106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2303
AN ACT
To direct the Librarian of Congress to prepare the
history of the House of Representatives, and for
other purposes.
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2303
AN ACT
To direct the Librarian of Congress to prepare the history
of the House of Representatives, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘History of the House
Awareness and Preservation Act’’.
SEC. 2. WRITTEN HISTORY OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENT-
ATIVES.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to available funding and
in accordance with the requirements of this Act, the Li-
brarian of Congress shall prepare, print, distribute, and
arrange for the funding of, a new and complete written
history of the House of Representatives, in consultation
with the Committee on House Administration. In pre-
paring this written history, the Librarian of Congress shall
consult, commission, or engage the services or participa-
tion of, eminent historians, Members, and former Mem-
bers of the House of Representatives.
(b) GUIDELINES.—In carrying out subsection (a), the
Librarian of Congress shall take into account the fol-
lowing:
(1) The history should be an illustrated, nar-
rative history of the House of Representatives, orga-
nized chronologically.
(2) The history’s intended audience is the gen-
eral reader, as well as Members of Congress and
their staffs.
(3) The history should include a discussion of
the First and Second Continental Congresses and
the Constitutional Convention, especially with regard
to their roles in creating the House of Representa-
tives.
(c) PRINTING.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Librarian of Congress
shall arrange for the printing of the history.
(2) PRINTING ARRANGEMENTS.—The printing
may be performed—
(A) by the Public Printer pursuant to the
provisions of chapter 5 of title 44, United
States Code;
(B) under a cooperative arrangement
among the Librarian of Congress, a private
funding source obtained pursuant to subsection
(e), and a publisher in the private sector; or
(C) under subparagraphs (A) and (B).
(3) INTERNET DISSEMINATION.—Any arrange-
ment under paragraph (2) shall include terms for
dissemination of the history over the Internet via fa-
cilities maintained by the United States Govern-
ment.
(4) MEMBER COPIES.—To the extent that the
history is printed by the Public Printer, copies of the
history provided to the Congress under subsection
(d) shall be charged to the Government Printing Of-
fice’s congressional allotment for printing and bind-
ing.
(d) DISTRIBUTION.—The Librarian of Congress shall
make the history available for sale to the public, and shall
make available, free of charge, 5 copies to each Member
of the House of Representatives and 250 copies to the
Senate.
(e) PRIVATE FUNDING.—The Librarian of Congress
shall solicit and accept funding for the preparation, publi-
cation, marketing, and public distribution of the history
from private individuals, organizations, or entities.
SEC. 3. ORAL HISTORY OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTA-
TIVES.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Librarian of Congress shall
accept for deposit, preserve, maintain, and make accessible
an oral history of the House of Representatives, as told
by its Members and former Members, compiled and up-
dated (on a voluntary or contract basis) by the United
States Association of Former Members of Congress or
other private organization. In carrying out this section,
the Librarian of Congress may enlist the voluntary aid or
assistance of such organization, or may contract with it
for such services as may be necessary.
(b) DEFINITION OF ORAL HISTORY.—In this section,
the term ‘‘oral history’’ means a story or history consisting
of personal recollection as recorded by any one or more
of the following means:
(1) Interviews.
(2) Transcripts.
(3) Audio recordings.
(4) Video recordings.
(5) Such other form or means as may be suit-
able for the recording and preservation of such in-
formation.
SEC. 4. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.
It is the sense of the Congress that—
(1) orientation programs for freshman Members
of the House of Representatives should contain a
seminar on the history of the House of Representa-
tives; and
(2) the Speaker of the House of Representa-
tives should conduct a series of forums on the topic
of the history of the House of Representatives.
Passed the House of Representatives October 25,
1999.
Attest:
Clerk.