[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 63 (Monday, May 7, 2012)]
[House]
[Pages H2296-H2297]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
JOHN F. KENNEDY CENTER REAUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2012
Mr. MICA. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill
(H.R. 4097) to amend the John F. Kennedy Center Act to authorize
appropriations for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts,
and for other purposes.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 4097
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 ``John F. Kennedy Center
Reauthorization Act of 2012''.
SEC. 2. EXPANSION PROJECT FOR JOHN F. KENNEDY CENTER FOR THE
PERFORMING ARTS.
Section 3 of the John F. Kennedy Center Act (20 U.S.C. 76i)
is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(c) Expansion Project.--
``(1) Authority to construct.--
``(A) In general.--Subject to the requirements of this
subsection, the Board may undertake such activities as may be
necessary to construct the expansion project.
``(B) Responsibilities of the board.--The Board may
construct the expansion project, and shall be responsible for
the planning, design, engineering, and construction of the
expansion project.
``(C) Limitations.--
``(i) Mission.--All activities carried out under this
paragraph shall be within the mission of the John F. Kennedy
Center for the Performing Arts to serve as the national
center for the performing arts.
``(ii) Funding.--The costs of planning, design,
engineering, and construction of the expansion project shall
be paid for using nonappropriated funds.
``(2) Annual operations and maintenance costs.--
``(A) Estimates.--Before awarding a contract for
construction of the expansion project, the Board shall
estimate any additional annual operations and maintenance
costs (or savings) associated with the project.
``(B) Budget requests.--The Board shall account for any
additional costs identified under subparagraph (A) in making
a budget request for fiscal year 2014 and each fiscal year
thereafter.
``(C) Budget priorities.--The Board shall base a final
determination on whether to proceed with the expansion
project on the ability of the Board to accommodate any
additional costs identified under subparagraph (A) within the
other budget priorities of the Board.
``(3) Acknowledgments.--The Board may acknowledge private
contributions used in carrying out the expansion project in
the interior of the project, but may not acknowledge such
private contributions on the exterior of the project. Any
acknowledgment of private contributions under this paragraph
shall be consistent with the requirements of section 4(b).
``(4) Expansion project defined.--In this subsection, the
term `expansion project' means an addition to the south end
of the building of the John F. Kennedy Center for the
Performing Arts that--
``(A) is less than 100,000 square feet;
``(B) will improve the existing (as of the date of
enactment of this subsection) accessibility and education
functions of the Center; and
``(C) will become part of the existing (as of the date of
enactment of this subsection) structure of the Center.''.
SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
Section 13 of the John F. Kennedy Center Act (20 U.S.C.
76r) is amended by striking subsections (a) and (b) and
inserting the following:
``(a) Maintenance, Repair, and Security.--There is
authorized to be appropriated to the Board to carry out
section 4(a)(1)(H) $22,379,000 for each of fiscal years 2013
and 2014.
``(b) Capital Projects.--There is authorized to be
appropriated to the Board to carry out subparagraphs (F) and
(G) of section 4(a)(1) $13,588,000 for each of fiscal years
2013 and 2014.''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Florida (Mr. Mica) and the gentlewoman from the District of Columbia
(Ms. Norton) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Florida.
General Leave
Mr. MICA. Mr. Speaker, first of all, I ask unanimous consent that all
Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their
remarks and include extraneous materials on H.R. 4097.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Florida?
There was no objection.
Mr. MICA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker and my colleagues, today I am pleased to stand before you
and offer for consideration of the House H.R. 4097, which would
reauthorize the John F. Kennedy Center through 2014.
Everyone knows the Kennedy Center. It is one of the most outstanding
national and cultural treasures that we have in our Capital City. I am
pleased to be the sponsor of what I consider important legislation for
several reasons.
First of all, in Congress, we get to do some exciting things. As
chair of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, within our
committee we have six subcommittees, and one does oversee public
buildings. We've had a lot of public consternation--and rightfully so--
with some of our public buildings programs under the General Services
Administration. I was home last week, and everybody in America recalls
the guy in the hot tub thumbing his nose at Congress and the taxpayers.
That's a bad example of behavior and wasteful expenditures of
taxpayers' dollars. But I'm pleased to be here to say that there are
many in government that do have programs that are very beneficial for
the country, and one is the Kennedy Center. What an incredible
institution.
As the chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, I
get to sit on their board of trustees. Actually, I've gone to their
meetings and see how they operate. Most people don't know, but most of
their programs are funded through private donations, not public
donations, although the building does stay under the responsibility of
the Federal Government.
A lot of folks don't know a lot about the history of the Kennedy
Center. The Kennedy Center--and I learned this being on the board--was
actually an idea of a Republican President. Dwight David Eisenhower, in
the 1950s, was determined to create a national cultural center in our
Nation's Capital. This center was the idea and the genesis of one of
our Presidents. Probably most people don't know that. I learned that in
the rededication of the Eisenhower Theater within the Kennedy Center.
After many years, it was renovated, again, mostly through private funds
and donations.
[[Page H2297]]
I actually saw an old clip of President Eisenhower when he came up
with a plan for a national cultural center. Subsequently after that, of
course, we had the assassination of our beloved President Kennedy. In
1964, they began work. In 1971, they actually opened the center and
named it the Kennedy Center in honor of our late President. But a
little bit about the history.
I'm also excited about this proposal because this legislation
authorizes one of the first additions I know of. I know we've done some
repairs and some renovations, but we're actually talking about an
addition to the Kennedy Center, and it's going to be funded with
private money. Only private funds will be raised for this. So it's
exciting to see a public-private partnership and the great leadership
of the Kennedy Center.
I have to pay a little bit of tribute to Michael Kaiser, the
president. This guy works day and night to make everything happen at
the Kennedy Center. And he, of course, reports to the chairman of the
board, who is David Rubenstein. He does a magnificent job corralling
some of the leaders of our Nation, those in business and free
enterprise that come in and through their donations support the Kennedy
Center.
It's incredible--Washington, D.C. programs. It truly has made the
Nation's Capital a center for a whole host of cultural activities--
dance and theater and symphonic music, and the list goes on and on. And
many people across the Nation get to see it in their own living rooms.
They don't always get to come to our Nation's Capital, but we've seen
those performances that are televised. So it is a rich part of our
Nation's Capital, and certainly a rich part of our Nation's culture,
and we are now seeing for the first time an addition.
This addition will support the center's educational mission, and
that's very important. It will be a benefit, again, both for
Washington, D.C., our Nation's Capital, and for the Nation. And
internationally they have programs today. The purpose of the expansion
is to provide improved facilities of the Kennedy Center by adding
approximately 56,000 square feet of space for classrooms, rehearsal
rooms, event spaces, and offices. And for the first time, they will
have a dedicated area for educational purposes, as I've outlined; other
rehearsals and other functions and activities and things that don't fit
into some of the theater and some of the existing facilities that they
have already in the main building. So the expansion will permit the
center to address its growing needs and provide greater accessibility
for the center's programs and performances for the general public.
So I'm pretty excited about this proposal. Most people don't know
that we worked some years, 15 years, on the visitors center. We also
were raising funds. Part of the construction of that visitors center
was raising funds privately. Most people wouldn't know that the author
of the visitors center was Newt Gingrich, the former Speaker of the
House, who made an agreement that half the funds would be raised
privately for that visitors center here at the Capitol, and also some
public funds. Of course, all that changed with September 11, when the
Capitol was attacked and our Nation was attacked, and we had to make
some dramatic changes in that whole funding, and security issues that
were raised there. But, like the visitors center, we're raising funds.
This is totally, again, the private sector that is building this
facility and great addition to the Kennedy Center.
So with that, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
The Kennedy Center, a Presidential memorial, is one of the Nation's
busiest arts facilities, presenting more than 2,000 performances
annually and hosting thousands of theater-goers, visitors, and
tourists. In fact, it is considered by many to be the greatest
performing arts center in the world.
The Kennedy Center also provides educational programs for both
teachers and students from pre-kindergarten through college across the
United States.
H.R. 4097 is a bipartisan bill that authorizes the Kennedy Center for
a total of $36 million for fiscal years 2013 and 2014 for maintenance,
repair, and capital projects only.
{time} 1640
These authorization levels are derived from the Kennedy Center's 2001
comprehensive building plan, and the funding is being held flat for
fiscal year 2013 and 2014.
The bill also authorizes the Kennedy Center to construct a 100,000-
square-foot addition for educational programs, using no Federal funds,
and with the same restrictions on naming rights as the rest of the
building.
In addition to the Kennedy Center's responsibility to run a national
program promoting the arts, it is, first and foremost, a Presidential
memorial, and we have a responsibility to fund its maintenance
consistent with the dignity of a Presidential memorial. This memorial
remains a fitting tribute to President John F. Kennedy, and I urge my
colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 4097.
Mr. Speaker, I am cosponsor of this bill, but I am pleased to note
that the Kennedy Center has gone very national, and it has taken not
only its own programs nationally, but it aids arts programs throughout
the United States. It raises its own funds, but of course, even if this
weren't a Presidential memorial, it is very hard to raise private funds
for maintenance and repair of a memorial in Washington. So I think that
the flat funding for 2013 and '14 is more than justified.
I'd like to commend President Michael Kaiser, yes, and the board of
trustees, once again, on the art services, the cultural services they
are bringing across the Nation, as well as to the Nation's Capital.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. MICA. In closing, again, I think this is a very significant piece
of legislation that does authorize the first addition that I know of to
the Kennedy Center. Not only does it do that, it does it with the whole
expansion being done with private funds. But we do have to authorize
that. Again, the Federal Government is the custodian and trustee of the
center.
Also, I think this bill is brought forward in a fiscally responsible
approach for maintaining the facility, and we authorize the capital
repair and maintenance program for the Kennedy Center at the requested
level, and also in a reduction from current spending levels.
So whether it's the cultural center of the Nation, the Kennedy
Center, and all other government programs either partially funded, like
this, or publicly funded, we've got to do more with less taxpayers'
money in a responsible fashion. This legislation does that, and I'm
pleased to offer it for consideration of the House.
I urge my colleagues to support passage of this measure.
I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Florida (Mr. Mica) that the House suspend the rules and
pass the bill, H.R. 4097.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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