[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1668 Engrossed in House (EH)]


  1st Session

                               H. R. 1668

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT

To authorize the Adams Memorial Foundation to establish a commemorative 
 work on Federal land in the District of Columbia and its environs to 
           honor former President John Adams and his legacy.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1668

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT


 
To authorize the Adams Memorial Foundation to establish a commemorative 
 work on Federal land in the District of Columbia and its environs to 
           honor former President John Adams and his legacy.

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

SECTION 1. COMMEMORATIVE WORK TO HONOR JOHN ADAMS AND HIS LEGACY.

    (a) Findings.--The Congress finds the following:
            (1) Few families have contributed as profoundly to the 
        United States as the family that gave the Nation its second 
        president, John Adams; its sixth president, John Quincy Adams; 
        first ladies Abigail Smith Adams and Louisa Catherine Johnson 
        Adams; and succeeding generations of statesmen, diplomats, 
        advocates, and authors.
            (2) John Adams (1735-1826), a lawyer, a statesman, and a 
        patriot, was the author of the Constitution of the Commonwealth 
        of Massachusetts (the oldest written constitution still in 
        force), the leader of the Second Continental Congress, a 
        driving force for independence, a negotiator of the Treaty of 
        Paris (which brought the Revolutionary War to an end), the 
        first Vice President, the second President, and an unwavering 
        exponent of freedom of conscience and the rule of law.
            (3) Abigail Smith Adams (1744-1818) was one of the most 
        remarkable women of her time. Wife of former President John 
        Adams and mother of former President John Quincy Adams, she was 
        an early advocate for the rights of women and served the cause 
        of liberty as a prolific writer, fierce patriot, and staunch 
        abolitionist.
            (4) John Quincy Adams (1767-1848), the son of John and 
        Abigail Adams, was a distinguished lawyer, legislator, and 
        diplomat and a master of 7 languages, who served as Senator, 
        Minister to the Netherlands under President George Washington, 
        Minister to Prussia under the first President Adams, Minister 
        to Great Britain under President James Madison, chief 
        negotiator of the Treaty of Ghent (which ended the War of 
        1812), Secretary of State under President James Monroe, author 
        of the Monroe Doctrine (which declared the Western Hemisphere 
        off limits to European imperial expansion), sixth President, 
        and the only former President to be elected to the House of 
        Representatives, where he was known as ``Old Man Eloquent'' and 
        served with great distinction as a leader in the fight against 
        slavery and a champion of unpopular causes.
            (5) Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams (1775-1852), the wife of 
        former President John Quincy Adams, was an educated, 
        accomplished woman and the only first lady born outside the 
        United States. Like Abigail Adams, she wrote eloquently on 
        behalf of the rights of women and in opposition to slavery.
            (6) Charles Francis Adams (1807-1886), the son of John 
        Quincy and Louisa Adams, served 6 years in the Massachusetts 
        legislature, was a steadfast abolitionist who received the Free 
        Soil Party's vice-presidential nomination in 1848, was elected 
        to his father's seat in the House of Representatives in 1856, 
        and served as ambassador to Great Britain during the Civil War, 
        where his efforts were decisive in preventing the British 
        Government from recognizing the independence of the 
        Confederacy.
            (7) Henry Adams (1838-1918), the son of Charles Francis 
        Adams, was an eminent writer, scholar, historian, and public 
        intellectual, and was the author of many celebrated works, 
        including ``Democracy'', ``The Education of Henry Adams'', and 
        his 9-volume ``History of the United States during the 
        Administrations of Jefferson and Madison''.
            (8) Both individually and collectively, the members of this 
        illustrious family have enriched the Nation through their 
        profound civic consciousness, abiding belief in the 
        perfectibility of the Nation's democracy, and commitment to 
        service and sacrifice for the common good.
            (9) Although the Congress has authorized the establishment 
        of commemorative works on Federal lands in the District of 
        Columbia honoring such celebrated former Presidents as George 
        Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln, the National 
        Capital has no comparable memorial to former President John 
        Adams.
            (10) In recognition of the 200th anniversary of the end of 
        the presidency of John Adams, the time has come to correct this 
        oversight so that future generations of Americans will know and 
        understand the preeminent historical and lasting significance 
        to the Nation of his contributions and those of his family.
    (b) Authority to Establish Commemorative Work.--The Adams Memorial 
Foundation may establish a commemorative work on Federal land in the 
District of Columbia and its environs to honor former President John 
Adams, along with his wife Abigail Adams and former President John 
Quincy Adams, and the family's legacy of public service.
    (c) Compliance with Standards for Commemorative Works.--The 
establishment of the commemorative work shall be in accordance with the 
Commemorative Works Act (40 U.S.C. 1001, et seq.).
    (d) Use of Federal Funds Prohibited.--Federal funds may not be used 
to pay any expense of the establishment of the commemorative work. The 
Adams Memorial Foundation shall be solely responsible for acceptance of 
contributions for, and payment of the expenses of, the establishment of 
the commemorative work.
    (e) Deposit of Excess Funds.--If, upon payment of all expenses of 
the establishment of the commemorative work (including the maintenance 
and preservation amount provided for in section 8(b) of the 
Commemorative Works Act (40 U.S.C. 1001, et seq.)), or upon expiration 
of the authority for the commemorative work under section 10(b) of such 
Act, there remains a balance of funds received for the establishment of 
the commemorative work, the Adams Memorial Foundation shall transmit 
the amount of the balance to the Secretary of the Treasury for deposit 
in the account provided for in section 8(b)(1) of such Act.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    For purposes of this Act, the terms ``commemorative work'' and 
``the District of Columbia and its environs'' have the meanings given 
to such terms in section 2 of the Commemorative Works Act (40 U.S.C. 
1002).

            Passed the House of Representatives June 25, 2001.

            Attest:

                                                                 Clerk.