An Act to supplement the purposes of the Public Buildings Act of 1959 (73 Stat. 479), by authorizing agreements and leases with respect to certain properties in the District of Columbia, for the purposes of a national visitor center, and for other purposes
PL 90-264 (H.R.12603), enacted 03/12/1968

82 STAT. 1 
PUBLIC LAW 90-264-MAR. 12,1968 
43 
Court for the District of Columbia or the District of Columbia Court 
of General Sessions upon a judgment entered in such court may be 
levied on all legal leasehold and freehold estates of the debtor in land, 
but only after such judgment has been filed and recorded in the office 
of the Recorder of Deeds of the District of Columbia." 
SEC. 4. (a) The amendments made by the first section and section 2 
of this Act shall apply only with respect to judgments or decrees 
rendered in, or recognizances declared forfeited by, the United States 
District Court for the District of Columbia on and after April 1,1968. 
(b) The amendment made by section 3 of this Act shall apply only 
with respect to writs of fieri facias issued by the United States District 
Court iov the District of Columbia on and after April 1,1968. 
Approved March 11, 1968. 
Effective dates. 
Public Law 90-264 
AN ACT 
March 12, 1968 
To supplement the purposes of the Public Buildings Act of 1959 (73 Stat. 479), 
[H.R. I2603] 
by authorizing agreements and leases with respect to certain properties in the 
District of (Columbia, for the purpose of a national visitor center, and for other 
purposes. 
Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Re'presentatives of the 
United States of America in Gonqress assembled. That this Act may „ National visitor 
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be cited as the "National Visitor Center Facilities Act of 1968'. 
Act of i968. 
TITLE I—NATIONAL VISITOR CENTER 
SEC. 101. The Secretary of the Interior (hereafter in this Act 
referred to as the "Secretary"), in consultation with the Administrator 
of General Services (hereafter in this Adt referred to as the "Admin-
istrator"), is authorized to negotiate and enter into agreements and 
leases with The Washington Terminal Company, its successors or 
assigns (hereafter in this Act referred to as the "Company"), the 
owner of the property in the District of Columbia known as Union 
Station, for use of all or a part of such property for a national visitor 
center to be known as the National Visitor Center and a parking facility 
in connection therewith. 
SEC. 102. (a) The agreements and leases authorized by section 101 
of this Act shall be subject to the following terms and conditions: 
(1) the Company shall agree to make such alterations of the 
Union Station Building as the Secretary determines necessary to 
provide adequate facilities for visitors, which facilities, including 
the parking facility under paragraph (3), shall be representative 
of the highest standards of excellence of design and function; 
(2) the lease of the Union Station Building shall commence on 
a date to be mutually agreed upon contingent upon when such 
facilities are available for public use, and shall not be for a term 
of more than twenty-five years; 
(3) the Company, in consultation with the Secretary, shall con-
struct a parking facility, including necessary approaches and 
ramps, to accommodate as nearly as possible four thousand motor 
vehicles in the air space northerly of and adjacent to the existing 
Union Station Building, and such facility shall, upon completion, 
be leased to the United States for a term not to exceed twenty-five 
years; 
(4) the Company shall, and it is hereby authorized to, construct 
a new railroad passenger station in the area beneath or adjacent to 
the parking facility referred to in paragraph (3) ; 
Agre 
leases 
tions. 
ements and 
condi-
gress 
44 
PUBLIC LAW 90-264-MAR. 12, 1968 
[82 STAT. 
(5) the United States shall have the option to purchase all of 
the property leased under this title for an amount not in excess of 
the fair market value of such {jroperty any time after the first year 
of the lease on one year's written notice and on such terms and 
conditions including credit toward such purchase price of any por-
tions of rentals paid by the United States as may be mutually 
agreed upon; 
(6) rentals paid by the United States shall not exceed the fair 
rental value of the property as mutually determined by the Sec-
retary, the Administrator, and the Lessor; 
(7) the aggregate annual cost to the United States of all leases 
entered into under this title shall not exceed $3,500,000; 
(8) the total cost of all alterations referred to in paragraph (1) 
and all construction referred to in paragraph (3) shall not exceed 
$16,000,000, except that total cost of such alterations shall not 
exceed $5,000,000. 
(b) In addition to the terms and conditions set forth in subsection 
(a) of this section, agreements and leases entered into under authority 
of this title shall include such other terms and conditions as the Secre-
tary and the Administrator jointly shall prescribe. 
SEC. 103. The Secretary shall administer any property leased under 
this title in accordance with those provisions of the Act of August 25, 
39 Stat. 535. 
iQ^Q ("[g U.S.C. 1 et seq.), as amended and supplemented, applicable 
to the administration of the national park system. 
fsT'' *° ^°"' 
SEC. 104. On or before April 15,1968, the Secretary shall report to 
Congress the results of a full and complete investigation and study of 
the problems of transporting visitors along the Mall and its vicinity in 
the District of Columbia, on the United States Capitol Grounds, and to 
and from the National Visitor Center, including but not limited to, 
types of transportation to be utilized, the operation of any such trans-
portation system, the feasibility of providing free transportation for 
visitors on all or any portion of such system, and proposed legislation 
to carry out his recommendations. 
SEC. 105. (a) In connection with the construction of the parking 
facility to be constructed pursuant to section 102(a) (3) of this title, 
the District of Columbia shall, upon the request of the Secretary, 
transfer to the Secretary any real property under its jurisdiction which 
may be necessary to provide vehicular access to public roads and high-
ways in the immediate area of such facility. 
(b) Any alteration in the existing traffic pattern in Union Station 
Plaza necessitated or made desirable by reason of such parking facility 
shall be made only after consultation with the Architect of the Capitol. 
SEC. 106. (a) Notwithstanding the execution of any agreement or 
lease pursuant to this title, the Secretary, in consultation with the 
National Visitor Facilities Advisory Commission established under 
title I I of this Act, is directed (1) to make a continuing study of the 
needs of visitors to the Washington metropolitan area, including the 
necessity and desirability of different or additional visitor facilities, 
and of altering existing visitor facilities, and (2) to recommend that 
the Administrator acquire, alter, or construct such facilities, 
^^p*""* to Con- 
(}3) The Secretary shall submit annually a report to Congress on the 
National Visitor Center authorized by this title and on all other visitor 
facilities authorized in accordance with this Act, including the amend-
ments made by this Act. 
SEC. 107. AH existing laws or parts of laws inconsistent with the 
provisions of this Act are hereby repealed to the extent to which they 
gress 
82 STAT. ] 
PUBLIC LAW 90-264-MAR. 12, 1968 
45 
80 Stat. 1308. 
Appropriation. 
49 Stat. 1011. 
63 Stat. 108. 
are so inconsistent, but to no further or other extent. 
SEC. 108. The first section of the Act approved November 5, 1966 
(Public Law 89-759) is amended by inserting "and directed" immedi-
ately following "authorized" and by amending paragraph (1) to read 
as follows: 
"(1) select as the site of a permanent heliport, the parking 
facility referred to in section 102(a) (3) of the National Visitor 
Center Facilities Act of 1968;". 
SEC. 109. There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may 
be necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act. 
SEC. 110. The Secretary shall take such action as may be necessary 
to insure that all laborers and mechanics employed by contractors or 
subcontractors on the alterations referred to in section 102(a) (1), and 
the parking facility referred to in section 102(a) (3), of this title shall 
be paid wages at rates not less than those prevailing for the same type 
of work on similar construction in the locality as determined by the 
Secretary of Labor, in accordance with the Act of March 3, 1931, as 
amended, known as the Davis-Bacon Act (46 Stat. 1494; 40 U.S.C. 
276a—276a-5). The Secretary of Labor shall have, with respect to the 
labor standards specified in this section, the authority and functions 
set forth in Keorganization Plan Numbered 14 of 1950 (15 F.R. 3176; 
64 Stat. 1267) and section 2 of the Act of June 13,1934, as amended (48 
Stat. 94&; 40 U.S.C. 276c). 
TITLE II—ADVISORY COMMISSION 
SEC. 201. There is hereby created a National Visitor Facilities Advi- pfclmi^s^ Ad-"°' 
sory Commission (hereafter in this Act referred to as the "Commis- visory commis-
sion") which shall (1) conduct a continuing review of the National ^ion-
Visitor Center established pursuant to title I of this Act, (2) conduct 
continuing investigations and studies of sites and plans to provide 
additional facilities and services for visitors and students coming to 
the Nation's Capital, and (3) advise the Secretary and the Adminis-
trator with respect to the planning, construction, acquisition, and 
operation of all such visitor facilities. 
SEC. 202. (a) The Commission shall be composed of the Secretary, 
the Administrator, the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, the 
Chairman of the National Capital Planning Commission, the Chair-
man of the Commission of Fine Arts, six Members of the Senate, three 
from each party, to be appointed by the President of the Senate, and 
six Members of the House of Representatives, three from each party, 
to be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and 
three members appointed by the President, at least two of whom shall 
not be officers of the Federal Government, and one member of whom 
shall be a representative of the District of Columbia government. Non-
Federal members shall serve at the pleasure of the President. The 
Secretary shall be the Chairman of the Commission. The Commission 
shall meet at the call of the Chairman. 
(b) Members of the Commission who are not officers or employees 
of the Federal Government or the government of the District of 
Columbia shall be entitled to receive compensation in accordance with 
section 3109 of title 5, United States Code, and travel expenses includ-
ing per diem in lieu of subsistence as authorized by section 5703 of 
title 5, United States Code, for persons in the government service 
employed intermittently. 
(c) The Director of the National Park Service, in consultation with 
Establishment. 
Compensation, 
travel expenses. 
80 Stat. 416. 
80 Stat. 499. 
46 
PUBLIC L
A
W 90.265-MAR. 12, 1968 
[82 STAT. 
the Administrator, shall provide the necessary staff and facilities to 
assist the Commission in carrying out its duties under this title. 
Report. 
gj,^ 203. The Commissicm shall, from time to time, report to the 
Secretary and the Administrator the results of its reviews, studies, and 
investigations. In the case of any report recommending additional 
facilities for visitors, such report shall include the Commission's rec-
ommendations as to a site or sites for the facilities to be provided, 
together with preliminary plans, specifications, and architectural draw-
ings for such facilities as well as the estimated cost of the recommended 
sites and facilities. 
TITLE III—CAPITOL VISITOR CENTER 
SEC. 301. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Architect 
of the Capitol, in consultation with the House Office Building Commis-
sion and the Senate Office Building Commission, is hereby authorized 
and directed to provide adequate space and facilities in the Capitol 
Building for an educational and informational center and information 
and distribution stations to afford visitors to the Capitol Building an 
opportunity to acquire (1) information relative to Congressional 
offices, (2) assistance relative to their visit to the Capitol, (3) pam-
phlets, books, drawings, slides and photographs, and related materials, 
and (4) information about the Capital and the history of the Capitol 
Building and past and present Congresses. All materials distributed by 
such educational and informational center and such stations shall first 
be approved by the Architect of the Capitol, after consultation with 
the House Committee on House Administration, the Senate Committee 
on Rules and Administration, the United States Capitol Historical 
Society, and such other educational and historical groups as the Archi-
tect of the Capitol deems appropriate. The Architect of the Capitol is 
hereby authorized to enter into such agreements as may be reasonably 
necessary to operate such educational and informational center and 
stations. 
Approved March 12, 1968. 
March 12, 1968 
[S. 1821] 
Public Law 90-265 
AN ACT 
To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to exchange certain property at Acadia 
National Park in ITaine witli the owner of certain property adjacent to the 
park. 
Acadia National 
Park, Maine. 
Land exchange. 
Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled^ That the Secretary 
of the Interior may convey to one Maurice Rich, Senior, a portion 
of the Acadia National Park, comprising approximately one and 
eight-tenths acres in the town of Southwest Harbor, Maine, and in 
exchange therefor the Secretary may accept from said Maurice Rich, 
Senior, any property which in the Secretary's judgment is suitable 
for addition to the park. The values of the properties so exchanged 
either shall be approximately equal, or if they are not approximately 
equal the values shall be equalized by the payment of cash to the 
grantor or to the Secretary as the circumstances require. Any cash 
payment received by the Secretary shall be credited to the land and 
water conservation fund in the Treasury of the United States. A 
conveyance of the federally owned lot shall eliminate it from the park. 
Approved March 12, 1968.