I 
117TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 9363 
To revise the composition of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institu-
tion so that all members are individuals appointed by the President 
from a list of nominees submitted by the leadership of the Congress, 
to amend the Freedom of Information Act and the Privacy Act to 
apply the requirements of such Acts to the Smithsonian Institution, 
and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 29, 2022 
Mr. SEMPOLINSKI introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on House Administration, and in addition to the Committee 
on Oversight and Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by 
the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall with-
in the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To revise the composition of the Board of Regents of the 
Smithsonian Institution so that all members are individ-
uals appointed by the President from a list of nominees 
submitted by the leadership of the Congress, to amend 
the Freedom of Information Act and the Privacy Act 
to apply the requirements of such Acts to the Smithso-
nian Institution, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Smithsonian Mod-
ernization Act of 2022’’. 
SEC. 2. APPOINTMENT OF MEMBERS OF SMITHSONIAN 
BOARD OF REGENTS. 
(a) NUMBER OF MEMBERS; APPOINTMENT OF ALL 
MEMBERS FROM LIST OF NOMINEES.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 5580(a) of the Re-
vised Statutes of the United States (20 U.S.C. 
42(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘to be composed of’’ 
and all that follows and inserting the following: ‘‘to 
be composed of 21 members appointed by the Presi-
dent from among the list of nominees submitted 
under subsection (b), of whom 2 shall be residents 
of the District of Columbia.’’. 
(2) LIST OF NOMINEES.—Section 5580 of the 
Revised Statutes of the United States (20 U.S.C. 
42(a)) is amended— 
(A) by redesignating subsection (b) as sub-
section (c); and 
(B) by inserting after subsection (a) the 
following new subsection: 
‘‘(b) The Speaker of the House of Representatives 
and the Majority Leader of the Senate shall each submit 
to the President a list of 12 nominees for appointment 
as members of the Board of Regents.’’. 
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(3) REVISION OF QUORUM.—Section 5582 of 
the Revised Statutes of the United States (20 
U.S.C. 44) is amended by striking ‘‘eight shall con-
stitute a quorum’’ and inserting ‘‘17 shall constitute 
a quorum’’. 
(4) NO
EFFECT
ON
CURRENT
CITIZEN
RE-
GENTS.—Nothing in the amendments made by this 
subsection may be construed to affect the authority 
of any individual who serves as a Regent of the 
Smithsonian Institution as of the date of the enact-
ment of this Act pursuant to a joint resolution of 
the Congress to continue to serve as a Regent after 
that date. 
(b) UNIFORM TERM OF SERVICE.—Section 5581 of 
the Revised Statutes of the United States (20 U.S.C. 43) 
is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘SEC. 5581. (a) Except as provided in subsections 
(b) and (c), each Regent of the Smithsonian Institution 
shall be appointed for a term of 6 years, and may be re-
appointed for additional terms. 
‘‘(b) Of the Regents who are appointed after the date 
of the enactment of the Smithsonian Modernization Act 
of 2022 who were not serving as Regents prior to that 
date— 
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‘‘(1) 4 shall be appointed for a term of 2 years 
(as designated in the joint resolution under which 
they are appointed) and may be reappointed for ad-
ditional terms of 6 years; and 
‘‘(2) 4 shall be appointed for a term of 4 years 
(as designated in the joint resolution under which 
they are appointed) and may be reappointed for ad-
ditional terms of 6 years. 
‘‘(c) Any Regent appointed to fill a vacancy occurring 
before the expiration of the term for which the Regent’s 
predecessor was appointed shall be appointed only for the 
remainder of that term. A Regent may serve after the ex-
piration of that Regent’s term until a successor has taken 
office.’’. 
SEC. 3. APPLICATION OF OPEN GOVERNMENT LAWS TO 
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. 
(a) FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT.—Section 552 
of title 5, United States Code (commonly referred to as 
the Freedom of Information Act) is amended by adding 
at the end the following new subsection: 
‘‘(n) For purposes of this section, the Smithsonian 
Institution shall be considered an agency, and the Sec-
retary of the Smithsonian Institution shall be considered 
the head of the agency.’’. 
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(b) PRIVACY ACT.—Section 552a(a)(1) of title 5, 
United States Code (commonly referred to as the Privacy 
Act), is amended by striking the semicolon at the end and 
inserting ‘‘, except that such term also includes the Smith-
sonian Institution;’’. 
(c) 
REQUIRING
OPEN
MEETINGS.—Section 
552b(a)(1) of title 5, United States Code (relating to open 
meetings) is amended by striking the semicolon at the end 
and inserting ‘‘, except that such term also includes the 
Smithsonian Institution;’’. 
(d) EFFECTIVE DATE AND APPLICATION.— 
(1) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section and the 
amendments made by this section shall take effect 
on the date of enactment of this Act. 
(2) APPLICATION.— 
(A) FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT; PRI-
VACY ACT.—Subsections (a) and (b) and the 
amendments made by such subsections shall 
apply to any record created before, on, or after 
the date of the enactment of this Act. 
(B) OPEN MEETINGS.—Subsection (c) and 
the amendments made by such subsection shall 
apply to any meeting held on or after the date 
of the enactment of this Act. 
Æ 
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