is sought. 

9 ‘‘(B) APPROVAL OF APPLICATION.—The 

10 Commission shall not consider or recommend a 

11 grant application submitted under subpara12 graph (A) unless an eligible entity establishes 

13 that such entity— 

14 ‘‘(i) possesses, with respect to any 

15 former President covered under paragraph 

16 (1), historical works and collections of his17 torical sources that the Commission con18 siders appropriate for preserving, pub19 lishing, or otherwise recording at the pub20 lic expense; 

21 ‘‘(ii) has appropriate facilities and 

22 space for preservation of, and public access 

23 to, the historical works and collections of 

24 historical sources; 


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1 ‘‘(iii) shall ensure preservation of, and 

2 public access to, such historical works and 

3 collections of historical sources at no 

4 charge to the public; 

5 ‘‘(iv) has educational programs that 

6 make the use of such documents part of 

7 the mission of such entity; 

8 ‘‘(v) has raised funds from non-Fed9 eral sources in support of the efforts of the 

10 entity to promote the historical preserva11 tion of, and public access to, such histor12 ical works and collections of historical 

13 sources in an amount equal to the amount 

14 of the grant the entity seeks under this 

15 subsection; 

16 ‘‘(vi) shall coordinate with any rel17 evant Federal program or activity, includ18 ing programs and activities relating to 

19 Presidential archival depositories; 

20 ‘‘(vii) shall coordinate with any rel21 evant non-Federal program or activity, in22 cluding programs and activities conducted 

23 by State and local governments and private 

24 educational historical entities; and 


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1 ‘‘(viii) has a workable plan for pre2 serving and providing public access to such 

3 historical works and collections of histor4 ical sources.’’. 

5 SEC. 3. TERM LIMITS FOR COMMISSION MEMBERS; 

6 RECUSAL. 

7 (a) TERM LIMITS.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 2501(b)(1) of title 44, 

9 United States Code, is amended— 

10 (A) by inserting ‘‘not more than 2’’ after 

11 ‘‘subsection (a) shall be appointed for’’; and 

12 (B) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘a 

13 term’’ and inserting ‘‘not more than 4 terms’’. 

14 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The restrictions on the 

15 terms of members of the National Historical Publica16 tions and Records Commission provided in the 

17 amendments made by paragraph (1) shall apply to 

18 members serving on or after the date of enactment of 

19 this Act. 

20 (b) RECUSAL.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 2501 of title 44, 

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

23 the following: 

24 ‘‘(d) RECUSAL.—Members of the Commission shall 

25 recuse themselves from voting on any matter that poses, or 


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1 could potentially pose, a conflict of interest, including a 

2 matter that could benefit them or an entity they represent.’’. 

3 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The requirement of 

4 recusal provided in the amendment made by para5 graph (1) shall apply to members of the National 

6 Historical Publications and Records Commission 

7 serving on or after the date of enactment of this Act. 

8 SEC. 4. ONLINE ACCESS OF FOUNDING FATHERS DOCU9 MENTS; TRANSFER OF FUNDS. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title 44, United States Code, is 

11 amended by inserting after section 2119 the following: 

12 ‘‘§ 2120. Online access of founding fathers documents 

13 ‘‘The Archivist may enter into a cooperative agreement 

14 to provide online access to the published volumes of the pa15 pers of— 

16 ‘‘(1) George Washington; 

17 ‘‘(2) Alexander Hamilton; 

18 ‘‘(3) Thomas Jefferson; 

19 ‘‘(4) Benjamin Franklin; 

20 ‘‘(5) John Adams; 

21 ‘‘(6) James Madison; and 

22 ‘‘(7) other prominent historical figures, as deter23 mined appropriate by the Archivist of the United 

24 States.’’. 

25 (b) TRANSFER OF FUNDS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Archivist of the United 

2 States, in the role as chairman of the National His3 torical Publications and Records Commission may 

4 enter into cooperative agreements pursuant to section 

5 6305 of title 31, United States Code, that involve the 

6 transfer of funds from the National Historical Publi7 cations and Records Commission to State and local 

8 governments, tribal governments, other public entities, 

9 educational institutions, or private nonprofit organi10 zations for the public purpose of carrying out section 

11 2120 of title 44, United States Codes. 

12 (2) REPORT.—Not later than December 31st of 

13 each year, the Archivist of the United States shall 

14 submit to the Committee on Homeland Security and 

15 Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Com16 mittee on Oversight and Government Reform of the 

17 House of Representatives a report on the provisions, 

18 amount, and duration of each cooperative agreement 

19 entered into as authorized by paragraph (1) during 

20 the preceding fiscal year. 

21 (c) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The 

22 table of sections for chapter 21 of title 44, United States 

23 Code, is amended by adding after the item relating to sec24 tion 2119 the following: 

‘‘2120. Online access of founding fathers documents.’’. 


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1 SEC. 5. ADVISORY COMMITTEE. 

2 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Archivist of the United 

3 States may establish an advisory committee to— 

4 (1) review the progress of the Founding Fathers 

5 editorial projects funded by the National Historical 

6 Publications and Records Commission; 

7 (2) develop, in consultation with the various 

8 Founding Fathers editorial projects, appropriate com9 pletion goals for the projects described in paragraph 

10 (1); 

11 (3) annually review such goals and report to the 

12 Archivist on the progress of the various projects in 

13 meeting the goals; and 

14 (4) recommend to the Archivist measures that 

15 would aid or encourage the projects in meeting such 

16 goals. 

17 (b) REPORTS TO THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE.—Each 

18 of the projects described in subsection (a)(1) shall provide 

19 annually to the advisory committee established under sub20 section (a) a report on the progress of the project toward 

21 accomplishing the completion goals and any assistance 

22 needed to achieve such goals, including the following: 

23 (1) The proportion of total project funding for 

24 the funding year in which the report is submitted 

25 from— 


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1 (A) Federal, State, and local government 

2 sources; 

3 (B) the host institution for the project; 

4 (C) private or public foundations; and 

5 (D) individuals. 

6 (2) Information on all activities carried out 

7 using nongovernmental funding. 

8 (3) Any and all information related to perform9 ance goals for the funding year in which the report 

10 is submitted. 

11 (c) COMPOSITION; MEETINGS; REPORT; SUNSET; AC12 TION.—The advisory committee established under sub13 section (a) shall— 

14 (1) be comprised of 3 nationally recognized histo15 rians appointed for not more than 2 consecutive 4- 

16 year terms; 

17 (2) meet not less frequently than once a year; 

18 (3) provide a report on the information obtained 

19 under subsection (b) to the Committee on Homeland 

20 Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and 

21 the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform 

22 of the House of Representatives not later than 1 year 

23 after the date of enactment of this Act and annually 

24 thereafter; 


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1 (4) terminate on the date that is 8 years after 

2 the date of enactment of this Act; and 

3 (5) recommend legislative or executive action 

4 that would facilitate completion of the performance 

5 goals for the Founding Fathers editorial projects. 

6 SEC. 6. CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN FOR PRESIDENTIAL 

7 ARCHIVAL DEPOSITORIES; REPORT. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

9 (1) PROVISION OF PLAN.—The Archivist of the 

10 United States shall provide to the Committee on Ap11 propriations of the Senate and the Committee on Ap12 propriations of the House of Representatives a 10- 

13 year capital improvement plan, in accordance with 

14 paragraph (2), for all Presidential archival deposi15 tories (as defined in section 2101 of title 44, United 

16 States Code), which shall include— 

17 (A) a prioritization of all capital projects 

18 at Presidential archival depositories that cost 

19 more than $1,000,000; 

20 (B) the current estimate of the cost of each 

21 capital project; and 

22 (C) the basis upon which each cost estimate 

23 was developed. 

24 (2) PROVIDED TO CONGRESS.—The capital im25 provement plan shall be provided to the committees, 


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1 as described in paragraph (1), at the same time as 

2 the first Budget of the United States Government 

3 after the date of enactment of this Act is submitted 

4 to Congress. 

5 (3) ANNUAL UPDATES AND EXPLANATION OF

6 CHANGES IN COST ESTIMATES.—The Archivist of the 

7 United States shall provide to the Committee on Ap8 propriations of the Senate and the Committee on Ap9 propriations of the House of Representatives— 

10 (A) annual updates to the capital improve11 ment plan described in paragraph (1) at the 

12 same time as each subsequent Budget of the 

13 United States Government is submitted to Con14 gress; and 

15 (B) an explanation for any changes in cost 

16 estimates. 

17 (b) AMENDMENT TO MINIMUM AMOUNT OF ENDOW18 MENT.—Section 2112(g)(5)(B) of title 44, United States 

19 Code, is amended by striking ‘‘40’’ and inserting ‘‘60’’. 

20 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 270 days after the date 

21 of enactment of this Act, the Archivist of the United States 

22 shall provide a report to the Committee on Homeland Secu23 rity and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Com24 mittee on Oversight and Government Reform of the House 


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1 of Representatives, that provides 1 or more alternative mod2 els for presidential archival depositories that— 

3 (1) reduce the financial burden on the Federal 

4 Government; 

5 (2) improve the preservation of presidential 

6 records; and 

7 (3) reduce the delay in public access to all presi8 dential records. 


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Calendar No. 1088 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3477 

A BILL 

To amend title 44, United States Code, to authorExcellence. ize grants for Presidential Centers of Historical 

SEPTEMBER 25 (legislative day, SEPTEMBER 17), 2008 

Reported with amendments 


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