[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 431 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 431

 To establish a program to award grants to improve and maintain sites 
               honoring Presidents of the United States.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           February 17, 2005

Mr. DeWine (for himself and Mr. Durbin) introduced the following bill; 
   which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and 
                           Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To establish a program to award grants to improve and maintain sites 
               honoring Presidents of the United States.

    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 ``Presidential Sites Improvement 
Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) there are many sites honoring Presidents located 
        throughout the United States, including Presidential 
        birthplaces, homes, museums, burial sites, and tombs;
            (2) most of the sites are owned, operated, and maintained 
        by non-Federal entities such as State and local agencies, 
        family foundations, colleges and universities, libraries, 
        historical societies, historic preservation organizations, and 
        other nonprofit organizations;
            (3) Presidential sites are often expensive to maintain;
            (4) many Presidential sites are in need of capital, 
        technological, and interpretive display improvements for which 
        funding is insufficient or unavailable; and
            (5) to promote understanding of the history of the United 
        States by recognizing and preserving historic sites linked to 
        Presidents of the United States, the Federal Government should 
        provide grants for the maintenance and improvement of 
        Presidential sites.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Grant commission.--The term ``Grant Commission'' means 
        the Presidential Site Grant Commission established by section 
        4(d).
            (2) Presidential site.--The term ``Presidential site'' 
        means a site that is--
                    (A) related to a President of the United States;
                    (B) of national significance;
                    (C) managed, maintained, and operated for, and is 
                accessible to, the public; and
                    (D) owned or operated by--
                            (i) a State; or
                            (ii) a private institution, organization, 
                        or person.
            (3) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of the Interior, acting through the Director of the National 
        Park Service.

SEC. 4. GRANTS FOR PRESIDENTIAL SITES.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary shall award grants for major 
maintenance and improvement projects at Presidential sites to owners or 
operators of Presidential sites in accordance with this section.
    (b) Use of Grant Funds.--
            (1) In general.--A grant awarded under this section may be 
        used for--
                    (A) repairs or capital improvements at a 
                Presidential site (including new construction for 
                necessary modernization) such as--
                            (i) installation or repair of heating or 
                        air conditioning systems, security systems, or 
                        electric service; or
                            (ii) modifications at a Presidential site 
                        to achieve compliance with requirements under 
                        titles II and III of the Americans with 
                        Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12131 et 
                        seq.); and
                    (B) interpretive improvements to enhance public 
                understanding and enjoyment of a Presidential site.
            (2) Allocation of funds.--
                    (A) In general.--Of the funds made available to 
                award grants under this Act--
                            (i) 15 percent shall be used for emergency 
                        projects, as determined by the Secretary;
                            (ii) 65 percent shall be used for grants 
                        for Presidential sites with--
                                    (I) a 3-year average annual 
                                operating budget of less than $700,000 
                                (not including the amount of any grant 
                                received under this section); and
                                    (II) an endowment in an amount that 
                                is less than 3 times the annual 
                                operating budget of the site; and
                            (iii) 20 percent shall be used for grants 
                        for Presidential sites with--
                                    (I) an annual operating budget of 
                                $700,000 or more (not including the 
                                amount of any grant received under this 
                                section); and
                                    (II) an endowment in an amount that 
                                is equal to or more than 3 times the 
                                annual operating budget of the site.
                    (B) Unexpended funds.--If any funds allocated for a 
                category of projects described in subparagraph (A) are 
                unexpended, the Secretary may use the funds to award 
                grants for another category of projects described in 
                that subparagraph.
    (c) Application and Award Procedure.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than a date to be determined by 
        the Secretary, an owner or operator of a Presidential site may 
        submit to the Secretary an application for a grant under this 
        section.
            (2) Involvement of grant commission.--
                    (A) In general.--The Secretary shall forward each 
                application received under paragraph (1) to the Grant 
                Commission.
                    (B) Consideration by grant commission.--Not later 
                than 60 days after receiving an application from the 
                Secretary under subparagraph (A), the Grant Commission 
                shall return the application to the Secretary with a 
                recommendation of whether the proposed project should 
                be awarded a Presidential site grant.
                    (C) Recommendation of grant commission.--In making 
                a decision to award a Presidential site grant under 
                this section, the Secretary shall take into 
                consideration any recommendation of the Grant 
                Commission.
            (3) Award.--Not later than 180 days after receiving an 
        application for a Presidential site grant under paragraph (1), 
        the Secretary shall--
                    (A) award a Presidential site grant to the 
                applicant; or
                    (B) notify the applicant, in writing, of the 
                decision of the Secretary not to award a Presidential 
                site grant.
            (4) Matching requirements.--
                    (A) In general.--The Federal share of the cost of a 
                project at a Presidential site for which a grant is 
                awarded under this section shall not exceed 50 percent.
                    (B) Non-federal share.--The non-Federal share of 
                the cost of a project at a Presidential site for which 
                a grant is awarded under this section may be provided 
                in cash or in kind.
    (d) Presidential Site Grant Commission.--
            (1) In general.--There is established the Presidential Site 
        Grant Commission.
            (2) Composition.--The Grant Commission shall be composed 
        of--
                    (A) the Director of the National Park Service; and
                    (B) 4 members appointed by the Secretary as 
                follows:
                            (i) A State historic preservation officer.
                            (ii) A representative of the National Trust 
                        for Historic Preservation.
                            (iii) A representative of a site described 
                        in subsection (b)(2)(A)(ii).
                            (iv) A representative of a site described 
                        in subsection (b)(2)(A)(iii).
            (3) Term.--A member of the Grant Commission shall serve a 
        term of 2 years.
            (4) Duties.--The Grant Commission shall--
                    (A) review applications for Presidential site 
                grants received under subsection (c); and
                    (B) recommend to the Secretary projects for which 
                Presidential site grants should be awarded.
            (5) Ineligibility of sites during term of representative.--
        A site described in clause (iii) or (iv) of paragraph (2)(B) 
        shall be ineligible for a grant under this Act during the 2-
        year period in which a representative of the site serves on the 
        Grant Commission.
            (6) Nonapplicability of faca.--The Grant Commission shall 
        not be subject to the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. 
        App.).
    (e) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this Act $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 
2006 through 2010, to remain available until expended.
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