I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 598

To establish a commission to study the establishment of a national education 

museum and archive for the United States. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 5, 2003

Mr. OWENS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL

To establish a commission to study the establishment of 

a national education museum and archive for the United 

States.

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

3 SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 

4 Congress makes the following findings: 

5 (1) The United States has developed a unique 

6 and powerful system of education that is admired 

7 throughout the world. 

8 (2) The American education system has devel9 oped into an increasingly complex and rich mixture 
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1 of public and private education since the founding of 

2 this Nation. 

3 (3) There is no central location or agency re4 sponsible for the identification and preservation of 

5 American education’s history. 

6 (4) There is a need for a national place of 

7 study and research on American education and 

8 schooling in all its dimensions. 

9 (5) There is a need to study the development of 

10 a national historical and archival repository for 

11 American education. 

12 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 

13 The purpose of this Act is to establish a national 

14 commission to study the development of a national edu15 cation museum and archive for the United States. 

16 SEC. 3. GENERAL PROVISIONS. 

17 (a) APPOINTMENT OF COMMISSION.—The Secretary 

18 of Education shall appoint a national commission includ19 ing representatives from both the public and private sec20 tors to study the development, creation, and operation of 

21 a national education museum and archive (in this Act re22 ferred to as the ‘‘Commission’’). 

23 (b) MEMBERSHIP.—The Commission, not to exceed 

24 15 members, shall be broadly representative of the spec-
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1 trum of American education and shall include educators, 

2 archivists, museum professionals, and policy makers. 

3 (c) DURATION OF COMMISSION; REPORTS.—

4 (1) DURATION OF COMMISSION.—The Commis5 sion shall exist for a period not to exceed 2 years. 

6 (2) REPORTS.—The Commission shall submit 

7 regular interim reports and a final report to the Sec8 retary of Education and the Congress not later than 

9 2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

10 (d) DUTIES OF COMMISSION.—The Commission shall 

11 undertake at least the following actions: 

12 (1) Generally defining the requirements for de13 veloping, creating, and operating a national edu14 cation museum and archive. 

15 (2) Elaborating on, and assessing, the existing 

16 conditions affecting such requirements. 

17 (3) Undertaking detailed project structure de18 velopment and planning. 

19 (4) Undertaking detailed museum and archive 

20 planning. 

21 (5) Making detailed recommendations for the 

22 creation and operation of a national education mu23 seum and archive. 

24 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

25 As used in this Act: 
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1 (1) ARCHIVE.—The term ‘‘archive’’ means an 

2 organization, that identifies, collects, describes, ar3 ranges, and makes accessible primary source mate4 rial relevant to its mission. 

5 (2) EDUCATION.—The term ‘‘education’’ means 

6 all aspects of American pedagogy, including public 

7 and private institutions, all levels of schooling, and 

8 all specializations, including special education and 

9 vocational education. 

10 (3) MUSEUM.—The term ‘‘museum’’ means an 

11 organization that identifies, collects, describes, ar12 ranges, and interprets artifacts relevant to its mis13 sion.

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