[Senate Report 111-155]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


                                                       Calendar No. 305
111th Congress  }                                        {       Report
  2d Session    }             SENATE                     {      111-155
=======================================================================
 
                       ADAMS MEMORIAL FOUNDATION 

                                _______
                                

                 March 2, 2010.--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. 2802]

    The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was 
referred the Act (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, reports favorably thereon without 
amendment and recommends that the Act do pass.

                                Purpose

    The purpose of H.R. 2802 is to extend the legislative 
authority of the Adams Memorial Foundation by an additional 
three years until December 2, 2013, in order to allow more time 
to establish a commemorative work in honor of former President 
John Adams and his family's legacy.

                          Background and Need

    The Adams family, including the second President, John 
Adams, his wife Abigail Adams, and their son, the sixth 
President, John Quincy Adams, has made a distinguished 
contribution to American history. Following his service as the 
Nation's first Vice President, John Adams was elected President 
in 1797. John Adams' wife, Abigail Smith Adams, was an early 
advocate of women's rights, a fierce patriot, and a staunch 
abolitionist. She is still regarded as one of the most 
influential first ladies. Their son, John Quincy Adams, served 
in the Senate and as Secretary of State in the Monroe 
Administration prior to his election as President in 1825. He 
was subsequently elected to the House of Representatives, where 
he served for 17 years until his death in 1848.
    On November 5, 2001, the Adams Memorial Act (Public Law 
107-62) was signed authorizing the Adams Memorial Foundation to 
establish a memorial honoring former President John Adams and 
the Adams family. On December 2, 2002, Congress enacted Public 
Law 107-315, approving the location for the commemorative work 
within Area I, the monumental core area in Washington, D.C. 
described in the Commemorative Works Act (40 U.S.C. 8901 et 
seq.). Under the Commemorative Works Act, a construction permit 
must be issued with seven years of authorization, or the 
legislative authority lapses.
    Since that time, the Foundation has established a board of 
trustees and supporting committees, developed initial design 
concepts, conducted reviews of potential locations, engaged 
commemorative planning and design services, and coordinated 
with the Congress, National Park Service, and other 
stakeholders. It has not, however, been able to select a site, 
design the memorial, receive the requisite approvals, or raise 
sufficient funds for the construction to date. Under the terms 
of the authorizing legislation, the legislative authority to 
establish the memorial expired on December 2, 2009; however 
section 130 of Public Law 111-88, the Department of the 
Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act 
of 2010, extended the authority until September 30, 2010.
    In order to complete the memorial before the extended 
expiration date, H.R. 2802 amends Public Law 107-62 to further 
extend the authorization to December 2, 2013.

                          Legislative History

    H.R. 2802 was introduced by Representative Delahunt on June 
10, 2009. It was passed by the House of Representatives on 
September 22, 2009 by a voice vote.
    The Subcommittee on National held a hearing on H.R. 2802 on 
November 4, 2009. At its business meeting on December 16, 2009, 
the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources ordered H.R. 2802 
favorably reported.

                        Committee Recommendation

    The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in open 
business session on December 16, 2009, by a voice vote of a 
quorum present, recommends that the Senate pass H.R. 2802.

                      Section-by-Section Analysis

    Section 1(a) amends section 1(c) of Public Law 107-62 to 
extend the legislative authority for the Adams Memorial 
Foundation to establish a commemorative work on federal land in 
the District of Columbia until December 2, 2013.
    Subsection (b) makes technical amendments to Public Law 
107-62 to update code references to the Commemorative Works Act 
resulting when title 40 of the United States Code was enacted 
into positive law.

                   Cost and Budgetary Considerations

    The following estimate of costs of this measure has been 
provided by the Congressional Budget Office:

H.R. 2802--An act 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. Authority 
for the monument expired on December 2, 2009.
    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 act 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.
    On September 14, 2009, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for 
H.R. 2802 as ordered reported by the House Committee on Natural 
Resources on September 10, 2009. The CBO cost estimates for the 
two versions of the legislation are the same.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Deborah Reis. 
The estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, Deputy Assistant 
Director for Budget Analysis.

                     Regulatory Impact Evaluations.

    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. 2802.
    The bill 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. 2802, as ordered reported.

                   Congressionally Directed Spending

    H.R. 2802, as reported, does not contain any 
congressionally directed spending items, limited tax benefits, 
or limited tariff benefits as defined in rule XLIV of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate.

                        Executive Communications

    The testimony provided by the National Park Service at the 
November 4, 2009 Subcommittee hearing on H.R. 2802 follows:

   Statement of Katherine H. Stevenson, Assistant Director, Business 
      Services, 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 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.
    The Department supports H.R. 2802 as passed by the House.
    H.R. 2802 would amend Public Law 107-62 to extend to 
December 2, 2013 the authorization for establishing a memorial 
in the District of Columbia or its environs to honor President 
John Adams and his legacy. In addition to providing an 
extension of authority, H.R. 2802 also contains technical 
amendments to the original authorizing legislation, Public Law 
107-62, enacted in 2001, which contains outdated references to 
the Commemorative Works Act (CWA). The references currently 
cited in Public Law 107-315 refer to the CWA as codified under 
40 U.S.C. 1001 et seq. The CWA, however, was recodified under 
40 U.S.C. 8901 et seq. on August 21, 2002 (Public Law 107-217). 
The proposed amendments in H.R. 2802 would update and correct 
the references to the CWA.
    The authority to establish the John Adams memorial was 
originally approved by Congress on November 5, 2001. The Adams 
Memorial Foundation (Foundation) requested that the subject of 
the commemoration be determined to be of preeminent and lasting 
significance to the Nation so that the proposed memorial might 
be placed in Area I, a request that was considered favorably by 
the National Capital Memorial Advisory Commission in 2002 and 
recommended to Congress. P.L. 107-315, enacted on December 2, 
2002, granted the Foundation that additional authority to seek 
a site for their memorial within Area I. Authorizations under 
the CWA have a seven-year sunset period which extends from the 
date on which the Area I authority was granted to allow for 
time to obtain a building permit and begin construction of a 
memorial. As the Foundation has not yet been able to select a 
site, design the memorial, receive the requisite approvals, or 
raise sufficient funds for the construction of the memorial, a 
permit could not be granted. Therefore, the authority to 
establish the memorial would expire on December 2, 2009. 
However, Section 130 of the Conference Report to Accompany H.R. 
2996--the Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related 
Agencies Appropriations Act, 2010, extends the authority until 
September 30, 2010. H.R. 2802 would extend to December 2, 2013, 
the authority to establish a commemorative work to honor former 
President John Adams, his wife Abigail Adams, and former 
President John Quincy Adams and their legacy of public service.
    With an additional four years of legislative authority, the 
Foundation should be in a viable position to achieve site and 
design approvals as well as to raise the minimum 75 percent of 
the funds sufficient to build the memorial. Should they meet 
these thresholds, the Secretary of the Interior may exercise 
his authority under the CWA to grant an additional three-year 
administrative extension to allow the Foundation to finalize 
construction documents and raise the balance of necessary 
funding.
    Mr. Chairman, thank you for the opportunity to comment. 
This concludes my prepared remarks and I will be happy to 
answer any questions you or other committee members may have.

                        Changes in Existing Law

    In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, changes in existing law made by 
the Act H.R. 2802 as ordered 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):

   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.

             (Public Law 107-62; Approved November 5, 2001)

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

SECTION 1. COMMEMORATIVE WORK TO HONOR JOHN ADAMS AND HIS LEGACY.

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


    (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.)] 
accordance with chapter 89 of title 40, United States Code, 
except that any reference in section 8903(e) of that chapter to 
the expiration at the end of or extension beyond a seven-year 
period shall be considered to be a reference to an expiration 
on or extension beyond December 2, 2013.

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *

    (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.

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)).

                                  
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