[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 103 (Monday, July 14, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9355-S9356]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        NATIONAL GREAT BLACK AMERICANS COMMEMORATION ACT OF 2003

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 147, S. 1233.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (S. 1233) to authorize assistance for the National 
     Great Blacks in Wax Museum and Justice Learning Center.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill 
be read a third time and passed; that the motion to reconsider be laid 
upon the table; and that any statements relating to the bill be printed 
in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The bill (S. 1233) was read the third time and passed, as follows:

                                S. 1233

       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 Great Black 
     Americans Commemoration Act of 2003''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

       Congress finds the following:
       (1) Black Americans have served honorably in Congress, in 
     senior executive branch positions, in the law, the judiciary, 
     and other fields, yet their record of service is not well 
     known by the public, is not included in school history 
     lessons, and is not adequately presented in the Nation's 
     museums.
       (2) The Great Blacks in Wax Museum, Inc. in Baltimore, 
     Maryland, a nonprofit organization, is the Nation's first wax 
     museum presenting the history of great Black Americans, 
     including those who have served in Congress, in senior 
     executive branch positions, in the law, the judiciary, and 
     other fields, as well as others who have made significant 
     contributions to benefit the Nation.
       (3) The Great Blacks in Wax Museum, Inc. plans to expand 
     its existing facilities to establish the National Great 
     Blacks in Wax Museum and Justice Learning Center, which is 
     intended to serve as a national museum and center for 
     presentation of wax figures and related interactive 
     educational exhibits portraying the history of great Black 
     Americans.
       (4) The wax medium has long been recognized as a unique and 
     artistic means to record human history through preservation 
     of the faces and personages of people of prominence, and 
     historically, wax exhibits were used to commemorate noted 
     figures in ancient Egypt, Babylon, Greece, and Rome, in 
     medieval Europe, and in the art of the Italian renaissance.
       (5) The Great Blacks in Wax Museum, Inc. was founded in 
     1983 by Drs. Elmer and Joanne Martin, 2 Baltimore educators 
     who used their personal savings to purchase wax figures, 
     which they displayed in schools, churches, shopping malls, 
     and festivals in the mid-Atlantic region.
       (6) The goal of the Martins was to test public reaction to 
     the idea of a Black history wax museum and so positive was 
     the response over time that the museum has been heralded by 
     the public and the media as a national treasure.
       (7) The museum has been the subject of feature stories by 
     CNN, the Wall Street Journal, the Baltimore Sun, the 
     Washington Post, the New York Times, the Chicago Sun Times, 
     the Dallas Morning News, the Los Angeles Times, USA Today, 
     the Afro American Newspaper, Crisis, Essence Magazine, and 
     others.
       (8) More than 300,000 people from across the Nation visit 
     the museum annually.
       (9) The new museum will carry on the time honored artistic 
     tradition of the wax medium; in particular, it will recognize 
     the significant value of this medium to commemorate and 
     appreciate great Black Americans whose faces and personages 
     are not widely recognized.
       (10) The museum will employ the most skilled artisans in 
     the wax medium, use state-of-the-art interactive exhibition 
     technologies, and consult with museum professionals 
     throughout the Nation, and its exhibits will feature the 
     following:
       (A) Blacks who have served in the Senate and House of 
     Representatives of the United States, including those who 
     represented constituencies in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, 
     Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and 
     Virginia during the 19th century.
       (B) Blacks who have served in the judiciary, in the 
     Department of Justice, as prominent attorneys, in law 
     enforcement, and in the struggle for equal rights under the 
     law.

[[Page S9356]]

       (C) Black veterans of various military engagements, 
     including the Buffalo Soldiers and Tuskegee Airmen, and the 
     role of Blacks in the settlement of the western United 
     States.
       (D) Blacks who have served in senior executive branch 
     positions, including members of Presidents' Cabinets, 
     Assistant Secretaries and Deputy Secretaries of Federal 
     agencies, and Presidential advisers.
       (E) Other Blacks whose accomplishments and contributions to 
     human history during the last millennium and to the Nation 
     through more than 400 years are exemplary, including Black 
     educators, authors, scientists, inventors, athletes, clergy, 
     and civil rights leaders.
       (11) The museum plans to develop collaborative programs 
     with other museums, serve as a clearinghouse for training, 
     technical assistance, and other resources involving use of 
     the wax medium, and sponsor traveling exhibits to provide 
     enriching museum experiences for communities throughout the 
     Nation.
       (12) The museum has been recognized by the State of 
     Maryland and the city of Baltimore as a preeminent facility 
     for presenting and interpreting Black history, using the wax 
     medium in its highest artistic form.
       (13) The museum is located in the heart of an area 
     designated as an empowerment zone, and is considered to be a 
     catalyst for economic and cultural improvements in this 
     economically disadvantaged area.

     SEC. 3. ASSISTANCE FOR NATIONAL GREAT BLACKS IN WAX MUSEUM 
                   AND JUSTICE LEARNING CENTER.

       (a) Assistance for Museum.--Subject to subsection (b), the 
     Attorney General, acting through the Office of Justice 
     Programs of the Department of Justice, shall, from amounts 
     made available under subsection (c), make a grant to the 
     Great Blacks in Wax Museum, Inc. in Baltimore, Maryland, to 
     pay the Federal share of the costs of expanding and creating 
     the National Great Blacks in Wax Museum and Justice Learning 
     Center, including the cost of its design, planning, 
     furnishing, and equipping.
       (b) Grant Requirements.--
       (1) In general.--To receive a grant under subsection (a), 
     the Great Blacks in Wax Museum, Inc. shall submit to the 
     Attorney General a proposal for the use of the grant, which 
     shall include detailed plans for the design, construction, 
     furnishing, and equipping of the National Great Blacks in Wax 
     Museum and Justice Learning Center.
       (2) Federal share.--The Federal share of the costs 
     described in subsection (a) shall not exceed 25 percent.
       (c) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized 
     to be appropriated to carry out this section $15,000,000, to 
     remain available until expended.

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