Smithsonian Modernization Act of 2022
Bill: H.R.9363 | Sponsor: Rep. Sempolinski, Joseph (R-NY)
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics

Summary:
Smithsonian Modernization Act of 2022
This bill establishes that the Smithsonian Institution must be subject to the Freedom of Information Act, the Privacy Act, and certain provisions relating to open meetings. (The Smithsonian's policy is to respond to certain requests for information consistent with these acts, even though in 1997, a federal appeals court ruled that the Smithsonian is not subject to the Privacy Act.)
The bill also modifies the procedures for selecting members of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution by having the President select the members from a list of nominees submitted by Congress.

To revise the composition of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian 
   Institution 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.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Smithsonian Modernization 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 Revised 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 
        President 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 subsection 
                (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.''.
            (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 constitute a quorum'' and inserting ``17 
        shall constitute a quorum''.
            (4) No effect on current citizen regents.--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 enactment 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 reappointed 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--
            ``(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 additional 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 additional 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 expiration 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 Secretary of the Smithsonian 
Institution shall be considered the head of the agency.''.
    (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 Smithsonian 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; privacy 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.
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