[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2303 Introduced in House (IH)]
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. Ackerman,
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. Norton, Mr.
Weiner, Mr. Ney, Mr. Brown of California, Mr. Hill of Indiana, 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 Minnesota, 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. Andrews, Mr. Baird, Ms. Berkley,
Mr. Cardin, Mr. Gordon, Mr. Boswell, 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 Representatives 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 REPRESENTATIVES.
(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 Representatives. 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 following:
(1) The history should be an illustrated, narrative history
of the House of Representatives, organized chronologically.
(2) The history's intended audience is the general 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 Representatives.
(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 dissemination of excerpts of the
history over the Internet via facilities maintained by the
United States Government.
(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 Office's congressional allotment for
printing and binding.
(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, publication, marketing, and public
distribution of the history from private individuals, organizations, or
entities.
SEC. 3. ORAL HISTORY OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
(a) In General.--The Librarian of Congress shall accept for
deposit, preserve, maintain, and make accessible, an oral history of
the United States House of Representatives, 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 voluntary aid or assistance of such
organization, or may contract 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 suitable for the
recording and preservation of such information.
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 Representatives; and
(2) the Speaker of the House of Representatives should
conduct a series of forums on the topic of the history of the
House of Representatives.
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