I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2496

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to establish an Abraham Lincoln

Research and Interpretive Center.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JUNE 23, 1993

Mr. DURBIN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Natural Resources

A BILL

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to establish an

Abraham Lincoln Research and Interpretive 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. ABRAHAM LINCOLN INTERPRETIVE CENTER.

4 The Act entitled ‘‘An Act to authorize the Secretary

5 of the Interior to establish the Lincoln Home National

6 Historic Site in the State of Illinois, and for other pur7 poses’’, approved August 18, 1971 (85 Stat. 347), is

8 amended by adding at the end the following new section:
2

•HR 2496 IH

1 ‘‘SEC. 4. ABRAHAM LINCOLN INTERPRETIVE CENTER.

2 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—In order to provide for the

3 education, inspiration and benefit of the American people,

4 and to further the interpretation of the life and contribu5 tions of Abraham Lincoln and his times, the Secretary of

6 the Interior is authorized to establish at or near the Lin7 coln Home National Historic Site an interpretive center

8 which shall be known as the Abraham Lincoln Interpretive

9 Center (hereafter in this section referred to as the ‘cen10 ter’). The center shall be added to and administered as

11 part of the Lincoln Home National Historic Site. Upon

12 establishment of the center, the boundary of the Lincoln

13 Home National Historic Site is hereby modified to include

14 the center.

15 ‘‘(b) ACQUISITION OF LAND.—For the purposes of

16 this section, the Secretary may acquire land or interests

17 in land near the Lincoln Home National Historic Site by

18 donation, purchase with donated or appropriated funds,

19 or exchange. Lands or interests therein owned by the

20 State of Illinois or any political subdivision thereof may

21 be acquired only by donation.

22 ‘‘(c) CONSTRUCTION, OPERATION, AND MAINTE23 NANCE OF FACILITIES.—In carrying out this section, the

24 Secretary is authorized to construct, operate, and main25 tain a facility, including an exhibit area, in order to pre26 serve and make available materials related to the life of
3

•HR 2496 IH

1 Abraham Lincoln and to provide interpretive and edu2 cational services which communicate the meaning of the

3 life of Abraham Lincoln.

4 ‘‘(d) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.—In carrying out

5 this section, the Secretary may enter into cooperative

6 agreements with (1) appropriate Federal agencies and the

7 State of Illinois, or any political subdivision thereof, for

8 the interpretation of resources at the center, and (2) with

9 the owners of documents and artifacts of historical or cul10 tural significance as determined by the Secretary.

11 ‘‘(e) DOCUMENTS AND ARTIFACTS.—In carrying out

12 this section, the Secretary may acquire by purchase with

13 donated funds, exchange, loan, or donation documents and

14 artifacts related to the purposes of the center for display

15 at the center.

16 ‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—In addi17 tion to amounts authorized to be appropriated by section

18 3, there is authorized to be appropriated not more than

19 $18,000,000 to carry out this section.’’.

Æ