[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 120 (Thursday, July 13, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2868-S2870]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 763. Mr. BROWN submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by 
him to the bill S. 2226, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 
2024 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military 
construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy, 
to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for 
other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

       At the appropriate place in title X, insert the following:

     SEC. 10__. VETERANS AFFAIRS HISTORY OFFICE AND DEPARTMENT OF 
                   VETERANS AFFAIRS HISTORY PROGRAM.

       (a) Veterans Affairs History Office.--
       (1) Establishment.--There is established within the 
     Department of Veterans Affairs a Veterans Affairs History 
     Office (in this section the ``History Office'') comprising a 
     Veterans Affairs History Program and a Veterans Affairs 
     History Center, as the principal Department-wide management 
     office for centralized historical initiatives of the 
     Department.
       (2) Mission.--The mission of the History Office is to 
     establish an overarching program to collect, preserve, and 
     provide access to relevant historical records, artifacts, and 
     cultural resources of the Department (including those of 
     predecessor agencies) and to document and tell a 
     comprehensive story of the Department and its predecessor 
     organizations' service to veterans to the people of the 
     United States, and shall include activities enumerated in 
     Department of Veterans Affairs Directive 7777, dated February 
     9, 2021.
       (3) Chief historian and staff.--The History Office shall be 
     led by the Chief Historian of the Department of Veterans 
     Affairs (``Chief Historian'') who may be assisted by such 
     professional and administrative staff as the Secretary of 
     Veterans Affairs considers necessary to meet the mission set 
     forth in paragraph (2).
       (4) Authority.--The History Office may carry out the 
     following operations, including through the use of 
     cooperative agreements, donations, and other such 
     arrangements available under authorities of the Department:
       (A) Assist with planning appropriate history-related events 
     leading up to the centennial of the Department in 2030 
     (``Centennial'').
       (B) Carry out public activities, including print and web-
     based publications and exhibits, that increase awareness of 
     the role and contributions of the Department in providing 
     benefits, care, memorial affairs, and others services to 
     supporting veterans.
       (C) Construct, renovate, repair, operate, preserve, and 
     maintain new or existing Department facilities used for 
     preservation, restoration, and public access to Department 
     historic materials (archives and artifacts), and for 
     facilities intended for the purpose of education relating to 
     history of support of veterans through the Department and its 
     predecessor entities and for training on the preservation of 
     these historic materials and facilities.
       (D) Maintain facilities for access to, and storage of, 
     historic materials (artifacts and archives), compliant with 
     recognized specifications for such facilities.
       (E) Conduct education and training on preservation of 
     historical materials, archival management, digitization, 
     restoration, historical research, and related subjects to 
     assist the Department.
       (F) Accept donations of historic properties associated with 
     veterans or the history of the Department and its predecessor 
     entities.
       (G) Such other operations as the Secretary designates as 
     necessary and appropriate.
       (b) Reports.--
       (1) Long-range planning.--Not later than March 1, 2024, the 
     Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall submit to Congress a 
     report on current and proposed activities of the History 
     Program established pursuant to paragraph (1) of subsection 
     (a) leading up to the centennial described in paragraph 
     (4)(A) of such subsection.
       (2) Contents.--The report submitted pursuant to paragraph 
     (1) shall include plans for the following:
       (A) Additional staffing and a budget.
       (B) Organization charts pertaining to the current staff and 
     location of the Veterans Affairs History Office within the 
     Department of Veterans Affairs.
       (C) Any relevant construction, preservation, and renovation 
     activities of facilities, including those used to store or 
     display historic materials.
       (D) Public activities to mark the centennial described in 
     paragraph (1).
       (E) Such recommendations for legislative or administrative 
     action as the Secretary may have with respect to the History 
     Program and the centennial described in paragraph (1).

[[Page S2870]]

       (3) Annual reports.--Subsequent to submittal of the report 
     pursuant to paragraph (1), the Chief Historian of the 
     Department of Veterans Affairs shall, not less frequently 
     than once each year through 2030, submit to the Committee on 
     Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on 
     Veterans' Affairs of the House of Representatives a report on 
     the progress of the Veterans Affairs History Office.
                                 ______