[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1233 Referred in House (RFH)]
1st Session
S. 1233
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 15, 2003
Referred to the Committee on Resources, and in addition to the
Committee on the Judiciary, 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 commitee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
AN ACT
To authorize assistance for the National Great Blacks in Wax Museum and
Justice Learning Center.
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 ``National Great Black Americans
Commemoration Act of 2003''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Black Americans have served honorably in Congress, in
senior executive branch positions, in the law, the judiciary,
and other fields, yet their record of service is not well known
by the public, is not included in school history lessons, and
is not adequately presented in the Nation's museums.
(2) The Great Blacks in Wax Museum, Inc. in Baltimore,
Maryland, a nonprofit organization, is the Nation's first wax
museum presenting the history of great Black Americans,
including those who have served in Congress, in senior
executive branch positions, in the law, the judiciary, and
other fields, as well as others who have made significant
contributions to benefit the Nation.
(3) The Great Blacks in Wax Museum, Inc. plans to expand
its existing facilities to establish the National Great Blacks
in Wax Museum and Justice Learning Center, which is intended to
serve as a national museum and center for presentation of wax
figures and related interactive educational exhibits portraying
the history of great Black Americans.
(4) The wax medium has long been recognized as a unique and
artistic means to record human history through preservation of
the faces and personages of people of prominence, and
historically, wax exhibits were used to commemorate noted
figures in ancient Egypt, Babylon, Greece, and Rome, in
medieval Europe, and in the art of the Italian renaissance.
(5) The Great Blacks in Wax Museum, Inc. was founded in
1983 by Drs. Elmer and Joanne Martin, 2 Baltimore educators who
used their personal savings to purchase wax figures, which they
displayed in schools, churches, shopping malls, and festivals
in the mid-Atlantic region.
(6) The goal of the Martins was to test public reaction to
the idea of a Black history wax museum and so positive was the
response over time that the museum has been heralded by the
public and the media as a national treasure.
(7) The museum has been the subject of feature stories by
CNN, the Wall Street Journal, the Baltimore Sun, the Washington
Post, the New York Times, the Chicago Sun Times, the Dallas
Morning News, the Los Angeles Times, USA Today, the Afro
American Newspaper, Crisis, Essence Magazine, and others.
(8) More than 300,000 people from across the Nation visit
the museum annually.
(9) The new museum will carry on the time honored artistic
tradition of the wax medium; in particular, it will recognize
the significant value of this medium to commemorate and
appreciate great Black Americans whose faces and personages are
not widely recognized.
(10) The museum will employ the most skilled artisans in
the wax medium, use state-of-the-art interactive exhibition
technologies, and consult with museum professionals throughout
the Nation, and its exhibits will feature the following:
(A) Blacks who have served in the Senate and House
of Representatives of the United States, including
those who represented constituencies in Alabama,
Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North
Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia during the 19th
century.
(B) Blacks who have served in the judiciary, in the
Department of Justice, as prominent attorneys, in law
enforcement, and in the struggle for equal rights under
the law.
(C) Black veterans of various military engagements,
including the Buffalo Soldiers and Tuskegee Airmen, and
the role of Blacks in the settlement of the western
United States.
(D) Blacks who have served in senior executive
branch positions, including members of Presidents'
Cabinets, Assistant Secretaries and Deputy Secretaries
of Federal agencies, and Presidential advisers.
(E) Other Blacks whose accomplishments and
contributions to human history during the last
millennium and to the Nation through more than 400
years are exemplary, including Black educators,
authors, scientists, inventors, athletes, clergy, and
civil rights leaders.
(11) The museum plans to develop collaborative programs
with other museums, serve as a clearinghouse for training,
technical assistance, and other resources involving use of the
wax medium, and sponsor traveling exhibits to provide enriching
museum experiences for communities throughout the Nation.
(12) The museum has been recognized by the State of
Maryland and the city of Baltimore as a preeminent facility for
presenting and interpreting Black history, using the wax medium
in its highest artistic form.
(13) The museum is located in the heart of an area
designated as an empowerment zone, and is considered to be a
catalyst for economic and cultural improvements in this
economically disadvantaged area.
SEC. 3. ASSISTANCE FOR NATIONAL GREAT BLACKS IN WAX MUSEUM AND JUSTICE
LEARNING CENTER.
(a) Assistance for Museum.--Subject to subsection (b), the Attorney
General, acting through the Office of Justice Programs of the
Department of Justice, shall, from amounts made available under
subsection (c), make a grant to the Great Blacks in Wax Museum, Inc. in
Baltimore, Maryland, to pay the Federal share of the costs of expanding
and creating the National Great Blacks in Wax Museum and Justice
Learning Center, including the cost of its design, planning,
furnishing, and equipping.
(b) Grant Requirements.--
(1) In general.--To receive a grant under subsection (a),
the Great Blacks in Wax Museum, Inc. shall submit to the
Attorney General a proposal for the use of the grant, which
shall include detailed plans for the design, construction,
furnishing, and equipping of the National Great Blacks in Wax
Museum and Justice Learning Center.
(2) Federal share.--The Federal share of the costs
described in subsection (a) shall not exceed 25 percent.
(c) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be
appropriated to carry out this section $15,000,000, to remain available
until expended.
Passed the Senate July 14, 2003.
Attest:
EMILY J. REYNOLDS,
Secretary.