IIB 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2728 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 3, 2009 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and 

Administration 

AN ACT 

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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘William Orton Law 

3 Library Improvement and Modernization Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR LAW LIBRARY OF LI5 BRARY OF CONGRESS. 

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

7 amounts made available for the salaries and expenses of 

8 the Library of Congress, there are authorized to be appro9 priated to the Librarian of Congress $3,500,000 for main10 taining and administering the operations of the law library 

11 of the Library of Congress, including the cataloguing of 

12 the collections of the law library. Any amounts appro13 priated pursuant to the authority of this subsection shall 

14 remain available without fiscal year limitation until ex15 pended. 

16 (b) ELECTRONIC CATALOGING OF NONPROPRIETARY

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

18 appropriated pursuant to the authority of subsection (a) 

19 to catalog and archive nonproprietary material in the col20 lections of the Law Library after the date of the enact21 ment of this Act, the Law Librarian of Congress shall 

22 catalog and archive the material electronically in a non23 proprietary and nondiscriminatory format. Nothing in the 

24 previous sentence may be construed to affect any cata25 loging and archiving activities carried out with funds 


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1 which are not appropriated pursuant to the authority of 

2 subsection (a). 

3 SEC. 3. SEPARATION OF LAW LIBRARY SALARIES AND EX4 PENSES IN PREPARATION OF ANNUAL LI5 BRARY OF CONGRESS BUDGET. 

6 (a) SEPARATE BUDGET TREATMENT OF LAW LI7 BRARY.—In preparing the annual budget for the Library 

8 of Congress which will be submitted by the President 

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

10 preparing the annual budget and related materials for the 

11 Library of Congress for the use of the Committees on Ap12 propriations of the Senate and House of Representatives, 

13 the Librarian of Congress shall ensure that all amounts 

14 attributable to salaries and expenses of the law library of 

15 the Library of Congress are set forth separately as a sepa16 rate line item from other salaries and expenses of the Li17 brary of Congress. 

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

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

20 SEC. 4. WILLIAM ORTON PROGRAM TO SUPPORT THE MIS21 SION OF THE LAW LIBRARY OF THE LIBRARY 

22 OF CONGRESS. 

23 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

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

25 acting through the Law Librarian of Congress, shall 


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1 establish and operate a program to be known as the 

2 ‘‘William Orton Law Library Support Program’’ 

3 (hereafter in this section referred to as the ‘‘Pro4 gram’’), which will— 

5 (A) provide enhanced or special services 

6 and programs for the Law Library; and 

7 (B) otherwise support the mission of the 

8 Law Library. 

9 (2) RELATION TO OTHER PROGRAMS.—The Li10 brarian shall operate the Program in a manner 

11 which ensures that the resources of the Program are 

12 not commingled with the resources used to carry out 

13 the program operated under section 2. 

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

15 carry out the Program through agreements and partner16 ships entered into with other government and private enti17 ties, including the American Association of Law Libraries 

18 and the American Bar Association. 

19 (c) PRIVATE SUPPORT.— 

20 (1) ACCEPTANCE OF DONATIONS.—Donations 

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

22 Program may be accepted— 

23 (A) by the Library of Congress Trust 

24 Fund Board, as provided under the Act entitled 

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


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

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

3 (B) by the Librarian of Congress, as pro4 vided under section 4 of such Act (2 U.S.C. 

5 160). 

6 (2) USE OF AMOUNTS.—Notwithstanding the 

7 second paragraph of section 2 of the Act entitled 

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

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

10 1925 (2 U.S.C. 157), or the third sentence of sec11 tion 4 of such Act (2 U.S.C. 160), any amounts ac12 cepted by the Library of Congress Trust Fund 

13 Board or the Librarian of Congress in support of 

14 the Program shall be subject to disbursement by the 

15 Librarian only upon the recommendation of the Law 

16 Librarian (except to the extent otherwise provided 

17 under any terms and conditions on the use of the 

18 amounts which are imposed by the person making 

19 the donation). 

20 (3) ACCEPTANCE OF OTHER VOLUNTARY SERV21 ICES.—Notwithstanding section 1342 of title 31, 

22 United States Code, the Librarian of Congress may 

23 accept voluntary and uncompensated services in sup24 port of the Program. 

25 (d) ESTABLISHMENT OF SEPARATE ACCOUNT.— 


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

2 Treasury (among the accounts of the Library of 

3 Congress) a separate account for the Program, 

4 which shall consist of— 

5 (A) amounts accepted by the Library of 

6 Congress Trust Fund Board in support of the 

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

8 together with any income earned on such 

9 amounts; 

10 (B) amounts accepted by the Librarian of 

11 Congress in support of the Program as de12 scribed in subsection (c)(1)(B), together with 

13 any income earned on such amounts; 

14 (C) amounts appropriated pursuant to the 

15 authorization under subsection (f); and 

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

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

18 the account established under this subsection shall 

19 be used solely by the Law Librarian of Congress to 

20 carry out the Program. 

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

22 each year (beginning with 2010), the Librarian of Con23 gress shall submit a report on Program funding and ac24 tivities to the Committee on House Administration of the 

25 House of Representatives, the Committee on Rules and 


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1 Administration of the Senate, the American Bar Associa2 tion, and the American Association of Law Libraries. The 

3 report shall include— 

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

5 of the Program during the previous year; 

6 (2) the total obligations during the previous 

7 year for each Program activity; 

8 (3) the amount appropriated pursuant to the 

9 authorization under subsection (f) for the fiscal year 

10 beginning on the previous October 1; 

11 (4) a list of Program activities, with budget in12 formation for each such activity, planned for the cal13 endar year in which the report is submitted; and 

14 (5) any findings in the most recently completed 

15 audit conducted with respect to the Law Library or 

16 Program funds or investments. 

17 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—In addi18 tion to any other amounts authorized to be appropriated 

19 to the Librarian of Congress for the Law Library of Con20 gress for a fiscal year, there are authorized to be appro21 priated for deposit into the account established under sub22 section (d) an amount equal to 40 percent of the amount 

23 of the donations accepted by the Library of Congress 

24 Trust Fund Board in support of the Program under sub25 section (c)(1) during the previous fiscal year. 


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1 SEC. 5. DESIGNATION OF LAW LIBRARY OF LIBRARY OF 

2 CONGRESS AS NATIONAL LAW LIBRARY. 

3 The law library of the Library of Congress shall be 

4 known and designated as the ‘‘National Law Library’’, 

5 and any reference to the law library of the Library of Con6 gress in any law, rule, regulation, or document shall be 

7 deemed to be a reference to the National Law Library. 

Passed the House of Representatives July 30, 2009. 

Attest: LORRAINE C. MILLER, 

Clerk. 


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