[House Report 111-261]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
111th Congress Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
1st Session 111-261
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PROVIDING FOR AN EXTENSION OF THE LEGISLATIVE AUTHORITY OF THE ADAMS
MEMORIAL FOUNDATION TO ESTABLISH A COMMEMORATIVE WORK IN HONOR OF
FORMER PRESIDENT JOHN ADAMS AND HIS LEGACY, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
_______
September 21, 2009.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on
the State of the Union and ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Rahall, from the Committee on Natural Resources, submitted the
following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H.R. 2802]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred the
bill (H.R. 2802) to provide for an extension of the legislative
authority of the Adams Memorial Foundation to establish a
commemorative work in honor of former President John Adams and
his legacy, and for other purposes, having considered the same,
report favorably thereon with an amendment and recommend that
the bill as amended do pass.
The amendment is as follows:
Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the
following:
SECTION 1. EXTENSION OF LEGISLATIVE AUTHORITY FOR MEMORIAL
ESTABLISHMENT.
(a) Legislative Authority.--Section 1 of Public Law 107-62 is amended
by adding after subsection (e) the following new subsection:
``(f) Expiration of Legislative Authority.--Notwithstanding section
8903(e) of title 40, United States Code, the legislative authority of
the Adams Memorial Foundation to establish a commemorative work on
Federal land in the District of Columbia and its environs in honor of
former President John Adams and his family's legacy shall expire on
December 2, 2013.''.
(b) Technical Amendments.--Public Law 107-62 is amended--
(1) in section 1(c), by striking ``(40 U.S.C. 1001, et
seq.)'' and inserting ``(40 U.S.C. 8901, et seq.)'';
(2) in section 1(e), by striking ``(40 U.S.C. 1001, et
seq.)'' and inserting ``(40 U.S.C. 8901, et seq.)''; and
(3) in section 2, by striking ``(40 U.S.C. 1002)'' and
inserting ``(40 U.S.C. 8902(a))''.
Purpose of the Bill
The purpose of H.R. 2802 is to provide for an extension of
the legislative authority of the Adams Memorial Foundation to
establish a commemorative work in honor of former President
John Adams and his legacy, and for other purposes.
Background and Need for Legislation
Public Law 107-62, signed on November 5, 2001, authorized
the Adams Memorial Foundation to establish a commemorative work
in the Washington, D.C. area to honor John Adams, the second
President of the United States, along with his wife Abigail
Adams, their son and sixth President John Quincy Adams, and the
family's legacy of public service. This law mandated compliance
with the Commemorative Works Act (40 U.S.C. 8901, et seq.) and
required that the Foundation raise all required funds for the
memorial, specifically prohibiting use of federal funds for
this purpose.
Public Law 107-315, signed on December 2, 2002, authorized
the Adams Memorial Foundation to locate the commemorative work
in ``Area I,'' generally the area surrounding the national
mall, excluding the ``Reserve.'' The Commemorative Works Act,
as amended, specifies that the legislative authority for the
establishment of a commemorative work in Area I expires seven
years after the date of enactment of the authorizing
legislation, in this case December 2, 2009. The Commemorative
Works Act allows for administrative extension of this authority
under certain conditions, namely that either construction
contracts have been let or final designs have been approved and
75% of needed funds have been raised.
The Adams Memorial Foundation has secured seed funding,
completed initial reviews of design concepts and sites, and
selected a contractor to study site alternatives and prepare an
Environmental Assessment. A design competition will be held
after a final site is selected and approved, and the Foundation
estimates that construction could begin in three years or less,
pending required approvals. Despite these efforts, the
requirements for an administrative extension of time will not
be met by December 2, 2009.
Committee Action
H.R. 2802 was introduced on June 10, 2009 by Representative
Bill Delahunt (D-MA). The bill was referred to the Committee on
Natural Resources, and within the Committee to the Subcommittee
on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands. On July 30, 2009,
the Subcommittee held a hearing on the bill during which the
Administration testified in favor of the legislation with the
recommendation that it be amended to reduce the extension from
seven years to four years, in order to encourage the expedited
completion of the project.
On September 10, 2009, the full Natural Resources Committee
met to consider the bill. The Subcommittee was discharged from
further consideration of H.R. 2802. Subcommittee Chairman Raul
Grijalva (D-AZ) offered an amendment in the nature of a
substitute to incorporate the recommendation of the
Administration to limit the extension to four years instead of
seven. The amendment was adopted by unanimous consent. The
bill, as amended, was then ordered favorably reported to the
House of Representatives by unanimous consent.
Committee Oversight Findings and Recommendations
Regarding clause 2(b)(1) of rule X and clause 3(c)(1) of
rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the
Committee on Natural Resources' oversight findings and
recommendations are reflected in the body of this report.
Constitutional Authority Statement
Article I, section 8 of the Constitution of the United
States grants Congress the authority to enact this bill.
Compliance With House Rule XIII
1. Cost of Legislation. Clause 3(d)(2) of rule XIII of the
Rules of the House of Representatives requires an estimate and
a comparison by the Committee of the costs which would be
incurred in carrying out this bill. However, clause 3(d)(3)(B)
of that Rule provides that this requirement does not apply when
the Committee has included in its report a timely submitted
cost estimate of the bill prepared by the Director of the
Congressional Budget Office under section 402 of the
Congressional Budget Act of 1974.
2. Congressional Budget Act. As required by clause 3(c)(2)
of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and
section 308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, this
bill does not contain any new budget authority, spending
authority, credit authority, or an increase or decrease in
revenues or tax expenditures.
3. General Performance Goals and Objectives. As required by
clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII, the general performance goal or
objective of this bill is to provide for an extension of the
legislative authority of the Adams Memorial Foundation to
establish a commemorative work in honor of former President
John Adams and his legacy, and for other purposes.
4. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate. Under clause
3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of
Representatives and section 403 of the Congressional Budget Act
of 1974, the Committee has received the following cost estimate
for this bill from the Director of the Congressional Budget
Office:
H.R. 2802--A bill to provide for an extension of the legislative
authority of the Adams Memorial Foundation to establish a
commemorative work in honor of former President John Adams and
his legacy
H.R. 2802 would extend through December 2, 2013, the
authority of the Adams Memorial Foundation to construct a
memorial to the former president on federal lands within the
District of Columbia. The extension would give the foundation,
a nonprofit organization, an additional four years to obtain
the necessary funds to complete the memorial project.
Because the prospective memorial would be established with
nonfederal funds, CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 2802 would
have no effect on the federal budget.
The bill contains no intergovernmental or private-sector
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and
would not affect the budgets of state, local, or tribal
governments.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Deborah Reis.
The estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, Deputy Assistant
Director for Budget Analysis.
Compliance With Public Law 104-4
This bill contains no unfunded mandates.
Earmark Statement
H.R. 2802 does not contain any congressional earmarks,
limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined in
clause 9(d), 9(e) or 9(f) of rule XXI.
Preemption of State, Local or Tribal Law
This bill is not intended to preempt any State, Local or
tribal law.
Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported
In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of
the House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by
the bill, as reported, are shown as follows (existing law
proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black brackets, new
matter is printed in italic, existing law in which no change is
proposed is shown in roman):
ACT OF NOVEMBER 05, 2001
(Public Law 107-62)
AN ACT To authorize the Adams Memorial Foundation to establish a
commemorative work on Federal land in the District of Columbia and its
environs to honor former President John Adams and his legacy.
SECTION 1. COMMEMORATIVE WORK TO HONOR JOHN ADAMS AND HIS LEGACY.
(a) * * *
* * * * * * *
(c) Compliance With Standards for Commemorative Works.--The
establishment of the commemorative work shall be in accordance
with the Commemorative Works Act [(40 U.S.C. 1001, et seq.)]
(40 U.S.C. 8901, et seq.).
* * * * * * *
(e) Deposit of Excess Funds.--If, upon payment of all
expenses of the establishment of the commemorative work
(including the maintenance and preservation amount provided for
in section 8(b) of the Commemorative Works Act [(40 U.S.C.
1001, et seq.)] (40 U.S.C. 8901, et seq.)), or upon expiration
of the authority for the commemorative work under section 10(b)
of such Act, there remains a balance of funds received for the
establishment of the commemorative work, the Adams Memorial
Foundation shall transmit the amount of the balance to the
Secretary of the Treasury for deposit in the account provided
for in section 8(b)(1) of such Act.
(f) Expiration of Legislative Authority.--Notwithstanding
section 8903(e) of title 40, United States Code, the
legislative authority of the Adams Memorial Foundation to
establish a commemorative work on Federal land in the District
of Columbia and its environs in honor of former President John
Adams and his family's legacy shall expire on December 2, 2013.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
For purposes of this Act, the terms ``commemorative work''
and ``the District of Columbia and its environs'' have the
meanings given to such terms in section 2 of the Commemorative
Works Act [(40 U.S.C. 1002)] (40 U.S.C. 8902(a)).