[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3751 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3751

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


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           December 20, 2011

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 movements in the United 
  States in the past century through the oral histories of community 
  members who participated in those movements, 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 IN THE UNITED STATES.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) The historical movements 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), Pro-Life, 
        Environmental, and Deficit Reduction Movements.
            (3) Martin Luther King, Jr., Phyllis Schlafly, Cesar 
        Chavez, William Buckley, Susan B. Anthony, and Ronald Reagan 
        are among the many well-known heroes of such historical 
        movements.
            (4) In addition to the well-known heroes of such historical 
        movements, 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 movements in the United 
States over the past century should be preserved and archived, and the 
historical movements 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 $550,000 to community groups, 
organizations, or institutions to--
            (1) carry out projects through which the community may 
        learn about historical movements in the United States in the 
        past century through the oral histories of members of the 
        community who participated in those movements; and
            (2) submit to the Secretary a digital report on the 
        projects, in such form and containing such information as may 
        be specified by the Secretary, including--
                    (A) each oral history described in paragraph (1);
                    (B) the relevance of such oral history; and
                    (C) the background of the community member 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 is authorized to be 
appropriated to the Secretary to carry out the HILL grant program 
$5,000,000 for fiscal year 2012 and each fiscal year thereafter.
                                 <all>