I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2728 

To provide financial support for the operation of the law library of the 

Library of Congress, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 4, 2009 

Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California (for herself and Mr. DANIEL E. LUNGREN

of California) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on House Administration 

A BILL 

To provide financial support for the operation of the law 

library of the Library of Congress, 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 ‘‘William Orton Law 

5 Library Improvement and Modernization Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR LAW LIBRARY OF LI7 BRARY OF CONGRESS. 

8 (a) FINANCIAL SUPPORT.—In addition to any other 

9 amounts made available for the salaries and expenses of 

10 the Library of Congress, there are authorized to be approVerDate Nov 24 2008 01:05 Jun 06, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2728.IH H2728

rfrederick on PROD1PC67 with BILLS
2 

•HR 2728 IH

1 priated to the Librarian of Congress $3,500,000 for main2 taining and administering the operations of the law library 

3 of the Library of Congress, including the cataloguing of 

4 the collections of the law library. Any amounts appro5 priated pursuant to the authority of this subsection shall 

6 remain available without fiscal year limitation until ex7 pended. 

8 (b) ELECTRONIC CATALOGING OF NONPROPRIETARY

9 MATERIAL.—To the extent practicable, in using any funds 

10 appropriated pursuant to the authority of subsection (a) 

11 to catalog and archive nonproprietary material in the col12 lections of the Law Library after the date of the enact13 ment of this Act, the Law Librarian of Congress shall 

14 catalog and archive the material electronically in a non15 proprietary and nondiscriminatory format. Nothing in the 

16 previous sentence may be construed to affect any cata17 loging and archiving activities carried out with funds 

18 which are not appropriated pursuant to the authority of 

19 subsection (a). 

20 SEC. 3. SEPARATION OF LAW LIBRARY SALARIES AND EX21 PENSES IN PREPARATION OF ANNUAL LI22 BRARY OF CONGRESS BUDGET. 

23 (a) SEPARATE BUDGET TREATMENT OF LAW LI24 BRARY.—In preparing the annual budget for the Library 

25 of Congress which will be submitted by the President 


rfrederick on PROD1PC67 with BILLS
3 

•HR 2728 IH

1 under chapter 11 of title 31, United States Code, and in 

2 preparing the annual budget and related materials for the 

3 Library of Congress for the use of the Committees on Ap4 propriations of the Senate and House of Representatives, 

5 the Librarian of Congress shall ensure that all amounts 

6 attributable to salaries and expenses of the law library of 

7 the Library of Congress are set forth separately as a sepa8 rate line item from other salaries and expenses of the Li9 brary of Congress. 

10 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall apply with 

11 respect to fiscal year 2011 and each succeeding fiscal year. 

12 SEC. 4. WILLIAM ORTON PROGRAM TO SUPPORT THE MIS13 SION OF THE LAW LIBRARY OF THE LIBRARY 

14 OF CONGRESS. 

15 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Librarian of Congress, 

17 acting through the Law Librarian of Congress, shall 

18 establish and operate a program to be known as the 

19 ‘‘William Orton Law Library Support Program’’ 

20 (hereafter in this section referred to as the ‘‘Pro21 gram’’), which will— 

22 (A) provide enhanced or special services 

23 and programs for the Law Library; and 

24 (B) otherwise support the mission of the 

25 Law Library. 


rfrederick on PROD1PC67 with BILLS
4 

•HR 2728 IH

1 (2) RELATION TO OTHER PROGRAMS.—The Li2 brarian shall operate the Program in a manner 

3 which ensures that the resources of the Program are 

4 not commingled with the resources used to carry out 

5 the program operated under section 2. 

6 (b) ROLE OF OTHER ENTITIES.—The Librarian may 

7 carry out the Program through agreements and partner8 ships entered into with other government and private enti9 ties, including the American Association of Law Libraries 

10 and the American Bar Association. 

11 (c) PRIVATE SUPPORT.— 

12 (1) ACCEPTANCE OF DONATIONS.—Donations 

13 of funds and in-kind contributions in support of the 

14 Program may be accepted— 

15 (A) by the Library of Congress Trust 

16 Fund Board, as provided under the Act entitled 

17 ‘‘An Act to create a Library of Congress Trust 

18 Fund Board, and for other purposes’’, approved 

19 March 3, 1925 (2 U.S.C. 154 et seq.); and 

20 (B) by the Librarian of Congress, as pro21 vided under section 4 of such Act (2 U.S.C. 

22 160). 

23 (2) USE OF AMOUNTS.—Notwithstanding the 

24 second paragraph of section 2 of the Act entitled 

25 ‘‘An Act to create a Library of Congress Trust Fund 


rfrederick on PROD1PC67 with BILLS
5 

•HR 2728 IH

1 Board, and for other purposes’’, approved March 3, 

2 1925 (2 U.S.C. 157), or the third sentence of sec3 tion 4 of such Act (2 U.S.C. 160), any amounts ac4 cepted by the Library of Congress Trust Fund 

5 Board or the Librarian of Congress in support of 

6 the Program shall be subject to disbursement by the 

7 Librarian only upon the recommendation of the Law 

8 Librarian (except to the extent otherwise provided 

9 under any terms and conditions on the use of the 

10 amounts which are imposed by the person making 

11 the donation). 

12 (3) ACCEPTANCE OF OTHER VOLUNTARY SERV13 ICES.—Notwithstanding section 1342 of title 31, 

14 United States Code, the Librarian of Congress may 

15 accept voluntary and uncompensated services in sup16 port of the Program. 

17 (d) ESTABLISHMENT OF SEPARATE ACCOUNT.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is established in the 

19 Treasury (among the accounts of the Library of 

20 Congress) a separate account for the Program, 

21 which shall consist of— 

22 (A) amounts accepted by the Library of 

23 Congress Trust Fund Board in support of the 

24 Program as described in subsection (c)(1)(A), 


rfrederick on PROD1PC67 with BILLS
6 

•HR 2728 IH

1 together with any income earned on such 

2 amounts; 

3 (B) amounts accepted by the Librarian of 

4 Congress in support of the Program as de5 scribed in subsection (c)(1)(B), together with 

6 any income earned on such amounts; 

7 (C) amounts appropriated pursuant to the 

8 authorization under subsection (f); and 

9 (D) interest on the balance of the account. 

10 (2) USE OF AMOUNTS.—The funds contained in 

11 the account established under this subsection shall 

12 be used solely by the Law Librarian of Congress to 

13 carry out the Program. 

14 (e) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than April 30 of 

15 each year (beginning with 2010), the Librarian of Con16 gress shall submit a report on Program funding and ac17 tivities to the Committee on House Administration of the 

18 House of Representatives, the Committee on Rules and 

19 Administration of the Senate, the American Bar Associa20 tion, and the American Association of Law Libraries. The 

21 report shall include— 

22 (1) a listing of all donations received in support 

23 of the Program during the previous year; 

24 (2) the total obligations during the previous 

25 year for each Program activity; 


rfrederick on PROD1PC67 with BILLS
7 

•HR 2728 IH

1 (3) the amount appropriated pursuant to the 

2 authorization under subsection (f) for the fiscal year 

3 beginning on the previous October 1; 

4 (4) a list of Program activities, with budget in5 formation for each such activity, planned for the cal6 endar year in which the report is submitted; and 

7 (5) any findings in the most recently completed 

8 audit conducted with respect to the Law Library or 

9 Program funds or investments. 

10 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—In addi11 tion to any other amounts authorized to be appropriated 

12 to the Librarian of Congress for the Law Library of Con13 gress for a fiscal year, there are authorized to be appro14 priated for deposit into the account established under sub15 section (d) an amount equal to 40 percent of the amount 

16 of the donations accepted by the Library of Congress 

17 Trust Fund Board in support of the Program under sub18 section (c)(1) during the previous fiscal year. 

19 SEC. 5. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING ROLE AND STA20 TUS OF LAW LIBRARY OF LIBRARY OF CON21 GRESS. 

22 It is the sense of Congress that the Librarian of Con23 gress should make decisions regarding the financing and 

24 operation of the law library of the Library of Congress, 

25 the maintenance of its collections, and the access of the 


rfrederick on PROD1PC67 with BILLS
8 

•HR 2728 IH

1 public to its collections in a manner that preserves the 

2 role and status of the law library as the Nation’s law li3 brary. 

Æ 


rfrederick on PROD1PC67 with BILLS