[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 170 (Friday, November 21, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S15418-S15419]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. LEAHY:
  S. 1923. A bill to reauthorize and amend the National Film 
Preservation Act of 1996; to the Committee on the Judiciary.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I call attention today to a part of 
American heritage that is literally disintegrating faster than can be 
saved. Motion pictures are an important part of our American experience 
and provide an extraordinary record of our history, our dreams, and our 
aspirations. The National Film Preservation Board and the National Film 
Preservation Foundation were created by Congress under the auspices of 
the Library of Congress, to help save America's film heritage. Today, I 
am introducing the ``National Film Preservation Act of 2003,'' which 
will reauthorize and extend the ``National Film Preservation Act of 
1996.''
  We first acted in 1988 in order to recognize both the educational, 
cultural, and historical importance of our film heritage, and its 
inherently fragile nature. The ``National Film Preservation Act of 
2003'' will allow the Library of Congress to continue its important 
work in preserving America's fading treasures, as well as providing 
grants that will help libraries, museums, and archives preserve films, 
and make those works available for study and research. These continued 
efforts are more critical today than ever before. Fewer than 20 percent 
of the features of the 1920s exist in complete form and less than 10 
percent of the features of the 1910s have survived into the new 
millennium.
  The films saved by the National Film Preservation Board are precisely 
those types of films that would be unlikely to survive without public 
support. At-risk documentaries, silent-era films, avant-garde works, 
ethnic films, newsreels, and home movies are in many ways more 
illuminating on the question of who we are as a society than the 
Hollywood sound features kept and preserved by major studios. What is 
more, in many cases only one copy of these ``orphaned'' works exists. 
As the Librarian of Congress, Dr. James H. Billington, has noted, ``Our 
film heritage is America's living past.'' I encourage my colleagues to 
support the ``Film Preservation Act of 2003'' so that America's past 
can survive in order to enlighten and entertain future generations.
  I ask unanimous consent that the text of this bill be printed in the 
Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                S. 1923

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

    TITLE I--REAUTHORIZATION OF THE NATIONAL FILM PRESERVATION BOARD

     SEC. 101. SHORT TITLE.

       This title may be cited as the ``National Film Preservation 
     Act of 2003''.

     SEC. 102. REAUTHORIZATION AND AMENDMENT.

       (a) Duties of the Librarian of Congress.--Section 103 of 
     the National Film Preservation Act of 1996 (2 U.S.C. 179m) is 
     amended:
       (1) in subsection (b)--
       (A) by striking ``film copy'' each place that term appears 
     and inserting ``film or other approved copy'';
       (B) by striking ``film copies'' each place that term 
     appears and inserting ``film or other approved copies''; and
       (C) in the third sentence, by striking ``copyrighted'' and 
     inserting ``copyrighted, mass distributed, broadcast, or 
     published'' ; and
       (2) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(c) Coordination of Program With Other Collection, 
     Preservation, and Accessibility Activities.--In carrying out 
     the comprehensive national film preservation program for 
     motion pictures established under the National Film 
     Preservation Act of 1992, the Librarian, in consultation with 
     the Board established pursuant to section 104, shall--
       ``(1) carry out activities to make films included in the 
     National Film registry more broadly accessible for research 
     and educational purposes, and to generate public awareness 
     and support of the Registry and the comprehensive national 
     film preservation program;
       ``(2) review the comprehensive national film preservation 
     plan, and amend it to the

[[Page S15419]]

     extent necessary to ensure that it addresses technological 
     advances in the preservation and storage of, and access to 
     film collections in multiple formats; and
       ``(3) wherever possible, undertake expanded initiatives to 
     ensure the preservation of the moving image heritage of the 
     United States, including film, videotape, television, and 
     born digital moving image formats, by supporting the work of 
     the National Audio-Visual Conservation Center of the Library 
     of Congress, and other appropriate nonprofit archival and 
     preservation organizations.''.
       (b) National Film Preservation Board.--Section 104 of the 
     National Film Preservation Act of 1996 (2 U.S.C. 179n) is 
     amended--
       (1) in subsection (a)(1) by striking ``20'' and inserting 
     ``22'';
       (2) in subsection (a) (2) by striking ``three'' and 
     inserting ``5'';
       (3) in subsection (d) by striking ``11'' and inserting 
     ``12''; and
       (4) by striking subsection (e) and inserting the following:
       ``(e) Reimbursement of Expenses.--Members of the Board 
     shall serve without pay, but may receive travel expenses, 
     including per diem in lieu of subsistence, in accordance with 
     sections 5702 and 5703 of title 5, United States Code.''.
       (c) Responsibilities and Powers of Board.--Section 105(c) 
     of the National Film Preservation Act of 1996 (2 U.S.C. 179o) 
     is amended by adding at the end the following:
       ``(3) Review and approval of special foundation projects.--
     The Board shall review special projects submitted for its 
     approval by the National Film Preservation Foundation under 
     section 151711 of title 36, United States Code.''.
       (d) National Film Registry.--Section 106 of the National 
     Film Preservation Act of 1996 (2 U.S.C. 179q) is amended by 
     adding at the end the following:
       ``(e) National Audio-Visual Conservation Center.--The 
     Librarian shall utilize the National Audio-Visual 
     Conservation Center of the Library of Congress at Culpeper, 
     Virginia, to ensure that preserved films included in the 
     National Film Registry are stored in a proper manner, and 
     disseminated to researchers, scholars, and the public as may 
     be appropriate in accordance with--
       ``(1) title 17 of the United States Code; and
       ``(2) the terms of any agreements between the Librarian and 
     persons who hold copyrights to such audiovisual works.''.
       (e) Use of Seal.--Section 107 (a) of the National Film 
     Preservation Act of 1996 (2 U.S.C. 179q) is amended--
       (1) in paragraph (1), by inserting ``in any format'' after 
     ``or any copy''; and
       (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ``or film copy'' and 
     inserting ``in any format''.
       (f) Effective Date.--Section 113 of the National Film 
     Preservation Act of 1996 (2 U.S.C. 179w) is amended by 
     striking ``7'' and inserting ``17''.

 TITLE II--REAUTHORIZATION OF THE NATIONAL FILM PRESERVATION FOUNDATION

     SEC. 201. SHORT TITLE.

       This title may be cited as the ``National Film Preservation 
     Foundation Reauthorization Act of 2003''.

     SEC. 202. REAUTHORIZATION AND AMENDMENT.

       (a) Board of Directors.--Section 151703 of title 36, United 
     States Code, is amended--
       (1) in subsection (b)(2)(A), by striking ``nine'' and 
     inserting ``12''; and
       (2) in subsection (b)(4), by striking the second sentence 
     and inserting ``There shall be no limit to the number of 
     terms to which any individual may be appointed.''.
       (b) Powers.--Section 151705 of title 36, United States 
     Code, is amended in subsection (b) by striking ``District of 
     Columbia'' and inserting ``the jurisdiction in which the 
     principal office of the corporation is located''.
       (c) Principal Office.--Section 151706 of title 36, United 
     States Code, is amended by inserting ``, or another place as 
     determined by the board of directors'' after ``District of 
     Columbia''.
       (d) Authorization of Appropriations.--Section 151711 of 
     title 36, United States Code, is amended by striking 
     subsections (a) and (b) and inserting the following:
       ``(a) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are 
     authorized to be appropriated to the Library of Congress 
     amounts necessary to carry out this chapter, not to exceed 
     $500,000 for each of the fiscal years 2004 and 2005, and not 
     to exceed $1,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2006 
     through 2013. These amounts are to be made available to the 
     corporation to match any private contributions (whether in 
     currency, services, or property) made to the corporation by 
     private persons and State and local governments.
       ``(b) Limitation Related to Administrative Expenses.--
     Amounts authorized under this section may not be used by the 
     corporation for management and general or fundraising 
     expenses as reported to the Internal Revenue Service as part 
     of an annual information return required under the Internal 
     Revenue Code of 1986.''.
       (e) Cooperative film preservation.--
       (1) In general.--Chapter 1517 of title 36, United States 
     Code, is amended--
       (A) by redesignating sections 151711 and 151712 as sections 
     151712 and 151713, respectively; and
       (B) by adding at the end the following:

     ``Sec. 151711. Cooperative film preservation

       ``(a) Cooperative film preservation.--
       ``(1) In general.--The corporation shall design and support 
     cooperative national film preservation and access 
     initiatives. Such initiatives shall be approved by the 
     corporation, the Librarian of Congress, and the National Film 
     Preservation Board of the Library of Congress under section 
     105(c)(3) of the National Film Preservation Act of 1996.
       ``(2) Scope.--Cooperative initiatives authorized under 
     paragraph (1) may include--
       ``(A) the repatriation and preservation of American films 
     that may be found in archives outside of the United States;
       ``(B) the exhibition and dissemination via broadcast or 
     other means of ``orphan'' films;
       ``(C) the production of educational materials in various 
     formats to encourage film preservation, preservation 
     initiatives undertaken by 3 or more archives jointly; and
       ``(D) other activities undertaken in light of significant 
     unfunded film preservation and access needs.
       ``(b) Authorization of Appropriations.--
       ``(1) In general.--There are authorized to be appropriated 
     to the Library of Congress amounts not to exceed $1,000,000 
     for each of the fiscal years 2006 through 2013, to carry out 
     the purposes of this section.
       ``(2) Matching.--The amounts made available under paragraph 
     (1) are to be made available to the corporation to match any 
     private contributions (whether in currency, services, or 
     property) made to the corporation by private persons and 
     State and local governments.
       ``(3) Limitation Related to Administrative Expenses.--
     Amounts authorized under this section may not be used by the 
     corporation for management and general or fundraising 
     expenses as reported to the Internal Revenue Service as part 
     of an annual information return required under the Internal 
     Revenue Code of 1986.''.
       (2) Technical and Conforming Amendment.--The table of 
     sections for chapter 1517 of title 36, United States Code, is 
     amended by striking the matter relating to section 151711 and 
     151712 and inserting the following:

``151711. Cooperative film preservation.
``151712. Authorization of appropriations.
``151713. Annual report.''.
                                 ______