II 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1981 

To amend the Constitution Heritage Act of 1988 to provide for the operation 

of the National Constitution Center. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 9, 2003

Mr. SANTORUM introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL

To amend the Constitution Heritage Act of 1988 to provide 

for the operation of the National Constitution Center.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. OPERATION OF THE NATIONAL CONSTITUTION 

4 CENTER. 

5 Section 4 of the Constitution Heritage Act of 1988 

6 (16 U.S.C. 407cc) is amended by adding at the end the 

7 following: 

8 ‘‘(c) OPERATION OF THE CENTER.—

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A cooperative agreement 

10 entered into under subsection (b) shall—
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•S 1981 IS 

1 ‘‘(A) authorize the Center to—

2 ‘‘(i) operate the Center; 

3 ‘‘(ii) provide to visitors to the Center, 

4 and to any other areas of Independence 

5 National Historical Park that the Sec6 retary and the Center determine to be ap7 propriate, any activities and services relat8 ing to and consistent with any functions of 

9 the Center under section 3(b); 

10 ‘‘(iii) carry out activities that are ap11 propriate for the operation of the Center, 

12 including charging fees, conducting events, 

13 and selling and marketing merchandise, 

14 tickets for activities of the Center, and 

15 food to visitors to the Center; and 

16 ‘‘(iv) negotiate and enter into any 

17 agreements, leases, contracts, or other ar18 rangements with any person, firm, associa19 tion, organization, corporation, or govern20 mental entity (including the Federal Gov21 ernment and any State and local govern22 ments) appropriate for carrying out activi23 ties at the Center (including an agreement, 

24 contract, or other arrangement for jani25 torial service, building maintenance, food 
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1 service, information technology mainte2 nance, or the operation of a museum 

3 store); 

4 ‘‘(B) provide that any revenues from facili5 ties and services of the Center shall be made 

6 available to the Center, without further appro7 priation, to offset the expenses of operating the 

8 Center; 

9 ‘‘(C) authorize the Center to occupy the 

10 site and any structures provided under sub11 section (a)—

12 ‘‘(i) for a term specified in the cooper13 ative agreement not to exceed 30 years; 

14 and 

15 ‘‘(ii) in accordance with any terms 

16 and conditions of the cooperative agree17 ment; 

18 ‘‘(D)(i) provide that the Center shall main19 tain, during the term of the cooperative agree20 ment and at the expense of the Center, insur21 ance on the Center covering such risks, in such 

22 amounts, and including such terms and condi23 tions as the Secretary determines to be appro24 priate; and 
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1 ‘‘(ii) provide that any repairs or recon2 struction carried out using payments made to 

3 the Center under an insurance policy main4 tained under clause (i) shall be subject to the 

5 approval of the Secretary; 

6 ‘‘(E) provide that the Center shall main7 tain the status as an organization described in 

8 section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code 

9 of 1986 that is exempt from taxation under sec10 tion 501(a) of the Code; 

11 ‘‘(F) provide that the Center shall make 

12 available to the Secretary and the Comptroller 

13 General of the United States all books, docu14 ments, papers, and records of the Center that 

15 are necessary for an audit; 

16 ‘‘(G) provide that, on request of the Sec17 retary or Congress, the Center shall submit to 

18 the Secretary or Congress an annual report 

19 that—

20 ‘‘(i) describes the activities of the 

21 Center during the preceding fiscal year; 

22 ‘‘(ii) compares the goals and objec23 tives of the Center to the actual accom24 plishments of the Center during the pre25 ceding fiscal year; and 
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1 ‘‘(iii) includes a plan for the Center 

2 for the subsequent fiscal year; and 

3 ‘‘(H) include any other terms and condi4 tions that the Secretary determines to be appro5 priate. 

6 ‘‘(2) TERMINATION OF AGREEMENT.—The Sec7 retary may terminate the cooperative agreement en8 tered into under paragraph (1) if the Secretary de9 termines that termination is in the best interest of 

10 the public. 

11 ‘‘(3) EFFECT ON EXISTING AGREEMENT.—The 

12 agreement between the National Park Service and 

13 the National Constitution Center numbered CA–

14 4450–99–9018 shall remain in effect until the date 

15 on which—

16 ‘‘(A) the agreement is terminated in ac17 cordance with the terms of the agreement; or 

18 ‘‘(B) a cooperative agreement is entered 

19 into under paragraph (1). 

20 ‘‘(4) ADMINISTRATION OF INDEPENDENCE NA21 TIONAL HISTORICAL PARK.—Nothing in this sub22 section affects the authority of the Secretary to 

23 enter into a contract or other agreement with any 

24 organization or entity that provides for the adminis25 tration of Independence National Historical Park so 
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1 long as the agreement does not conflict with the co2 operative agreement entered into under paragraph 

3 (1). 

4 ‘‘(5) EXEMPTION FROM APPLICABLE LAW.—An 

5 agreement, lease, contract, or other arrangement en6 tered into under paragraph (1) shall not be subject 

7 to section 3(k) of Public Law 91–383 (16 U.S.C. 

8 1a–2(k)), section 321 of the Act of June 30, 1939 

9 (40 U.S.C. 303(b)), or section 403 of the National 

10 Parks Omnibus Management Act of 1998 (16 

11 U.S.C. 5952).’’.

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