Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress House Bill HB1567 Compare Versions

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Old	New	Differences
1	1	I
2	2	119THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION H. R. 1567
5	5	To direct the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a study to assess the
6	6	suitability and feasibility of establishing the African Burial Ground Inter-
7	7	national Memorial Museum and Educational Center at the African Burial
8	8	Ground National Monument, and for other purposes.
9	9	IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
10	10	FEBRUARY25, 2025
11	11	Mr. G
12	12	OLDMANof New York (for himself, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. JACKSONof
13	13	Illinois, Mr. N
14	14	ADLER, Ms. NORTON, Ms. CLARKEof New York, Ms.
15	15	V
16	16	ELA´ZQUEZ, and Mr. RASKIN) introduced the following bill; which was
17	17	referred to the Committee on Natural Resources
18	18	A BILL
19	19	To direct the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a study
20	20	to assess the suitability and feasibility of establishing
21	21	the African Burial Ground International Memorial Mu-
22	22	seum and Educational Center at the African Burial
23	23	Ground National Monument, and for other purposes.
24	24	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
25	25	tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
26	26	SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
27	27	This Act may be cited as the ‘‘African Burial Ground 4
28	28	International Memorial Museum and Educational Center 5
29	29	Study Act’’. 6
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32	32	•HR 1567 IH
33	33	SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 1
34	34	In this Act: 2
35	35	(1) M
36	36	USEUM.—The term ‘‘Museum’’ means the 3
37	37	African Burial Ground International Memorial Mu-4
38	38	seum and Educational Center. 5
39	39	(2) N
40	40	ATIONAL MONUMENT .—The term ‘‘Na-6
41	41	tional Monument’’ means the African Burial Ground 7
42	42	National Monument in the city of New York, New 8
43	43	York. 9
44	44	(3) S
45	45	ECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 10
46	46	the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Di-11
47	47	rector of the National Park Service. 12
48	48	(4) S
49	49	TATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the State 13
50	50	of New York. 14
51	51	SEC. 3. AFRICAN BURIAL GROUND INTERNATIONAL MEMO-15
52	52	RIAL MUSEUM AND EDUCATIONAL CENTER 16
53	53	STUDY. 17
54	54	(a) S
55	55	TUDY.— 18
56	56	(1) I
57	57	N GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consulta-19
58	58	tion with State and local historic preservation offi-20
59	59	cers, State and local historical societies, State and 21
60	60	local tourism offices, and other appropriate organi-22
61	61	zations and government agencies, shall conduct a 23
62	62	study to assess the suitability and feasibility of es-24
63	63	tablishing a museum and educational center at the 25
64	64	National Monument, to be known as the ‘‘African 26
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67	67	•HR 1567 IH
68	68	Burial Ground International Memorial Museum and 1
69	69	Educational Center’’— 2
70	70	(A) to serve as a permanent living memo-3
71	71	rial and special tribute— 4
72	72	(i) to the enslaved who are buried at 5
73	73	the African Burial Ground; and 6
74	74	(ii) to other Africans who were 7
75	75	enslaved in the United States and other 8
76	76	parts of the world; 9
77	77	(B) to reflect on the significance of the Af-10
78	78	rican Burial Ground; 11
79	79	(C) to examine the African cultural tradi-12
80	80	tions brought to the United States by the 13
81	81	enslaved; 14
82	82	(D) to explore in-depth the institution of 15
83	83	slavery in the United States and other parts of 16
84	84	the world; 17
85	85	(E) to provide a space for— 18
86	86	(i) permanent and temporary exhibits; 19
87	87	and 20
88	88	(ii) the collection and study of arti-21
89	89	facts and documents; 22
90	90	(F) to encourage collaboration between the 23
91	91	Museum and the National Museum of African 24
92	92	American History and Culture, other museums, 25
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95	95	•HR 1567 IH
96	96	historically Black colleges and universities, his-1
97	97	torical societies, educational institutions, and 2
98	98	other appropriate entities and organizations, 3
99	99	such as the African Burial Ground Memorial 4
100	100	Foundation, including collaboration with respect 5
101	101	to— 6
102	102	(i) the development of cooperative pro-7
103	103	grams and exhibitions, including through 8
104	104	digital, electronic, and interactive tech-9
105	105	nologies; 10
106	106	(ii) the identification, management, 11
107	107	and care of Museum collections; and 12
108	108	(iii) the training of Museum and Na-13
109	109	tional Park Service professionals and other 14
110	110	persons concerned with heritage preserva-15
111	111	tion; and 16
112	112	(G) in addition to any collaboration en-17
113	113	couraged under subparagraph (F), to be associ-18
114	114	ated with the National Museum of African 19
115	115	American History and Culture, in a manner to 20
116	116	be determined by the Secretary, in consultation 21
117	117	with the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian 22
118	118	Institution. 23
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121	121	•HR 1567 IH
122	122	(2) REQUIREMENTS.—The study conducted 1
123	123	under paragraph (1) shall include analysis, docu-2
124	124	mentation, and determinations regarding whether— 3
125	125	(A) there is an assemblage of collections to 4
126	126	be acquired and housed in the Museum that— 5
127	127	(i) represent distinctive aspects of Af-6
128	128	rican cultural traditions brought to the 7
129	129	United States by the enslaved; 8
130	130	(ii) are worthy of recognition, con-9
131	131	servation, and interpretation; 10
132	132	(iii) are important to any identified 11
133	133	themes of the Museum; 12
134	134	(iv) include DNA samples of well-pre-13
135	135	served human remains that would enable 14
136	136	researchers to trace home ‘‘roots’’ in Afri-15
137	137	ca of those individuals buried at the Afri-16
138	138	can Burial Ground; and 17
139	139	(v) are unlike any other anthropo-18
140	140	logical collection in other symbolic sites; 19
141	141	(B) the Museum provides outstanding op-20
142	142	portunities— 21
143	143	(i) to understand how the inter-22
144	144	national slave trade contributed to the Af-23
145	145	rican diaspora; 24
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148	148	•HR 1567 IH
149	149	(ii) to explore in-depth the institution 1
150	150	of slavery, as practiced in other parts of 2
151	151	the world and in urban, rural, northern, 3
152	152	and southern parts of the United States; 4
153	153	and 5
154	154	(iii) to help the people of the United 6
155	155	States understand the past and honor the 7
156	156	history of all people in the United States; 8
157	157	(C) residents, business interests, State and 9
158	158	local governments, and nonprofit organizations, 10
159	159	such as the African Burial Ground Memorial 11
160	160	Foundation— 12
161	161	(i) are involved in the planning of the 13
162	162	Museum; 14
163	163	(ii) have developed a conceptual finan-15
164	164	cial plan that outlines the roles of all par-16
165	165	ticipants in the Museum, including the 17
166	166	Federal Government; and 18
167	167	(iii) have demonstrated support for 19
168	168	the designation of the Museum; 20
169	169	(D) the Secretary of the Interior, the Ad-21
170	170	ministrator of the General Services Administra-22
171	171	tion, or other potential management entities 23
172	172	would be best suited to operate the Museum; 24
173	173	and 25
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176	176	•HR 1567 IH
177	177	(E) the public supports the proposed loca-1
178	178	tion for the Museum at— 2
179	179	(i) 22 Reade Street, which is adjacent 3
180	180	to the National Monument; or 4
181	181	(ii) any area within the National 5
182	182	Monument other than the area described 6
183	183	in clause (i). 7
184	184	(b) R
185	185	EPORT.—Not later than 3 years after the date 8
186	186	on which funds are first made available to carry out this 9
187	187	Act, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on En-10
188	188	ergy and Natural Resources of the Senate and the Com-11
189	189	mittee on Natural Resources of the House of Representa-12
190	190	tives a report that describes— 13
191	191	(1) the results of the study under subsection 14
192	192	(a), including a description of— 15
193	193	(A) the availability and cost of collections 16
194	194	to be acquired and housed in the Museum; 17
195	195	(B) criteria for evaluating possible loca-18
196	196	tions for the Museum in the State; and 19
197	197	(C) the costs of acquiring property for, 20
198	198	constructing, operating, and maintaining the 21
199	199	Museum; and 22
200	200	(2) any conclusions and recommendations of the 23
201	201	Secretary. 24
202	202	Æ
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