Title: Apollo I Memorial Act
Policy area: Science, Technology, Communications

Summary:
Apollo I Memorial Act
This bill directs the Department of the Army to construct in Arlington National Cemetery a memorial marker in honor of the three crew members of the mission that became known as the Apollo I mission who died during a launch rehearsal test on January 27, 1967, at the Kennedy Space Center.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 703 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 703

          To establish the 50th Anniversary Apollo I Memorial.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 27, 2017

  Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas (for herself, Mr. Huizenga, Mr. 
Smith of Washington, Mr. Posey, Mr. Walz, Mr. Bridenstine, Mr. Foster, 
Mr. Takano, Mr. Tonko, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Mr. Beyer, Mr. Langevin, 
Ms. Clark of Massachusetts, Ms. Bonamici, Ms. Bordallo, Mr. Kilmer, Ms. 
    Lofgren, Mr. Bilirakis, Mr. Hollingsworth, Mr. Cooper, and Mr. 
 Perlmutter) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
   Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committees on 
Veterans' Affairs, and Science, Space, and Technology, for a period to 
      be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 
                          committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
          To establish the 50th Anniversary Apollo I Memorial.

    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 ``Apollo I Memorial Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) On January 27, 1967, NASA Astronauts Command Pilot 
        Virgil I. ``Gus'' Grissom, Senior Pilot Edward H. White II, and 
        Pilot Roger B. Chaffee were killed in an electrical fire that 
        broke out inside the Apollo I Command Module on Launch Pad 34 
        at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
            (2) Command Pilot Virgil Grissom was selected by NASA in 
        1959 as one of the original seven Mercury astronauts. He 
        piloted the Liberty Bell 7 spacecraft on July 21, 1963, on the 
        second and final Mercury suborbital test flight, served as 
        command pilot on the first manned Gemini flight on March 23, 
        1965, and was named as Command Pilot of the first Apollo 
        flight. He began his career in the United States Army Air Corps 
        and was a Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Air Force at 
        the time of the accident, and he is buried at Arlington 
        National Cemetery.
            (3) Senior Pilot Edward H. White II was selected by NASA as 
        a member of the second astronaut team in 1962. He piloted the 
        Gemini-4 mission, a 4-day mission that took place in June 1965, 
        during which he conducted the first extravehicular activity in 
        the United States human spaceflight program. He was named as 
        Command Module Pilot for the first Apollo flight. He began his 
        career as a cadet in United States Military Academy at West 
        Point and was a Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Air 
        Force at the time of the accident.
            (4) Pilot Roger B. Chaffee was selected by NASA as part of 
        the third group of astronauts in 1963. He was named as the 
        Lunar Module Pilot for the first Apollo flight. He began his 
        career as a ROTC cadet before commissioning as an ensign in the 
        United States Navy, he was a Lieutenant Commander in the United 
        States Navy at the time of the accident, and he is buried at 
        Arlington National Cemetery.
            (5) All 3 astronauts were posthumously awarded the 
        Congressional Space Medal of Honor.
            (6) As Arlington National Cemetery is where we recognize 
        heroes who have passed in the service of our Nation, it is 
        fitting on the 50th anniversary of the Apollo I accident that 
        we acknowledge those astronauts by building a memorial in their 
        honor.

SEC. 3. CONSTRUCTION OF MEMORIAL TO THE CREW OF THE APOLLO I LAUNCH 
              TEST ACCIDENT AT ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY.

    (a) Construction Required.--The Secretary of the Army shall, in 
consultation with the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and 
Space Administration, construct at an appropriate place in Arlington 
National Cemetery, Virginia, a memorial marker honoring the three 
members of the crew of the Apollo I crew who died during a launch 
rehearsal test on January 27, 1967, in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
    (b) Availability of Funds.--Of the amount appropriated or otherwise 
made available for fiscal year 2017 for operations and maintenance for 
the Army, $500,000 shall be available for the construction of the 
memorial marker required by subsection (a).

SEC. 4. DONATIONS FOR A MEMORIAL FOR THE CREW OF THE APOLLO I LAUNCH 
              TEST ACCIDENT.

    (a) Authority To Accept Donations.--The Administrator of the 
National Aeronautics and Space Administration may accept gifts and 
donations of services, money, and property (including personal, 
tangible, or intangible property) for the memorial marker required by 
section 3.
    (b) Transfer.--(1) The Administrator may transfer to the Secretary 
of the Army any services, money, or property accepted by the 
Administrator under subsection (a) for the purpose of the construction 
of the memorial marker required by section 3.
    (2) Any moneys transferred to the Secretary under paragraph (1) 
shall be merged with amounts in the account referred to in subsection 
(b) of section 3, and shall be available for the purpose referred to in 
that subsection.
    (c) Expiration of Authority.--The authority of the Administrator to 
accept gifts and donations under subsection (a) shall expire 5 years 
after the date of enactment of this Act.
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