[Senate Report 110-104]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
Calendar No. 234
110th Congress Report
SENATE
1st Session 110-104
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COMMISSION TO STUDY THE POTENTIAL CREATION OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF
THE AMERICAN LATINO ACT OF 2007
_______
June 26, 2007.--Ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Bingaman, from the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources,
submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H.R. 512]
The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was
referred the Act (H.R. 512) to establish the Commission to
Study the Potential Creation of the National Museum of the
American Latino to develop a plan of action for the
establishment and maintenance of a National Museum of the
American Latino in Washington, DC, and for other purpose,
having considered the same, reports favorably thereon without
amendment and recommends that the Act do pass.
PURPOSE OF THE MEASURE
The purpose of H.R. 512 is to establish a commission to
study the potential creation of the National Museum of the
American Latino in Washington, DC.
BACKGROUND AND NEED
With a population exceeding 42 million, Hispanic Americans
comprise the largest minority group in the United States. The
Census Bureau estimates that in the year 2050, the Hispanic
population in the U.S. will reach over 100 million. Parts of
what are now the United States were settled by pioneers of
Hispanic descent long before the establishment of this country.
Despite this long history, there is presently no museum
located in Washington, DC, that primarily tells the story of
the American Hispanic or Latino community. H.R. 512 will
establish a commission to provide advice on the establishment
of such a museum to better tell the complete and diverse story
of Americans.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
H.R. 512, sponsored by Representative Becerra, passed the
House of Representatives by a voice vote on February 6, 2007. A
companion measure, S. 500, was introduced by Senator Salazar
and 23 other Senators on February 6, 2007. During the 109th
Congress, the House also passed a similar measure, H.R. 2134.
The Subcommittee on National Parks held a hearing on H.R.
512 and S. 500 on March 20, 2007. At its business meeting on
May 23, 2007, the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
ordered H.R. 512 favorably reported, without amendment.
COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION
The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in an
open business session on May 23, 2007, by a unanimous voice
vote of a quorum present, recommends that the Senate pass H.R.
512.
SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS
Section 1 contains the short title, the ``Commission to
Study the Potential Creation of the National Museum of the
American Latino Act of 2007.''
Section 2(a) establishes the Commission to Study the
Potential Creation of a National Museum of the American Latino.
Subsection (b) provides that the Commission shall consist
of 23 members, with 7 appointed by the President, 3 each by the
Speaker and Minority Leader of the House of Representatives,
and 3 each by the Majority Leader and Minority Leader of the
Senate. Each congressional leader is also authorized to appoint
one non-voting member of the Commission.
Subsection (c) lists the qualifications for Commission
members.
Section 3(a) requires the Commission to submit a report to
the President and the Congress containing its recommendations
with respect to a plan of action for the establishment and
maintenance of a National Museum of the American Latino in
Washington, DC.
Subsection (b) states that the Commission shall development
a fundraising plan for supporting the creation and maintenance
of the museum.
Subsection (c) directs the Commission to examine various
issues associated with the creation and location of the museum,
including the availability and cost of collections to be housed
at the museum, the impact of the museum on regional Hispanic
and Latino-related museums, possible locations for the museum
and whether the museum should be part of the Smithsonian
Institution.
Subsection (d) provides that the Commission shall submit
recommendations for a legislative plan of action to create and
construct the museum to several congressional committees.
Subsection (e) authorizes the Committee to convene a
national conference on the museum.
Section 4(a) requires the Department of the Interior to
provide, from funds appropriated for that purpose,
administrative services, facilities, and funds necessary for
the performance of the Commission's functions.
Subsection (b) provides that each member of the Commission
who is not an officer or employee of the Federal Government may
receive compensation while engaged in the work of the
Commission.
Subsection (c) authorizes the payment of travel expenses
for Commission members.
Subsection (d) states that the Federal Advisory Committee
Act shall not apply to the Commission.
Section 5(a) requires the Commission to submit final
versions of the reports and plans referred to in this Act no
later than 24 months after the date of the Commission's first
meeting.
Subsection (b) provides that the Commission shall terminate
no later than 30 days after submitting the final versions of
the reports and plans referred to in subsection (a).
Section 6 authorizes the appropriation of $2.1 million for
the first fiscal year beginning after the date of enactment and
$1.1 million for the following year.
COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS
The following estimate of the cost of this measure has been
provided by the Congressional Budget Office:
May 31, 2007.
Hon. Jeff Bingaman,
Chairman, Committee on Energy and Natural Resources,
U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 512, the
Commission to Study the Potential Creation of the National
Museum of the American Latino Act of 2007.
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Deborah Reis.
Sincerely,
Peter R. Orszag.
Enclosure.
H.R. 512--Commission to Study the Potential Creation of the National
Museum of the American Latino Act of 2007
H.R. 512 would establish a commission to develop a plan for
creating and maintaining a National Museum of the American
Latino Community in Washington, D.C. Under the act, the 23-
member commission would report its recommendations for the
museum to the Congress within two years of its first meeting.
For the purpose of carrying out the commission's
responsibilities, the act would authorize the appropriation of
$3.2 million over the next two years.
Based on information provided by the National Park Service
and assuming appropriation of the authorized amounts, CBO
estimates that the federal government would spend about $3
million over the next two years to establish the commission and
to develop a plan for the proposed museum. Most of this amount
would be spent for feasibility studies and other research. We
estimate that enacting H.R. 512 would have no effect on
revenues or direct spending.
H.R. 512 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and
would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Deborah Reis.
This estimate was approved by Peter H. Fontaine, Deputy
Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.
REGULATORY IMPACT EVALUATION
In compliance with paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee makes the following
evaluation of the regulatory impact which would be incurred in
carrying out H.R. 512. The Act is not a regulatory measure in
the sense of imposing Government-established standards or
significant economic responsibilities on private individuals
and businesses.
No personal information would be collected in administering
the program. Therefore, there would be no impact on personal
privacy.
Little, if any, additional paperwork would result from the
enactment of H.R. 512, as ordered reported.
EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS
The testimony provided by the National Park Service at the
March 20, 2007 Subcommittee hearing on H.R. 512 follows:
Statement of Daniel N. Wenk, Deputy Director, National Park Service,
Department of the Interior
Mr. Chairman and members of the subcommittee, thank you for
the opportunity to appear before you today to present the
Department of the Interior's views on S. 500 and H.R. 512,
bills to establish the Commission to Study the Potential
Creation of a National Museum of the American Latino Community
(Commission) to develop a plan of action for the establishment
and maintenance of a National Museum of the American Latino
Community in Washington, D.C.
The Department has no objection to the concept of
establishing a commission to study the potential creation of a
national museum for the American Latino community, and we
suggest that a technical correction be made to S. 500 to make
it consistent with the House-passed companion bill, H.R. 512.
We note that other agencies, such as the Smithsonian
Institution, may be able to provide more insight on the
benefits as well as the significant budget implications of
establishing and operating a separate museum in this time of
constrained budgets. We suggest that the General Services
Administration (GSA) rather than the Department of the Interior
provide the administrative support, since it is our
understanding that the GSA has an office set up to provide such
services for other commissions.
S. 500 and H.R. 512 would establish a Commission to study
and report on the potential creation of a museum, the
availability and cost of collections to be acquired and housed
in the museum, possible locations, the organizational structure
from which the museum should operate, and how to engage the
American Latino Community in the development and design of a
museum. The Commission would consist of 23 voting and non-
voting members appointed by the President and Congressional
leadership. The legislation would require that the Commission
convene a national conference on the museum no later than 18
months after the commission members are selected and submit
recommendations for a legislative plan to create and construct
the museum based on the findings of its study no later than 24
months after the date of the Commission's first meeting. The
bill would require the Secretary of the Interior to provide
administrative services, facilities, and funds necessary for
the operation of the Commission with funds made available prior
to any meetings of the Commission.
We suggest that S. 500 and H.R. 512 be amended to drop the
requirement that the Secretary of the Interior provide
administrative services, facilities, and funds necessary for
the operation of the Commission as well as determine the daily
rate of compensation for Commission members. The Department
does not have available funds to provide such support. We
suggest, alternatively, that the General Services
Administration (GSA) provide such administrative support. We
recommend a technical correction be made to S. 500 to specify
the Committees to receive the report containing the
Commission's recommendations for a plan of action and the
report on issues.
We appreciate that both S. 500 and H.R. 512 have been
improved over the past versions of the legislation by providing
the Commission with a full opportunity to consider a wide
variety of potentially appropriate and worthy locations for the
museum and directing the Commission to consult with the
National Capital Planning Commission and the Commission of Fine
Arts during such consideration. This requirement supports the
purpose and follows guidelines provided by the ``Memorials and
Museums Master Plan,'' described further below. Previous
proposals contained provisions limiting the study to specific
sites to be considered including locations on or near the
National Mall.
The location for a museum is of paramount importance to all
federal agencies, including the Department of the Interior, the
National Capital Planning Commission, and the Commission of
Fine Arts. In September 2001, the Commission of Fine Arts, the
National Capital Planning Commission, and the Department of the
Interior through the Secretary's National Capital Memorial
Advisory Commission, adopted the Memorials and Museums Master
Plan (2M Plan) to guide the location of new memorials, museums,
and related structures in the Nation's Capital. The 2M Plan
states that future memorials and museums should be precluded
from being located in ``The Reserve,'' an area described as the
great cross-axis ofthe National Mall extending from the United
States Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial and from the White House
to the Jefferson Memorial. Congress concurred with the need to
protect The Reserve from overdevelopment, calling this area ``a
substantially completed work of civic art,'' and, on November
13, 2003, with enactment of amendments to the Commemorative
Works Act, The Reserve was established by statute. The
amendments also preclude commemorative works which are
primarily designed as museums from being located on parkland in
Area I or in East Potomac Park. In addition, the National
Capital Planning Commission and the Commission of Fine Arts, in
partnership with the National Park Service and other key
federal and local agencies, are developing a National Capital
Framework Plan that will facilitate use of some of the 2M Plan
sites for nationally significant museums and memorials. Both
the 2M Plan and the National Capital Framework Plan will
provide useful guidance to the new Commission.
The National Park Service is proud to be the steward of
monuments along Virginia Avenue to commemorate Spanish General
Bernardo de Galvez, ally to the American colonies during the
American Revolution, and four South American heroes, Simon
Bolivar, Jose de San Martin, Benito Pablo Juarez, and Jose
Gervasio Artigas. All five statues were memorial gifts to the
people of the United States from the people of Spain,
Venezuela, Argentina, Mexico and Uruguay to recognize these
liberators of Bolivia, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela,
Argentina, Mexico, and Uruguay. These memorials celebrate the
bonds between our nations; and while American Latinos have the
opportunity to trace their ancestry back to these origins,
there is no permanent historical context in Washington, D.C.
that provides an opportunity to focus on the significant
cultural events and contributions representing these citizens
of the United States.
We support, in concept, the proposal to further the
education and interpretation of significant segments of
American history and culture, however, we feel strongly that
this Commission move forward in a way that does not contravene
the thoughtful and comprehensive plans undertaken to govern the
growth of the Nation's Capital or weaken the protections which
Congress has provided to the National Mall.
If the subcommittee decides to move S. 500 instead of H.R.
512, we recommend that the technical correction be made to S.
500 to make it consistent with the House-passed companion bill,
H.R. 512. Mr. Chairman, this concludes my prepared testimony. I
would be pleased to answer any questions you or other members
of the subcommittee may have.
CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW
In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee notes that no
changes in existing law are made by the Act H.R. 512, as
ordered reported.