[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6561 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6561

 To establish the History is Learned from the Living grant program to 
   enable communities to learn about historical events in the United 
  States in the past century through the oral histories of community 
   members who participated in those events, and for other purposes.


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                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           December 21, 2010

Ms. Richardson introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                     Committee on Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To establish the History is Learned from the Living grant program to 
   enable communities to learn about historical events in the United 
  States in the past century through the oral histories of community 
   members who participated in those events, 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 Is Learned from the Living 
Act''.

SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING PRESERVATION OF STORIES OF HEROES 
              OF HISTORICAL MOVEMENTS AND EVENTS IN THE UNITED STATES.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) The historical events in the United States over the 
        past century have been integral to growth, progress, and 
        innovation in the United States.
            (2) Notable examples of such historical movements include 
        the Women's Suffrage, Reagan Revolution, Peace, Veteran, Civil 
        Rights, Tea Party, Chicano (El Movimiento), Environmental, and 
        Deficit Reduction Movements.
            (3) Martin Luther King, Jr., Gloria Steinem, Cesar Chavez, 
        William Buckley, Susan B. Anthony, Jacques-Yves Cousteau, 
        Rachel Carson, Howard Jarvis and John Muir are among the many 
        well-known heroes of such historical events.
            (4) In addition to the well-known heroes of such historical 
        events, there are numerous unsung heroes living in local 
        communities across the United States.
    (b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that the 
stories of the unsung heroes of historical events in the United States 
over the past century should be preserved and archived, and the 
historical events in which they participated remembered, for 
generations to come.

SEC. 3. HISTORY IS LEARNED FROM THE LIVING GRANT PROGRAM.

    (a) Grant Program.--There is established the History Is Learned 
from the Living grant program (in this section referred to as the 
``HILL grant program''), to be carried out by the Secretary of the 
Interior.
    (b) Requirements.--Under the HILL grant program, the Secretary 
shall make 1-year grants in the amount of $200,000 to community groups, 
organizations, or institutions to--
            (1) carry out projects through which the community may 
        learn about historical events in the United States in the past 
        century through the oral histories of members of the community 
        who participated in those events; and
            (2) submit to the Secretary a digital report (including 
        interviews, documents, videos, photos, etc.) on the projects, 
        in such form and containing such information as may be 
        specified by the Secretary, including but not limited to--
                    (A) each oral history described in paragraph (1);
                    (B) the relevance of such oral history; and
                    (C) the background of those interviewed and the 
                community, organizations and/or institutions to whom 
                the oral history belongs.
    (c) Application.--To be eligible for a grant under this section, a 
community group, organization, or institution shall submit to the 
Secretary an application at such time, in such manner, and containing 
such information as the Secretary may require.
    (d) Preservation of Oral Histories.--The Secretary shall establish 
a system to preserve and make available to the public the digital 
reports submitted under subsection (b)(2).
    (e) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to the Secretary to carry out the HILL grant program 
$5,000,000 for fiscal year 2011 and each fiscal year thereafter.
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