[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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