I
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2303
To direct the Librarian of Congress to prepare the history of the House
of Representatives, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JUNE 22, 1999
Mr. LARSON (for himself, Mr. HASTERT, Mr. GEPHARDT, Mrs. EMERSON, Mr.
UDALL of New Mexico, Mr. LAHOOD, Mr. DAVIS of Virginia, Ms. ESHOO,
Mr. SHIMKUS, Mr. KIND, Mr. WOLF, Mr. NEAL of Massachusetts, Mr.
UNDERWOOD, Mr. HOUGHTON, Mr. LANTOS, Mr. CROWLEY, Mr.
GEJDENSON, Mr. WU, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. BEREUTER, Mr. STARK, Mr.
FROST, Mr. WAXMAN, Mr. COSTELLO, Mr. LAFALCE, Mr. LEWIS of
Georgia, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. KING, Mr.
HINCHEY, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mr.
METCALF, Mr. WELDON of Pennsylvania, Mr. CLAY, Mr. CASTLE, Mr.
GREEN of Texas, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. STUMP, Ms. MCKINNEY, Mr.
KOLBE, Mr. BONIOR, Mr. DINGELL, Mr. BLUNT, Mr. FORBES, Mr. ACK-
ERMAN, Mrs. CLAYTON, Mr. QUINN, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of
Texas, Mr. HOLDEN, Mr. UDALL of Colorado, Mr. DAVIS of Florida, Mr.
FATTAH, Mr. GOODLING, Mr. VENTO, Mr. FARR of California, Mr.
GREENWOOD, Mr. EHLERS, Mr. HOEFFEL, Ms. PELOSI, Mr. SKELTON,
Mr. KILDEE, Ms. KILPATRICK, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Mr. MCHUGH,
Mr. MALONEY of Connecticut, Mr. CLYBURN, Mrs. MEEK of Florida, Mr.
TRAFICANT, Mr. BLILEY, Mr. MATSUI, Mr. LUCAS of Oklahoma, Mr.
NORWOOD, Mr. ROMERO-BARCELO´, Mr. FILNER, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD,
Mrs. THURMAN, Mr. DUNCAN, Mr. MCNULTY, Mr. MOORE, Ms. LEE,
Mr. SMITH of Washington, Mr. BORSKI, Mrs. JONES of Ohio, Ms. NOR-
TON, Mr. WEINER, Mr. NEY, Mr. BROWN of California, Mr. HILL of In-
diana, Ms. DANNER, Mr. GONZALEZ, Ms. RIVERS, Mr. KENNEDY of
Rhode Island, Mr. RAHALL, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr. MEEHAN,
Mr. WYNN, Mr. EHRLICH, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. PASTOR, Mr.
COOKSEY, Mr. KUCINICH, Mr. MEEKS of New York, Mr. SERRANO, Mr.
BLAGOJEVICH, Mr. PITTS, Mr. ROGAN, Mrs. CHRISTENSEN, Mr.
CUNNINGHAM, Mr. GALLEGLY, Mr. DELAHUNT, Mr. SPENCE, Mr.
TANCREDO, Mr. POMEROY, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. KLECZKA, Mr.
SENSENBRENNER, Mrs. CAPPS, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. SABO, Mrs. MORELLA,
Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN, Mr. PALLONE, Mrs. KELLY, Mr. ARCHER, Mr.
LEWIS of California, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. TURNER, Mr. BASS, Mr.
DIXON, Mr. PHELPS, Mr. BOUCHER, Mr. MURTHA, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr.
SOUDER, Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA, Mr. MICA, Mr. KANJORSKI, Mr. EWING,
Mr. HILLIARD, Mr. HOYER, Mr. BOYD, Mr. SMITH of Michigan, Mrs.
MINK of Hawaii, Mr. SCOTT, Mr. BENTSEN, Mr. PETERSON of Min-
nesota, Mr. CRANE, Mr. CALVERT, Mr. WALSH, Mr. YOUNG of Florida,
Mr. SHAYS, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. TIERNEY, Mr. GOODLATTE, Mr.
GANSKE, Mr. RYUN of Kansas, Mr. PORTER, Mr. BERMAN, Mr.
STEARNS, Mr. OWENS, Mr. SAWYER, Mr. HULSHOF, Mr. MOLLOHAN,
Mr. CLEMENT, Mr. OXLEY, Mr. HORN, Mr. SANDLIN, Mr. JACKSON of
Illinois, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. SHAW, Mr. UPTON, Mr. BERRY,
Mr. HILL of Montana, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, Mrs. LOWEY,
Mr. BATEMAN, Mr. BARRETT of Nebraska, Mr. BOEHLERT, Mr. BRADY
of Pennsylvania, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. ETHERIDGE, Ms. HOOLEY of Oregon,
Ms. MILLENDER-MCDONALD, Mr. BALLENGER, Mr. CAPUANO, Mr.
SPRATT, Mr. SHOWS, Mr. SISISKY, Mr. TIAHRT, Mr. CUMMINGS, Ms.
LOFGREN, Mr. GREEN of Wisconsin, Mrs. CHENOWETH, Mr. REYES, Mr.
ROEMER, Mrs. JOHNSON of Connecticut, Mr. DEMINT, Mr. ALLEN, Mr.
JONES of North Carolina, Mr. LEACH, Mr. LAMPSON, Mr. CALLAHAN,
Mr. EVANS, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. HAYWORTH, Mr. OLVER, Mr. SAXTON,
Mr. MOAKLEY, Ms. SANCHEZ, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr. RUSH, Mr. JENKINS,
Mr. BALDACCI, Mr. BISHOP, Mr. BILBRAY, Mr. MASCARA, Mr. AN-
DREWS, Mr. BAIRD, Ms. BERKLEY, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. GORDON, Mr. BOS-
WELL, Mr. DOOLEY of California, Mrs. FOWLER, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr.
HOLT, Mr. MCINTYRE, Mr. GOODE, Mr. DEAL of Georgia, Mrs. MYRICK,
Mr. FOLEY, Mr. THOMPSON of California, Mr. SWEENEY, Mr. TOWNS,
Mr. BARRETT of Wisconsin, Mr. BECERRA, Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin, Mr.
TOOMEY, Mr. SIMPSON, and Mr. SKEEN) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on House Administration
A BILL
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, the
Librarian of Congress shall prepare a new and complete
written history of the United States House of Representa-
tives. In preparing this written history, the Librarian of
Congress shall consult, commission, or engage the services
or participation of, eminent historians, and Members or
former Members 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 EXCERPTING.—Any arrangement
under paragraph (2) shall include terms for dissemi-
nation of excerpts of the history over the Internet
via facilities maintained by the United States Gov-
ernment.
(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
may 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 acces-
sible, an oral history of the United States House of Rep-
resentatives, as told by its Members and former Members,
compiled and updated (on a voluntary or contract basis)
by the United States Association of Former Members of
Congress or other outside organization. In carrying out
this section, the Librarian of Congress may enlist the vol-
untary aid or assistance of such organization, or may con-
tract 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 the personal recollection as recorded in any one or more
of the following means:
(1) Interviews;
(2) Transcripts;
(3) Audio recordings;
(4) Video recordings; or
(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.
Æ