[Senate Report 112-127]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


                                                       Calendar No. 288
112th Congress                                                   Report
                                 SENATE
 2d Session                                                     112-127

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      AUTHORIZATION OF PEACE CORPS TO ESTABLISH COMMEMORATIVE WORK

                                _______
                                

                January 13, 2012.--Ordered to be printed

 Filed, under authority of the order of the Senate of December 17, 2011

                                _______
                                

   Mr. Bingaman, from the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, 
                        submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                         [To accompany S. 1421]

    The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was 
referred the bill (S. 1421) to authorize the Peace Corps 
Commemorative Foundation to establish a commemorative work in 
the District of Columbia and its environs, and for other 
purposes, having considered the same, reports favorably thereon 
without amendment and recommends that the bill do pass.

                                PURPOSE

    The purpose of S. 1421 is to authorize the Peace Corps 
Commemorative Foundation, a non-profit organization established 
by the National Peace Corps Association, to establish a 
commemorative work in the District of Columbia and its 
environs, to commemorate the mission of the Peace Corps and the 
ideals on which the Peace Corps was founded.

                          BACKGROUND AND NEED

    The Peace Corps traces its roots and mission to 1960, when 
then-Senator John F. Kennedy, during a speech to students at 
the University of Michigan, challenged those young adults to 
give two years of service to help people in developing 
countries. Five months later, President Kennedy signed an 
executive order establishing the Peace Corps as a federal 
agency devoted to world peace and friendship, and appointed R. 
Sargent Shriver to organize and direct the Corps.
    Since that time, nearly 200,000 Peace Corps volunteers have 
served in 139 host countries to train local people in 
technologies and issues including agricultural production, 
water quality improvement, basic education, health and AIDS 
education, information technology, and environmental 
protection.
    S. 1421 would authorize the Peace Corps Commemorative 
Foundation to establish a memorial to commemorate the Peace 
Corps and the ideals on which it was founded.

                          LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

    S. 1421 was introduced by Senators Portman and Udall of 
Colorado on July 26, 2011. There are 12 cosponsors. The 
Subcommittee on National Parks held a hearing on S. 1421 on 
October 19, 2011. At its business meeting on November 10, 2011, 
the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources ordered S. 1421 
favorably reported.
    S. 1421 is similar to H.R. 4195, sponsored by 
Representative Farr in the 111th Congress, which was passed by 
the House of Representatives by voice vote on September 22, 
2010. However, the Senate took no further action on the bill.

                        COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION

    The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in 
open business session on November 10, 2011, by a voice vote of 
a quorum present, recommends that the Senate pass S. 1421.

                      SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

    Section 1(a) authorizes the establishment of a memorial on 
federal land in the District of Columbia and its environs to 
commemorate the mission of the Peace Corps and the ideals on 
which it was founded.
    Subsection (b) directs that the memorial be established 
according to the Commemorative Works Act (40 U.S.C. 9801 et 
seq.).
    Subsection (c) prohibits use of federal funds to pay for 
the establishment of the memorial and directs the Peace Corps 
Commemorative Foundation to be solely responsible for accepting 
contributions for and paying expenses of the memorial.
    Subsection (d) requires the Peace Corps Commemorative 
Foundation to transmit any excess funds, upon completion of the 
memorial and the establishment of a perpetual maintenance and 
preservation fund for the memorial, to the Secretary of the 
Interior for deposit into an account with the National Park 
Foundation.
    Section 2 contains language clarifying how budgetary 
effects of the bill, if any, will be determined.

                   COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS

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

S. 1421--A bill to authorize the Peace Corps Commemorative Foundation 
        to establish a commemorative work in the District of Columbia 
        and its environs, and for other purposes

    S. 1421 would authorize a nonprofit organization to 
establish a commemorative work on federal lands in the District 
of Columbia. The bill would affect direct spending; therefore, 
pay-as-you-go procedures apply. However, CBO estimates that the 
net effect on the budget of enacting the legislation would be 
insignificant in any year. Enacting the bill would have no 
effect on revenues.
    The legislation would authorize the Peace Corps 
Commemorative Foundation to establish a memorial to honor the 
Peace Corps. The memorial project, which would be completed 
without the use of federal funds, would be subject to the 
requirements of the Commemorative Works Act. Under that act, 
any entity that receives a permit to construct a memorial in 
the District of Columbia or its environs must donate to the 
National Park Foundation (a nonprofit organization) an amount 
equal to 10 percent of the memorial's estimated construction 
cost. That amount, as well as any project funds remaining after 
construction of the memorial, would be available in future 
years for maintenance of the memorial.
    Based on the experience of similar commemorative projects, 
CBO expects that any amounts collected by the federal 
government would not be received for several years and would be 
offset by a transfer to the National Park Foundation (a 
nonfederal entity) soon thereafter.
    S. 1421 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 Martin von 
Gnechten. The estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, 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 S. 1421.
    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 S. 1421, as ordered reported.

                   CONGRESSIONALLY DIRECTED SPENDING

    S. 1421, as ordered 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 
October 19, 2011, Subcommittee on National Parks hearing on S. 
1421 follows.

  Statement of William D. Shaddox, Acting Associate Director for Park 
 Planning, Facilities and Lands, National Park Service, Department of 
                              the Interior

    Mr. Chairman, thank you for the opportunity to appear 
before your committee to present the views of the Department of 
the Interior on S. 1421, a bill to authorize the Peace Corps 
Commemorative Foundation to establish a commemorative work in 
the District of Columbia and environs, and for other purposes.
    The Department supports S. 1421, which would authorize a 
memorial commemorating the formation of the Peace Corps and the 
ideals of world peace and friendship upon which the Peace Corps 
was founded. This proposal provides that no federal funds be 
used for establishing the memorial.
    Although this proposal does not seek any exceptions to the 
Commemorative Works Act (CWA), it should be noted that this 
proposal to honor the ideals upon which the Peace Corps was 
founded does not fit the typical mold for commemoration. The 
concept of establishing a memorial to ``ideals'' is not 
explicitly described in the CWA. When testifying on H.R. 4195, 
a similar bill introduced in the 111th Congress, we identified 
our concerns that a bill such as that could set an unwelcome 
precedent for any and all future concepts identified only as 
``ideals,'' resulting in an untenable influx of memorial 
proposals. However, there is precedent for such commemoration: 
specifically, the National Peace Garden, which Congress 
authorized in 1987, and the Memorial to Japanese American 
Patriotism in World War II, which was authorized in 1992.
    Our support for this proposal is based upon our 
understanding that this memorial will recognize the 
establishment of the Peace Corps and the significance of the 
ideals it exemplifies, not the organization's members. The CWA 
precludes a memorial to members of the Peace Corps as the 
commemoration of groups may not be authorized until after the 
25th anniversary of the death of the last surviving member of a 
group.
    The Department notes that S. 1421 reflects suggestions made 
to strengthen the language in this proposal as recommended in 
our testimony on H.R. 4195 in the 111th Congress, and by the 
National Capital Memorial Advisory Commission (NCMAC) at its 
meeting on April 21, 2010. The National Capital Memorial 
Advisory Commission has not reviewed S. 1421, but in their June 
23, 2011 review of the companion bill H.R. 854, which is almost 
identical to this bill, they expressed support for the concept 
of a memorial to the ideals of the Peace Corps. NCMAC found 
that the provisions of H.R. 854 connect the ideals to the 
exceptional aspects of American character that are exhibited in 
the ideals of the Peace Corps. We share the Commission's 
support for the idea of commemorating volunteerism and 
international cooperation as worthy ideals and practice of the 
Peace Corps.
    Finally, S. 1421 provides that unspent funds raised for the 
construction of the memorial be provided to the National Park 
Foundation for deposit in an interest-bearing account as stated 
in 40 U.S.C. Section 8906(b)(3), as recommended in our 
testimony on H.R. 4195 in the 111th Congress. We appreciate the 
inclusion of this provision, and would like to work with the 
committee on an additional technical amendment to the language.
    That concludes my testimony, Mr. Chairman. I would be 
pleased to respond to any questions from you and members of the 
committee

                        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 bill S. 1421, as 
ordered reported.

                                  
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