[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3627 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3627

    To establish the President's Council on Improving Federal Civic 
                 Architecture, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 24, 2023

  Mr. Banks introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
             Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To establish the President's Council on Improving Federal Civic 
                 Architecture, 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 ``Beautifying Federal Civic 
Architecture Act''.

SEC. 2. POLICY OF THE UNITED STATES.

    It is the policy of the United States that--
            (1) applicable Federal public buildings should--
                    (A) uplift and beautify public spaces;
                    (B) inspire the human spirit;
                    (C) ennoble the United States;
                    (D) command respect from the general public;
                    (E) be visually identifiable as civic buildings; 
                and
                    (F) as appropriate, respect regional architectural 
                heritage;
            (2) architecture, with particular regard for traditional 
        and classical architecture, that meets the criteria described 
        in paragraph (1) is the preferred architecture for applicable 
        Federal public buildings;
            (3) in the District of Columbia, classical architecture is 
        the preferred and default architecture for Federal public 
        buildings absent exceptional factors necessitating another 
        style of architecture;
            (4) where the architecture of applicable Federal public 
        buildings diverges from the preferred architecture, great care 
        and consideration shall be taken to choose a design that--
                    (A) commands respect from the general public; and
                    (B) clearly conveys to the general public the 
                dignity, enterprise, vigor, and stability of the system 
                of self-government of the United States;
            (5) when renovating, reducing, or expanding applicable 
        Federal public buildings that do not meet the criteria 
        described in paragraph (1), the feasibility and potential 
        expense of building redesign to meet those criteria should be 
        examined;
            (6) where feasible and economical, a redesign described in 
        paragraph (5) should be given substantial consideration, 
        especially with respect to the exterior of the applicable 
        Federal building; and
            (7) the Administration should seek input from future users 
        of applicable Federal public buildings and the general public 
        in the community where those buildings will be located before 
        selecting an architectural firm or design style and give the 
        general public's input substantial consideration.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) 2023 dollars.--The term ``2023 dollars'' means dollars 
        adjusted for inflation using, with 2023 as the base year, the 
        Gross Domestic Product price deflator of the Bureau of Economic 
        Analysis.
            (2) Administration.--The term ``Administration'' means the 
        General Services Administration.
            (3) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the 
        Administrator of General Services.
            (4) Applicable federal public building.--
                    (A) In general.--The term ``applicable Federal 
                public building'' means--
                            (i) any Federal courthouse;
                            (ii) any Federal agency headquarters;
                            (iii) any public building in the District 
                        of Columbia; and
                            (iv) any other public building the cost or 
                        expected cost to design, build, and finish of 
                        which is more than $50,000,000 in 2023 dollars.
                    (B) Exclusions.--The term ``applicable Federal 
                public building'' does not include an infrastructure 
                project or land port of entry.
            (5) Brutalist.--The term ``Brutalist'' means the style of 
        architecture that grew out of the early 20th-century modernist 
        movement that is characterized by a massive and block-like 
        appearance with a rigid geometric style and large-scale use of 
        exposed poured concrete.
            (6) Classical architecture.--
                    (A) In general.--The term ``classical 
                architecture'' means the architectural tradition--
                            (i) derived from the forms, principles, and 
                        vocabulary of the architecture of Greek and 
                        Roman antiquity; and
                            (ii) later developed and expanded on by--
                                    (I) Renaissance architects, 
                                including Alberti, Brunelleschi, 
                                Michelangelo, and Palladio;
                                    (II) Enlightenment masters, 
                                including Robert Adam, John Soane, and 
                                Christopher Wren;
                                    (III) 19th Century architects, 
                                including Benjamin Henry Latrobe, 
                                Robert Mills, Louise Blanchard Bethune, 
                                and Thomas U. Walter; and
                                    (IV) 20th Century practitioners, 
                                including Julian Abele, Daniel Burnham, 
                                Charles F. McKim, Robert Robinson 
                                Taylor, John Russell Pope, Julia 
                                Morgan, and the firm of Delano and 
                                Aldrich.
                    (B) Inclusions.--The term ``Classical 
                architecture'' includes styles such as Neoclassical, 
                Georgian, Federal, Greek Revival, Beaux-Arts, and Art 
                Deco.
            (7) Council.--The term ``Council'' means the President's 
        Council on Improving Federal Civic Architecture established by 
        section 4(a).
            (8) Deconstructivist.--The term ``Deconstructivist'' means 
        the style of architecture--
                    (A) generally known as ``deconstructivism''; and
                    (B) that emerged during the late 1980s that 
                subverts the traditional values of architecture through 
                features such as fragmentation, disorder, 
                discontinuity, distortion, skewed geometry, and the 
                appearance of instability.
            (9) General public.--The term ``general public'' means 
        members of the public who are not--
                    (A) artists, architects, engineers, art or 
                architecture critics, instructors or professors of art 
                or architecture, or members of the building industry; 
                or
                    (B) affiliated with any interest group, trade 
                association, or any other organization whose membership 
                is financially affected by decisions involving the 
                design, construction, or remodeling of applicable 
                Federal public buildings.
            (10) Officer.--The term ``officer'' has the meaning given 
        such term in section 2104 of title 5, United States Code.
            (11) Preferred architecture.--The term ``preferred 
        architecture'' means the architecture described in section 
        2(2).
            (12) Public building.--The term ``public building'' has the 
        meaning given such term in section 3301(a) of title 40, United 
        States Code.
            (13) Traditional architecture.--The term ``traditional 
        architecture'' includes--
                    (A) classical architecture; and
                    (B) the historic humanistic architecture, including 
                Gothic, Romanesque, Pueblo Revival, Spanish Colonial, 
                and other Mediterranean styles of architecture 
                historically rooted in various regions of America.

SEC. 4. PRESIDENT'S COUNCIL ON IMPROVING FEDERAL CIVIC ARCHITECTURE.

    (a) Establishment.--There is established the President's Council on 
Improving Federal Civic Architecture.
    (b) Membership.--
            (1) In general.--The Council shall be composed of--
                    (A) the chair of the Commission of Fine Arts;
                    (B) all prior living chairs of the Commission of 
                Fine Arts who elect to serve;
                    (C) the Secretary of the Commission of Fine Arts;
                    (D) the Architect of the Capitol;
                    (E) the Commissioner of the Public Building Service 
                of the Administration; and
                    (F) the Chief Architect of the Administration.
            (2) Chair.--
                    (A) In general.--The Council shall be chaired by an 
                individual described in paragraph (1)(A), who shall be 
                designated by the President.
                    (B) Vice chair; subcommittees.--The Chair of the 
                Council may--
                            (i) designate a Vice Chair; and
                            (ii) establish subcommittees.
            (3) Compensation.--
                    (A) No compensation.--Except as provided in 
                subparagraph (B), a member of the Council shall receive 
                no compensation as a result of serving on the Council.
                    (B) Travel expenses.--A member of the Council shall 
                be allowed travel expenses, including per diem in lieu 
                of subsistence, at rates authorized for employees of 
                agencies under subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, 
                United States Code, while away from their homes or 
                regular places of business in the performance of 
                services for the Council.
    (c) Duties of the Council.--The Council shall--
            (1) not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of 
        this Act, submit to the Administrator a report recommending 
        updates to policies and procedures of the Administration that--
                    (A) incorporates the policy of the United States 
                described in section 2, including how the recommended 
                updates to policies and procedures will accomplish such 
                policy; and
                    (B) advances the purposes of this Act, including 
                how those recommendations accomplish those purposes; 
                and
            (2) recommend to the Administrator changes to 
        Administration policies for situations in which the 
        Administration participates in a design selection pursuant to 
        chapter 89 of title 40, United States Code (commonly known as 
        the ``Commemorative Works Act''), in furtherance of the 
        purposes of this Act and consistent with applicable law.
    (d) Administrative Support; Staff.--
            (1) Administrative support.--On request of the Council, the 
        Administrator shall provide funding and administrative and 
        technical support to the Council.
            (2) Staff.--The Administrator--
                    (A) shall direct employees of the Administration to 
                provide any relevant information the Council requests; 
                and
                    (B) may detail those employees to aid in the work 
                of the Council, on request of the Council.
    (e) Faca Functions.--Any functions of the President under chapter 
10 of title 5, United States Code, except for the reporting to Congress 
under section 1005(b) of that title, shall be performed by the 
Administrator in accordance with guidelines and procedures established 
by the Administrator.
    (f) Termination.--The Council shall terminate on the date that is 5 
years after the date on which the Council first meets.

SEC. 5. GSA REQUIREMENTS.

    (a) In General.--The Administrator shall adhere to the policy of 
the United States described in section 2.
    (b) Notification.--
            (1) In general.--If the Administrator proposes to approve a 
        design for a new applicable Federal public building that 
        diverges from the preferred architecture, including Brutalist 
        or Deconstructivist architecture or any design derived from or 
        related to those styles of architecture, the Administrator 
        shall submit to the Assistant to the President for Domestic 
        Policy, the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
        Affairs of the Senate, and the Committee on Oversight and 
        Accountability of the House of Representatives not later than 
        30 days before the date on which the Administrator could reject 
        the design without incurring substantial expenditures a 
        notification in accordance with paragraph (2).
            (2) Requirements.--A notification submitted under paragraph 
        (1) shall describe the reasons the Administrator proposes to 
        approve a design described in that paragraph, including--
                    (A) a detailed explanation of why the Administrator 
                believes selecting the design is justified, with 
                particular focus on whether the design is as beautiful 
                and reflective of the dignity, enterprise, vigor, and 
                stability of the system of self-government in the 
                United States as alternative designs of comparable cost 
                using preferred architecture;
                    (B) the total expected cost of adopting the 
                proposed design, including estimated maintenance and 
                replacement costs throughout the expected lifecycle of 
                the design; and
                    (C)(i) a description of the designs using preferred 
                architecture seriously considered for the project; and
                    (ii) the total expected cost of adopting those 
                designs, including estimated maintenance and 
                replacement costs throughout the expected lifecycles of 
                those designs.

SEC. 6. SAVINGS PROVISION.

    Nothing in this Act--
            (1) impairs or otherwise affects--
                    (A) the authority granted by law to an executive 
                department or agency, or the head thereof; or
                    (B) the functions of the Director of the Office of 
                Management and Budget relating to budgetary, 
                administrative, or legislative proposals; or
            (2) creates any right or benefit, substantive or 
        procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party 
        against--
                    (A) the United States, including--
                            (i) any department, agency, or entity of 
                        the United States; or
                            (ii) any officer, employee, or agent of the 
                        United States; or
                    (B) any other person.

SEC. 7. REPORT TO CONGRESS.

    On an annual basis, the Administrator shall submit to the Committee 
on Oversight and Accountability of the House of Representatives and the 
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs a report about 
the promulgation of this Act, detailing adherence to the policy of the 
United States described in section 2.
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