I
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 1568
To establish the African Burial Ground International Memorial Museum and
Educational Center in New York, New York, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY25, 2025
Mr. G
OLDMANof New York (for himself, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. JACKSONof
Illinois, Mr. N
ADLER, Ms. NORTON, Ms. CLARKEof New York, Ms.
V
ELA´ZQUEZ, and Mr. RASKIN) introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on Natural Resources
A BILL
To establish the African Burial Ground International Memo-
rial Museum and Educational Center in New York, New
York, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘African Burial Ground 4
International Memorial Museum and Educational Center 5
Act’’. 6
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 7
Congress finds that— 8
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(1) the African Burial Ground National His-1
toric Landmark in New York, New York, holds the 2
remains of up to 20,000 enslaved Africans and 3
early-generation African Americans from the colonial 4
era; 5
(2) the Africans and African Americans that 6
suffered under slavery show us the strength of the 7
human character and provide us with a model of 8
courage, commitment, and perseverance; 9
(3) as President George W. Bush stated on 10
July 8, 2003, during his remarks at Goree Island, 11
Senegal: ‘‘For 250 years the captives endured an as-12
sault on their culture and their dignity. The spirit 13
of Africans in America did not break. . . . All the 14
generations of oppression under the laws of man 15
could not crush the hope of freedom and defeat the 16
purposes of God.’’; 17
(4) on February 27, 2006, President George W. 18
Bush established the National Monument, which was 19
comprised of the approximately 15,000-square foot 20
parcel of the National Historic Landmark that was 21
bounded by Duane and Elk Streets in Lower Man-22
hattan; 23
(5) an international memorial museum facility 24
dedicated to those individuals who suffered the grave 25
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injustice of slavery in the United States, while at the 1
same time helping to build the country, would— 2
(A) reflect the significance of the African 3
Burial Ground; and 4
(B) help the people of the United States 5
understand the past and honor the history of all 6
people in the United States; 7
(6) in 1998, the Secretary of the Smithsonian 8
Institution— 9
(A) stated that the African Burial Ground 10
affords the perfect opportunity to gain insight 11
into— 12
(i) the institution of slavery, as prac-13
ticed in urban, rural, northern, and south-14
ern parts of the United States; and 15
(ii) the international slave trade; and 16
(B) proposed that a partnership be formed 17
among the Smithsonian, the National Park 18
Service, and the General Services Administra-19
tion to further develop the African Burial 20
Ground; 21
(7) the National Museum of African American 22
History and Culture Act (20 U.S.C. 80r et seq.), 23
which authorized construction of a museum in 24
Washington, DC, identified the period of slavery as 25
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one of the periods of the African-American diaspora 1
that would be encompassed by the museum; 2
(8) the African Burial Ground— 3
(A) is unlike any other anthropological and 4
symbolic site in the United States or the world; 5
(B) includes DNA samples from the re-6
markably well-preserved human remains that 7
will enable researchers to trace the home 8
‘‘roots’’ in Africa of those individuals buried at 9
the African Burial Ground; and 10
(C) provides a fitting location for a na-11
tional memorial facility, relating to the National 12
Museum of African American History and Cul-13
ture that would— 14
(i) pay special tribute to— 15
(I) the thousands of enslaved in-16
dividuals who are buried at the Afri-17
can Burial Ground; and 18
(II) all of the individuals who 19
were enslaved during the history of 20
the United States; 21
(ii) examine the African cultural tra-22
ditions brought to the United States by the 23
enslaved; and 24
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(iii) explore in-depth the institution of 1
slavery; 2
(9) a memorial museum at the site of the Afri-3
can Burial Ground— 4
(A) was first recommended by a Federal 5
steering committee in 1992; and 6
(B) in conjunction with the World Trade 7
Center memorial and other nearby sites, would 8
attract millions of visitors from the United 9
States and abroad, making a substantial con-10
tribution to the development and revitalization 11
of Lower Manhattan in response to the attacks 12
on the World Trade Center of September 11, 13
2001; 14
(10) Public Law 99–511 (100 Stat. 2080) en-15
couraged support for the establishment of a com-16
memorative structure within the National Park Sys-17
tem or on other Federal land that is dedicated to the 18
promotion of understanding, knowledge, opportunity, 19
and equality for all people; 20
(11) similar to the National Museum of the Na-21
tive American that was established by section 3(a) of 22
the National Museum of the American Indian Act 23
(20 U.S.C. 80q–1(a)), a memorial museum at the 24
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site of the African Burial Ground would benefit from 1
a partnership among— 2
(A) the Federal Government; 3
(B) the State of New York; 4
(C) the city of New York; and 5
(D) members of the private sector; 6
(12) the African Burial Ground— 7
(A) has been determined to be nationally 8
significant as— 9
(i) a National Historic Landmark; 10
and 11
(ii) a National Monument; and 12
(B) provides an important opportunity for 13
interpretation, understanding, partnership, and 14
pride; and 15
(13) the National Park Service— 16
(A) has played an important role in the de-17
velopment of the African Burial Ground (in-18
cluding the designation of the African Burial 19
Ground as a National Monument); 20
(B) successfully operates other national fa-21
cilities in the city of New York that symbolize 22
freedom and the quest for freedom in America, 23
including— 24
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(i) the Statue of Liberty National 1
Monument; and 2
(ii) the Ellis Island National Monu-3
ment; 4
(C) provided key support to the Presi-5
dential Study Commission for the National Mu-6
seum of African American History and Culture; 7
and 8
(D) is well-suited to assume a leadership 9
role with respect to the creation of the Museum. 10
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 11
In this Act: 12
(1) A
DMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis-13
trator’’ means the Administrator of the General 14
Services Administration. 15
(2) A
DVISORY COUNCIL.—The term ‘‘Advisory 16
Council’’ means the African Burial Ground Advisory 17
Council established by section 7(a). 18
(3) C
ITY.—The term ‘‘City’’ means the city of 19
New York, New York. 20
(4) E
XPANSION PROPERTY .—The term ‘‘expan-21
sion property’’ means the property that is acquired 22
by the Secretary under section 5(a). 23
(5) M
USEUM.—The term ‘‘Museum’’ means the 24
African Burial Ground International Memorial Mu-25
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seum and Educational Center established by section 1
4(a). 2
(6) N
ATIONAL LANDMARK .—The term ‘‘Na-3
tional Landmark’’ means the African Burial Ground 4
National Historic Landmark in the City. 5
(7) N
ATIONAL MONUMENT .—The term ‘‘Na-6
tional Monument’’ means the African Burial Ground 7
National Monument in the City. 8
(8) S
ECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 9
the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Di-10
rector of the National Park Service. 11
(9) S
TATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the State 12
of New York. 13
SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF MUSEUM. 14
(a) E
STABLISHMENT.—There is established at the 15
National Monument a memorial museum and educational 16
center, to be known as the ‘‘African Burial Ground Inter-17
national Memorial Museum and Educational Center’’. 18
(b) P
URPOSES.—The purposes of the Museum are— 19
(1) to serve as a permanent living memorial— 20
(A) to the enslaved who are buried at the 21
African Burial Ground; and 22
(B) to other Africans and African Ameri-23
cans who were enslaved; 24
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(2) to examine the African cultural traditions 1
brought to the United States by the enslaved; 2
(3) to explore in-depth the institution of slavery 3
in the United States and other parts of the world; 4
(4) to provide a space for— 5
(A) permanent and temporary exhibits; 6
and 7
(B) the collection and study of artifacts 8
and documents; and 9
(5) to encourage collaboration between the Mu-10
seum and the National Museum of African American 11
History and Culture, other museums, historically 12
Black colleges and universities, historical societies, 13
educational institutions, and other appropriate enti-14
ties and organizations, such as the African Burial 15
Ground Memorial Foundation, including collabora-16
tion with respect to— 17
(A) the development of cooperative pro-18
grams and exhibitions, including through dig-19
ital, electronic, and interactive technologies; 20
(B) the identification, management, and 21
care of Museum collections; and 22
(C) the training of Museum and National 23
Park Service professionals and other persons 24
concerned with heritage preservation. 25
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(c) ASSOCIATIONWITHNATIONALMUSEUM.—The 1
Museum shall become associated with the National Mu-2
seum of African American History and Culture, in a man-3
ner to be determined by the Secretary, in consultation with 4
the Advisory Council and the Board of Regents of the 5
Smithsonian Institution. 6
SEC. 5. SITE ACQUISITION AND DEVELOPMENT. 7
(a) I
NGENERAL.—The Secretary, in consultation 8
with the Administrator, the Advisory Council, and other 9
appropriate entities or organizations, such as the African 10
Burial Ground Memorial Foundation, shall— 11
(1) acquire for the Museum property that is lo-12
cated at— 13
(A) 22 Reade Street, which is adjacent to 14
the National Monument; or 15
(B) in any other area of the National 16
Landmark other than the location described in 17
subparagraph (A); and 18
(2) plan, design, and construct the Museum on 19
the property acquired under paragraph (1). 20
(b) F
EDERALSHARE.—The Secretary shall pay 21
2
⁄3of the total costs of— 22
(1) acquiring property for the Museum; and 23
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(2) planning, designing, constructing, recon-1
structing, and renovating, as applicable, the Mu-2
seum. 3
(c) C
ONTRACTINGAUTHORITY.— 4
(1) I
N GENERAL.—The Secretary and the Ad-5
ministrator may enter into any agreements with 6
each other, the City, the State, and other parties, 7
such as the African Burial Ground Memorial Foun-8
dation, that are necessary for the acquisition, by do-9
nation or other means, of property for— 10
(A) establishing the Museum; and 11
(B) planning, designing, constructing, re-12
constructing, and renovating, as applicable, the 13
Museum. 14
(2) S
ITE ACQUISITION.—The Secretary may ac-15
quire property under subsection (a)(1) by purchase, 16
long-term lease, or any other appropriate means of 17
acquisition, as determined by the Secretary. 18
(d) E
XPANSION OFNATIONALMONUMENT.—The ex-19
pansion property is incorporated in, and shall be managed 20
as part of, the National Monument. 21
SEC. 6. OPERATION OF THE MUSEUM. 22
(a) I
NGENERAL.—The Secretary, in consultation 23
with the Advisory Council and the African Burial Ground 24
Memorial Foundation, shall operate the Museum. 25
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(b) AUTHORITIES.—The Secretary, in consultation 1
with the Advisory Council, may— 2
(1) purchase, accept, borrow, and otherwise ac-3
quire artifacts for the collections of the Museum; 4
(2) loan, exchange, sell, and otherwise dispose 5
of any part of the collections of the Museum, if the 6
proceeds of the disposition are used for additions to 7
the collections of the Museum; 8
(3) specify criteria with respect to the use of 9
the collections and resources of the Museum, includ-10
ing policies on programming, education, exhibitions, 11
and research; 12
(4) provide for preservation, restoration, and 13
maintenance of the collections of the Museum; 14
(5) solicit, accept, use, and dispose of gifts, be-15
quests, and devises of real and personal property for 16
the purpose of facilitating the work of the Museum; 17
(6) contract with such parties as may be nec-18
essary to facilitate the operation of the Museum; 19
(7) administer the National Monument as a 20
unit of the National Park System in accordance 21
with— 22
(A) this Act; and 23
(B) the laws generally applicable to units 24
of the National Park System, including applica-25
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ble provisions of division A of subtitle I of title 1
54, United States Code; and 2
(8) conduct any other activities that are nec-3
essary to carry out the purposes of this Act. 4
SEC. 7. ADVISORY COUNCIL. 5
(a) E
STABLISHMENT.—There is established within 6
the Department of the Interior an advisory council to be 7
known as the ‘‘African Burial Ground Advisory Council’’. 8
(b) M
EMBERSHIP.— 9
(1) C
OMPOSITION.—The Advisory Council shall 10
be composed of the following members or their des-11
ignees: 12
(A) The Secretary, who shall serve as 13
Chairperson of the Advisory Council. 14
(B) The Director of the National Park 15
Service. 16
(C) The Secretary of the Smithsonian In-17
stitution. 18
(D) The Administrator. 19
(E) The Governor of the State. 20
(F) The Mayor of the City. 21
(G) The President of the Borough of Man-22
hattan. 23
(H) Fourteen members, to be appointed by 24
the Secretary, taking into consideration— 25
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(i) recommendations from organiza-1
tions and entities that are committed to 2
the legacy of the African Burial Ground, 3
such as the African Burial Ground Memo-4
rial Foundation; and 5
(ii) recommendations from the mem-6
bers of the Advisory Council. 7
(2) N
ONVOTING MEMBERS .—The Secretary 8
may appoint as nonvoting members of the Advisory 9
Council— 10
(A) members of the United States Senate; 11
(B) members of the House of Representa-12
tives; 13
(C) officials representing the City; 14
(D) officials representing the State; and 15
(E) any other individuals that the Sec-16
retary, in consultation with the members of the 17
Advisory Council, determines to be appropriate. 18
(3) D
ATE OF APPOINTMENTS .—The initial ap-19
pointment of a member under paragraph (1) shall be 20
made not later than 180 days after the date of en-21
actment of this Act. 22
(c) T
ERMS.— 23
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(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-1
graph (2), each member of the Advisory Council 2
shall be appointed for a term of 3 years. 3
(2) I
NITIAL APPOINTEES.—Of the members 4
first appointed under subsection (b)(1)(H)— 5
(A) 5 members shall be appointed for a 6
term of 1 year; 7
(B) 5 members shall be appointed for a 8
term of 2 years; and 9
(C) 4 members shall be appointed for a 10
terms of 3 years. 11
(3) R
EAPPOINTMENT.— 12
(A) I
N GENERAL.—A member of the Advi-13
sory Council may be reappointed, except that no 14
individual may serve on the Advisory Council 15
for a total of more than 2 terms. 16
(B) V
ACANCY APPOINTMENTS .—For pur-17
poses of subparagraph (A), the number of 18
terms an individual serves on the Advisory 19
Council shall not include any portion of a term 20
for which an individual is appointed to fill a va-21
cancy under paragraph (4)(B). 22
(4) V
ACANCIES.— 23
(A) I
N GENERAL.—A vacancy on the Advi-24
sory Council— 25
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(i) shall not affect the powers of the 1
Advisory Council; and 2
(ii) shall be filled in the same manner 3
as the original appointment was made. 4
(B) T
ERM.—Any member of the Advisory 5
Council appointed to fill a vacancy occurring 6
before the expiration of the term for which the 7
member’s predecessor was appointed shall be 8
appointed for the remainder of that term. 9
(d) D
UTIES.—The Advisory Council shall— 10
(1) make recommendations to the Secretary on 11
the planning, design, and construction of the Mu-12
seum; 13
(2) advise and assist the Secretary on all mat-14
ters relating to the administration, operation, main-15
tenance, and preservation of the Museum; 16
(3) provide significant opportunities for public 17
input with respect to carrying out the duties under 18
paragraphs (1) and (2); and 19
(4) adopt bylaws for the operation of the Advi-20
sory Council. 21
(e) C
OMPENSATION.— 22
(1) I
N GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-23
graph (2), a member of the Advisory Council shall 24
serve without compensation. 25
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(2) TRAVEL EXPENSES .—A member of the 1
Council shall be allowed travel expenses, including 2
per diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates authorized 3
for an employee of an agency under subchapter I of 4
chapter 57 of title 5, United States Code, while 5
away from the home or regular place of business of 6
the member in the performance of the duties of the 7
Advisory Council. 8
(f) M
EETINGS.— 9
(1) I
N GENERAL.—The Advisory Council shall 10
meet at the call of the chairperson or on the written 11
request of a majority of the members of the Advi-12
sory Council, but not fewer than 2 times each year. 13
(2) I
NITIAL MEETINGS.—During the 1-year pe-14
riod beginning on the date of the first meeting of the 15
Advisory Council, the Advisory Council shall meet 16
not fewer than 4 times for the purpose of carrying 17
out the duties of the Advisory Council. 18
(g) Q
UORUM.—A majority of the members of the Ad-19
visory Council shall constitute a quorum for the purpose 20
of conducting business, but a lesser number may receive 21
information on behalf of the Advisory Council. 22
SEC. 8. DIRECTOR AND STAFF. 23
(a) D
IRECTOR.— 24
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(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall appoint 1
a Director for the Museum, taking into consider-2
ation recommendations by the Advisory Council. 3
(2) D
UTIES.—The Director of the Museum 4
shall manage the Museum, in accordance with any 5
policies established by the Secretary, in consultation 6
with the Advisory Council. 7
(b) S
TAFF.— 8
(1) A
PPOINTMENT.—The Secretary may, with-9
out regard to the civil service laws, appoint 2 em-10
ployees to assist the Director of the Museum in car-11
rying out the duties of the Director. 12
(2) C
OMPENSATION.—The employees appointed 13
under subsection (b) may be paid without regard to 14
the provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter III of 15
chapter 53 of title 5, United States Code. 16
SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 17
(a) I
NGENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 18
(b), there are authorized to be appropriated to the Sec-19
retary to carry out this Act— 20
(1) $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2025; and 21
(2) such sums as are necessary for each fiscal 22
year thereafter. 23
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(b) ACQUISITION OFMUSEUMSITE.—There are au-1
thorized to be appropriated such sums as are necessary 2
to carry out section 5. 3
(c) A
VAILABILITY.—Amounts made available under 4
subsections (a) and (b) shall remain available, without fis-5
cal year limitation, until expended. 6
(d) U
SE OFFUNDS.—Amounts made available under 7
this section may be used to support the Museum and ex-8
pand or establish programs that promote and preserve the 9
legacy of the African Burial Ground, including— 10
(1) using amounts made available under this 11
section to raise funds from private sources to sup-12
port and promote the Museum; 13
(2) supporting curriculum development, work-14
shops, and community outreach to deepen public un-15
derstanding of the historical significance of the Afri-16
can Burial Ground; 17
(3) establishing a dedicated visitor’s center to 18
provide an immersive educational experience, includ-19
ing interactive exhibits and technology-driven tools 20
to enhance public engagement; and 21
(4) ensuring the long-term sustainability of the 22
facilities and organizational objectives of the Mu-23
seum. 24
Æ
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