TITLE III—MUSEUM SERVICES
SEC. 301. PURPOSE.
Section 271 of the Museum and Library Services Act
(20 U.S.C. 9171) is amended to read as follows:
‘‘SEC. 271. PURPOSE.
‘‘It is the purpose of this subtitle—
‘‘(1) to encourage and support museums in car-
rying out their public service role of connecting the
whole of society to the cultural, artistic, historical,
natural, and scientific understandings that con-
stitute our heritage;
‘‘(2) to encourage and support museums in car-
rying out their educational role, as core providers of
learning and in conjunction with schools, families,
and communities;
‘‘(3) to encourage leadership, innovation, and
applications of the most current technologies and
practices to enhance museum services;
‘‘(4) to assist, encourage, and support museums
in carrying out their stewardship responsibilities to
achieve the highest standards in conservation and
care of the cultural, historic, natural, and scientific
heritage of the United States to benefit future gen-
erations;
‘‘(5) to assist, encourage, and support museums
in achieving the highest standards of management
and service to the public, and to ease the financial
burden borne by museums as a result of their in-
creasing use by the public; and
‘‘(6) to support resource sharing and partner-
ships among museums, libraries, schools, and other
community organizations.’’.
SEC. 302. DEFINITIONS.
Section 272(1) of the Museum and Library Services
Act (20 U.S.C. 9172(1)) is amended by adding at the end
the following: ‘‘Such term includes aquariums, arbore-
tums, botanical gardens, art museums, children’s muse-
ums, general museums, historic houses and sites, history
museums, nature centers, natural history and anthro-
pology museums, planetariums, science and technology
centers, specialized museums, and zoological parks.’’.
SEC. 303. MUSEUM SERVICES ACTIVITIES.
Section 273 of the Museum and Library Services Act
(20 U.S.C. 9173) is amended to read as follows:
‘‘SEC. 273. MUSEUM SERVICES ACTIVITIES.
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Director, subject to the pol-
icy advice of the Museum and Library Services Board,
may enter into arrangements, including grants, contracts,
cooperative agreements, and other forms of assistance to
museums and other entities as the Director considers ap-
propriate, to pay for the Federal share of the cost—
‘‘(1) to support museums in providing learning
and access to collections, information, and edu-
cational resources in a variety of formats (including
exhibitions, programs, publications, and websites)
for individuals of all ages;
‘‘(2) to support museums in building learning
partnerships with the Nation’s schools and devel-
oping museum resources and programs in support of
State and local school curricula;
‘‘(3) to support museums in assessing, con-
serving, researching, maintaining, and exhibiting
their collections, and in providing educational pro-
grams to the public through the use of their collec-
tions;
‘‘(4) to stimulate greater collaboration among
museums, libraries, schools, and other community
organizations in order to share resources and
strengthen communities;
‘‘(5) to encourage the use of new technologies
and broadcast media to enhance access to museum
collections, programs, and services;
‘‘(6) to support museums in providing services
to people of diverse geographic, cultural, and socio-
economic backgrounds and to individuals with dis-
abilities;
‘‘(7) to support museums in developing and car-
rying out specialized programs for specific segments
of the public, such as programs for urban neighbor-
hoods, rural areas, Indian reservations, and State
institutions;
‘‘(8) to support professional development and
technical assistance programs to enhance museum
operations at all levels, in order to ensure the high-
est standards in all aspects of museum operations;
‘‘(9) to support museums in research, program
evaluation, and the collection and dissemination of
information to museum professionals and the public;
and
‘‘(10) to encourage, support, and disseminate
model programs of museum and library collabora-
tion.
‘‘(b) FEDERAL SHARE.—
‘‘(1) 50 PERCENT.—Except as provided in para-
graph (2), the Federal share described in subsection
(a) shall be not more than 50 percent.
‘‘(2) GREATER THAN 50 PERCENT.—The Direc-
tor may use not more than 20 percent of the funds
made available under this subtitle for a fiscal year
to enter into arrangements under subsection (a) for
which the Federal share may be greater than 50
percent.
‘‘(3) OPERATIONAL EXPENSES.—No funds for
operational expenses may be provided under this sec-
tion to any entity that is not a museum.
‘‘(c) REVIEW AND EVALUATION.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall establish
procedures for reviewing and evaluating arrange-
ments described in subsection (a) entered into under
this subtitle.
‘‘(2) APPLICATIONS
FOR
TECHNICAL
ASSIST-
ANCE.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Director may use
up to 10 percent of the funds appropriated to
carry out this subtitle for technical assistance
awards.
‘‘(B) INDIVIDUAL
MUSEUMS.—Individual
museums may receive not more than 3 technical
assistance awards under subparagraph (A), but
subsequent awards for technical assistance shall
be subject to review outside the Institute.
‘‘(d) SERVICES
FOR NATIVE AMERICANS.—From
amounts appropriated under section 275, the Director
shall reserve 1.75 percent to award grants to, or enter into
contracts or cooperative agreements with, Indian tribes
and organizations that primarily serve and represent Na-
tive Hawaiians (as defined in section 7207 of the Native
Hawaiian Education Act (20 U.S.C. 7517)), to enable
such tribes and organizations to carry out the activities
described in subsection (a).’’.
SEC. 304. REPEALS.
Sections 274 and 275 of the Museum and Library
Services Act (20 U.S.C. 9174 and 9175) are repealed.
SEC. 305. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
Section 276 of the Museum and Library Services Act
(20 U.S.C. 9176)—
(1) is redesignated as section 275 of such Act;
and
(2) is amended, in subsection (a), by striking
‘‘$28,700,000 for the fiscal year 1997, and such
sums as may be necessary for each of the fiscal
years 
1998 
through 
2002.’’ 
and 
inserting
‘‘$35,000,000 for fiscal year 2004 and such sums as
may be necessary for fiscal years 2005 through
2009.’’.
SEC. 306. SHORT TITLE.
Subtitle C of the Museum and Library Services Act
(20 U.S..C. 9171 et seq.) is amended—