[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1686 Introduced in Senate (IS)]








109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1686

   To amend the Constitution Heritage Act of 1988 to provide for the 
             operation of the National Constitution Center.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 12, 2005

 Mr. Santorum introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
       referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend the Constitution Heritage Act of 1988 to provide for the 
             operation of the National Constitution 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 Constitution Center 
Operations Act''.

SEC. 2. NAME CLARIFICATION.

    Section 3(a) of the Constitution Heritage Act of 1988 (16 U.S.C. 
407bb(a)) is amended by striking ``(hereafter in this Act referred to 
as the `Center')'' and inserting ``(hereafter in this Act referred to 
as the `NCC')''.

SEC. 3. OPERATION OF THE NATIONAL CONSTITUTION CENTER.

    Section 4 of the Constitution Heritage Act of 1988 (16 U.S.C. 
407cc) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(c) Operation of the NCC.--
            ``(1) In general.--A cooperative agreement entered into 
        under subsection (b) shall--
                    ``(A) authorize the NCC to--
                            ``(i) operate the NCC;
                            ``(ii) provide to visitors to the NCC any 
                        activities and services relating to and 
                        consistent with any functions of the NCC under 
                        section 3(b);
                            ``(iii) carry out activities that are 
                        appropriate for the operation of the NCC, 
                        including charging fees, conducting events, and 
                        selling and marketing merchandise, tickets for 
                        activities of the NCC, and food to visitors to 
                        the NCC; and
                            ``(iv) negotiate and enter into any 
                        agreements, leases, contracts, or other 
                        arrangements with any person, firm, 
                        association, organization, corporation, or 
                        governmental entity (including the Federal 
                        Government and any State and local governments) 
                        that are appropriate for carrying out 
                        activities at the NCC or that are normally 
                        associated with the operation of a facility 
                        like the NCC, including an agreement, contract, 
                        or other arrangement for janitorial service, 
                        building maintenance, food service, information 
                        technology maintenance, or the operation of a 
                        museum store;
                    ``(B) provide that any revenues from facilities and 
                services of the NCC shall be made available to the NCC, 
                without further appropriation, to offset the expenses 
                of operating the NCC;
                    ``(C) authorize the NCC to occupy the site and any 
                structures provided under subsection (a)--
                            ``(i) for a term specified in the 
                        cooperative agreement not to exceed 30 years; 
                        and
                            ``(ii) in accordance with any terms and 
                        conditions of the cooperative agreement;
                    ``(D)(i) provide that the NCC shall maintain, 
                during the term of the cooperative agreement and at the 
                expense of the NCC, insurance on the NCC covering such 
                risks, in such amounts, and including such terms and 
                conditions as the Secretary determines to be 
                appropriate; and
                    ``(ii) provide that any repairs or reconstruction 
                carried out using payments made to the NCC under an 
                insurance policy maintained under clause (i) shall be 
                subject to the approval of the Secretary;
                    ``(E) provide that the NCC shall maintain the 
                status as an organization described in section 
                501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 that is 
                exempt from taxation under section 501(a) of the Code;
                    ``(F) provide that the NCC shall make available to 
                the Secretary and the Comptroller General of the United 
                States all books, documents, papers, and records of the 
                NCC that are necessary for an audit;
                    ``(G) provide that the NCC shall submit to the 
                Secretary or Congress an annual report that--
                            ``(i) describes the activities of the NCC 
                        during the preceding fiscal year;
                            ``(ii) compares the goals and objectives of 
                        the NCC to the actual accomplishments of the 
                        NCC during the preceding fiscal year; and
                            ``(iii) includes a plan for the NCC for the 
                        subsequent fiscal year; and
                    ``(H) include any other terms and conditions that 
                the Secretary determines to be appropriate.
            ``(2) Termination of agreement.--The Secretary may 
        terminate the cooperative agreement entered into under 
        paragraph (1) if the Secretary determines that termination is 
        in the best interest of the public.
            ``(3) Effect on existing agreement.--The agreement between 
        the National Park Service and the NCC numbered CA-4450-99-9018 
        shall remain in effect until the date on which--
                    ``(A) the agreement is terminated in accordance 
                with the terms of the agreement; or
                    ``(B) a cooperative agreement is entered into under 
                paragraph (1).
            ``(4) Administration of independence national historical 
        park.--Nothing in this subsection affects the authority of the 
        Secretary to enter into a contract or other agreement with any 
        organization or entity that provides for the administration of 
        Independence National Historical Park so long as the agreement 
        does not conflict with the cooperative agreement entered into 
        under paragraph (1).
            ``(5) Exemption from applicable law.--An agreement, lease, 
        contract, or other arrangement entered into under paragraph (1) 
        shall not be subject to section 3(k) of Public Law 91-383 (16 
        U.S.C. 1a-2(k)), section 321 of the Act of June 30, 1939 (40 
        U.S.C. 303(b)), or section 403 of the National Parks Omnibus 
        Management Act of 1998 (16 U.S.C. 5952).''.

SEC. 4. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.

    (a) Section 3 of the Constitution Heritage Act of 1988 (16 U.S.C. 
407bb) is amended--
            (1) in the second sentence of subsection (a), by striking 
        ``Center'' and inserting ``NCC''; and
            (2) in subsection (b)--
                    (A) in the subsection heading, by striking 
                ``Center'' and inserting ``NCC'';
                    (B) in the matter before paragraph (1), by striking 
                ``Center'' and inserting ``NCC''; and
                    (C) in paragraph (3), by striking ``Center's'' and 
                inserting ``NCC's''.
    (b) Section 4 of the Constitution Heritage Act of 1988 (16 U.S.C. 
407cc) is amended--
            (1) in the section heading, by striking ``center'' and 
        inserting ``ncc'';
            (2) in subsection (a), by striking ``Center'' each place it 
        appears and inserting ``NCC''; and
            (3) in subsection (b)--
                    (A) in the subsection heading, by striking 
                ``Center'' and inserting ``NCC'';
                    (B) in the first sentence, by striking ``Center'' 
                the second place it appears and inserting ``NCC''; and
                    (C) in the second sentence, by striking ``National 
                Constitution Center'' and inserting ``NCC''.
    (c) Section 5 of the Constitution Heritage Act of 1988 (16 U.S.C. 
407cc) is amended in subsections (c) and (e) by striking ``National 
Constitution Center'' each place it appears and inserting ``NCC''.
                                 <all>