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In the Senate of the United States,
November 5, 2003.
Resolved, That the bill from the House of Representa-
tives (H.R. 1442) entitled ‘‘An Act to authorize the design
and construction of a visitor center for the Vietnam Veterans
Memorial.’’, do pass with the following
AMENDMENT:
Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert:
TITLE I—VIETNAM VETERANS
MEMORIAL VISITOR CENTER
SEC. 101. VISITOR CENTER
Public Law 96–297 (16 U.S.C. 431 note) is amended
by adding at the end the following:
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‘‘SEC. 6. VISITOR CENTER.
‘‘(a) AUTHORIZATION.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Vietnam Veterans Me-
morial Fund, Inc., is authorized to construct a visitor
center at or near the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on
Federal land in the District of Columbia, or its envi-
rons, subject to the provisions of this section, in order
to better inform and educate the public about the
Vietnam Veterans Memorial and the Vietnam War.
‘‘(2) LOCATION.—The visitor center shall be lo-
cated underground.
‘‘(3) CONSULTATION
ON
DESIGN
PHASE.—The
Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, Inc. shall consult
with educators, veterans groups, and the National
Park Service in developing the proposed design of the
visitor center.
‘‘(b) COMPLIANCE WITH STANDARDS APPLICABLE TO
COMMEMORATIVE WORKS.—Chapter 89 of title 40, United
States Code, shall apply, including provisions related to the
siting, design, construction, and maintenance of the visitor
center, and the visitor center shall be considered a com-
memorative work for the purposes of that Act, except that—
‘‘(1) final approval of the visitor center shall not
be withheld;
‘‘(2) the provisions of subsections (b) and (c) of
section 8908 of title 40, United States Code, requiring
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further approval by law for the location of a com-
memorative work within Area I and prohibiting the
siting of a visitor center within the Reserve shall not
apply;
‘‘(3) the size of the visitor center shall be limited
to the minimum necessary—
‘‘(A) to provide for appropriate educational
and interpretive functions; and
‘‘(B) to prevent interference or encroach-
ment on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and to
protect open space and visual sightlines on the
Mall; and
‘‘(4) the visitor center shall be constructed and
landscaped in a manner harmonious with the site of
the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, consistent with the
special nature and sanctity of the Mall.
‘‘(c) OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Interior
shall—
‘‘(A) operate and maintain the visitor cen-
ter, except that the Secretary shall enter into a
written agreement with the Vietnam Veterans
Memorial Fund, Inc. for specified maintenance
needs of the visitor center, as determined by the
Secretary; and
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‘‘(B) as soon as practicable, in consultation
with educators and veterans groups, develop a
written interpretive plan for the visitor center in
accordance with National Park Service policy.
‘‘(2) DONATION FOR PERPETUAL MAINTENANCE
AND
PRESERVATION.—Paragraph (1)(A) does not
waive the requirements of section 8906(b) of title 40,
United States Code, with respect to the visitor center.
‘‘(d) FUNDING.—The Vietnam Veterans Memorial
Fund, Inc. shall be solely responsible for acceptance of con-
tributions for, and payment of expenses of, the establish-
ment of the visitor center. No Federal funds shall be used
to pay any expense of the establishment of the visitor cen-
ter.’’.
TITLE II—COMMEMORATIVE
WORKS
SEC. 201. SHORT TITLE.
This title may be cited as the ‘‘Commemorative Works
Clarification and Revision Act of 2003’’.
SEC. 202. ESTABLISHMENT OF RESERVE.
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—
(1) the great cross-axis of the Mall in the Dis-
trict of Columbia, which generally extends from the
United States Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial, and
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from the White House to the Jefferson Memorial, is a
substantially completed work of civic art; and
(2) to preserve the integrity of the Mall, a reserve
area should be designated within the core of the great
cross-axis of the Mall where the siting of new com-
memorative works is prohibited.
(b) RESERVE.—Section 8908 of title 40, United States
Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(c) RESERVE.—After the date of enactment of the
Commemorative Works Clarification and Revision Act of
2003, no commemorative work or visitor center shall be lo-
cated within the Reserve.’’.
SEC. 203. CLARIFYING AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.
(a) PURPOSES.—Section 8901(2) of title 40, United
States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘Columbia;’’ and in-
serting ‘‘Columbia and its environs, and to encourage the
location of commemorative works within the urban fabric
of the District of Columbia;’’.
(b) DEFINITIONS.—Section 8902 of title 40, United
States Code, is amended by striking subsection (a) and in-
serting the following:
‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this chapter:
‘‘(1) COMMEMORATIVE WORK.—The term ‘com-
memorative work’ means any statue, monument,
sculpture, memorial, plaque, inscription, or other
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structure or landscape feature, including a garden or
memorial grove, designed to perpetuate in a perma-
nent manner the memory of an individual, group,
event or other significant element of American his-
tory, except that the term does not include any such
item which is located within the interior of a struc-
ture or a structure which is primarily used for other
purposes.
‘‘(2) THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA AND ITS ENVI-
RONS.—The term ‘the District of Columbia and its
environs’ means those lands and properties adminis-
tered by the National Park Service and the General
Services Administration located in the Reserve, Area
I, and Area II as depicted on the map entitled ‘Com-
memorative Areas Washington, DC and Environs’,
numbered 869/86501 B, and dated June 24, 2003.
‘‘(3) RESERVE.—The term ‘Reserve’ means the
great cross-axis of the Mall, which generally extends
from the United States Capitol to the Lincoln Memo-
rial, and from the White House to the Jefferson Me-
morial, as depicted on the map referenced in para-
graph (2).
‘‘(4) SPONSOR.—The term ‘sponsor’ means a
public agency, or an individual, group or organiza-
tion that is described in section 501(c)(3) of the Inter-
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nal Revenue Code of 1986 and exempt from tax under
section 501(a) of such Code, and which is authorized
by Congress to establish a commemorative work in the
District of Columbia and its environs.’’.
(c) AUTHORIZATION.—Section 8903 of title 40, United
States Code, is amended—
(1) in subsection (b)—
(A) by striking ‘‘work commemorating a
lesser conflict’’ and inserting ‘‘work solely com-
memorating a limited military engagement’’;
and
(B) by striking ‘‘the event’’ and inserting
‘‘such war or conflict’’;
(2) in subsection (d)—
(A) by striking ‘‘CONSULTATION WITH NA-
TIONAL
CAPITAL
MEMORIAL
COMMISSION.—’’
and inserting ‘‘CONSULTATION WITH NATIONAL
CAPITAL MEMORIAL ADVISORY COMMISSION.—’’;
(B) by striking ‘‘House Administration’’
and inserting ‘‘Resources’’; and
(C) by inserting ‘‘Advisory’’ before ‘‘Com-
mission’’; and
(3) by striking subsection (e) and inserting the
following:
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‘‘(e) EXPIRATION OF LEGISLATIVE AUTHORITY.—Any
legislative authority for a commemorative work shall expire
at the end of the seven-year period beginning on the date
of the enactment of such authority, or at the end of the
seven-year period beginning on the date of the enactment
of legislative authority to locate the commemorative work
within Area I, if such additional authority has been grant-
ed, unless—
‘‘(1) the Secretary of the Interior or the Admin-
istrator of General Services (as appropriate) has
issued a construction permit for the commemorative
work during that period; or
‘‘(2) the Secretary or the Administrator (as ap-
propriate), in consultation with the National Capital
Memorial Advisory Commission, has made a deter-
mination that—
‘‘(A) final design approvals have been ob-
tained from the National Capital Planning Com-
mission and the Commission of Fine Arts; and
‘‘(B) 75 percent of the amount estimated to
be required to complete the commemorative work
has been raised.
If these two conditions have been met, the Secretary or the
Administrator (as appropriate) may extend the seven-year
legislative authority for a period not to exceed three addi-
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tional years. Upon expiration of the legislative authority,
any previous site and design approvals shall also expire.’’.
(d) NATIONAL CAPITAL MEMORIAL ADVISORY COMMIS-
SION.—Section 8904 of title 40, United States Code, is
amended—
(1) in the heading, by inserting ‘‘Advisory’’ be-
fore ‘‘Commission’’;
(2) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘There is a Na-
tional’’ and all that follows through ‘‘consists of’’ and
inserting the following: ‘‘There is established the Na-
tional Capital Memorial Advisory Commission, which
shall be composed of’’;
(3) in subsection (c)—
(A) by inserting ‘‘Advisory’’ before ‘‘Com-
mission shall’’; and
(B) by striking ‘‘Services’’ and inserting
‘‘Services (as appropriate)’’; and
(4) in subsection (d) by inserting ‘‘Advisory’’ be-
fore ‘‘Commission’’.
(e) SITE AND DESIGN APPROVAL.—Section 8905 of
title 40, United States Code, is amended—
(1) in subsection (a)—
(A) by striking ‘‘person’’ each place it ap-
pears and inserting ‘‘sponsor’’; and
(B) in paragraph (1)—
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(i) by inserting ‘‘Advisory’’ before
‘‘Commission’’; and
(ii) by striking ‘‘designs’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘design concepts’’; and
(2) in subsection (b)—
(A) by striking ‘‘Secretary, and Adminis-
trator’’ and inserting ‘‘and the Secretary or Ad-
ministrator (as appropriate)’’; and
(B) in paragraph (2)(B), by striking, ‘‘open
space and existing public use.’’ and inserting
‘‘open space, existing public use, and cultural
and natural resources.’’.
(f) CRITERIA FOR ISSUANCE OF CONSTRUCTION PER-
MIT.—Section 8906 of title 40, United States Code, is
amended—
(1) in subsection (a)(3) and (a)(4) by striking
‘‘person’’ and inserting ‘‘sponsor’’; and
(2) by striking subsection (b) and inserting the
following:
‘‘(b) DONATION FOR PERPETUAL MAINTENANCE AND
PRESERVATION.—
‘‘(1) In addition to the criteria described above
in subsection (a), no construction permit shall be
issued unless the sponsor authorized to construct the
commemorative work has donated an amount equal to
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10 percent of the total estimated cost of construction
to offset the costs of perpetual maintenance and pres-
ervation of the commemorative work. All such
amounts shall be available for those purposes pursu-
ant to the provisions of this subsection. The provisions
of this subsection shall not apply in instances when
the commemorative work is constructed by a Depart-
ment or agency of the Federal Government and less
than 50 percent of the funding for such work is pro-
vided by private sources.
‘‘(2) Notwithstanding any other provision of law,
money on deposit in the Treasury on the date of en-
actment of the Commemorative Works Clarification
and Revision Act of 2003 provided by a sponsor for
maintenance pursuant to this subsection shall be cred-
ited to a separate account in the Treasury.
‘‘(3) Money provided by a sponsor pursuant to
the provisions of this subsection after the date of en-
actment of the Commemorative Works Clarification
and Revision Act of 2003 shall be credited to a sepa-
rate account with the National Park Foundation.
‘‘(4) Upon request of the Secretary or Adminis-
trator (as appropriate), the Secretary of the Treasury
or the National Park Foundation shall make all or a
portion of such moneys available to the Secretary or
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the Administrator (as appropriate) for the mainte-
nance of a commemorative work. Under no cir-
cumstances may the Secretary or Administrator re-
quest funds from a separate account exceeding the
total money in the account established under para-
graph (2) or (3). The Secretary and the Adminis-
trator shall maintain an inventory of funds available
for such purposes. Funds provided under this para-
graph shall be available without further appropria-
tion and shall remain available until expended.’’.
(g) AREAS I AND II.—Section 8908(a) of title 40,
United States Code, is amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘Secretary of the Interior and
Administrator of General Services’’ and inserting
‘‘Secretary of the Interior or the Administrator of
General Services (as appropriate)’’; and
(2) by striking ‘‘numbered 869/86581, and dated
May 1, 1986’’ and inserting ‘‘entitled ‘Commemora-
tive Areas Washington, DC and Environs’, numbered
869/86501 B, and dated June 24, 2003’’.
SEC. 204. SITE AND DESIGN CRITERIA.
Section 8905(b) of title 40, United States Code (as
amended by section 203(e)), is amended by adding at the
end the following:
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‘‘(5) MUSEUMS.—No commemorative work pri-
marily designed as a museum may be located on
lands under the jurisdiction of the Secretary in Area
I or in East Potomac Park as depicted on the map
referenced in section 8902(2).
‘‘(6) SITE-SPECIFIC GUIDELINES.—The National
Capital Planning Commission and the Commission of
Fine Arts may develop such criteria or guidelines spe-
cific to each site that are mutually agreed upon to en-
sure that the design of the commemorative work car-
ries out the purposes of this chapter.
‘‘(7) DONOR CONTRIBUTIONS.—Donor contribu-
tions to commemorative works shall not be acknowl-
edged in any manner as part of the commemorative
work or its site.’’.
SEC. 205. NO EFFECT ON PREVIOUSLY APPROVED SITES.
Except for the provision in the amendment made by
section 202(b) prohibiting a visitor center from being lo-
cated in the Reserve (as defined in section 8902 of title 40,
United States Code), nothing in this title shall apply to
a commemorative work for which a site was approved in
accordance with chapter 89 of title 40, United States Code,
prior to the date of enactment of this title.