Commission to Study the Potential Creation of a National Women's History Museum Act of 2013

Provisions of the bill

This summary is based largely on the summary provided by the Congressional Research Service, a public domain source.

The Commission to Study the Potential Creation of a National Women's History Museum Act of 2013 would establish the Commission to Study the Potential Creation of a National Women's History Museum to submit to the President and Congress a report containing recommendations with respect to a plan of action for the establishment and maintenance of a National Women's History Museum in Washington, D.C.

The bill would require the Commission to be composed of eight members. The bill would direct the Senate Majority Leader, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Senate Minority Leader, and House Minority Leader to each appoint two Commission members.

The bill would direct the Commission to: (1) report on issues including potential locations for the Museum and whether it should be part of the Smithsonian Institution, and (2) develop a fundraising plan to support the establishment and maintenance of the Museum through contributions from the public.

The bill would authorize the Commission to employ and compensate an executive director and other necessary personnel.

The bill would terminate the Commission within a specified period after it has submitted its final reports pursuant to this Act.

The bill would prohibit federal funds from being obligated to carry out this Act.

Congressional Budget Office report

This summary is based largely on the summary provided by the Congressional Budget Office, as ordered reported by the Committee on House Administration on April 2, 2013. This is a public domain source.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that enacting H.R. 863 would have no significant effect on the federal budget. The legislation would affect direct spending because it would authorize the commission to accept and spend monetary gifts. Therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures apply. However, the CBO estimates that the net effect on direct spending would be insignificant. Enacting H.R. 863 would not affect revenues.

H.R. 863 would establish a commission to prepare a report containing recommendations for establishing and maintaining a National Women’s History Museum in Washington, D.C. The 8-member commission would have 18 months to produce the report and submit it to the Congress. All commission members would serve without pay but would be reimbursed for travel expenses. In addition, the commission would be authorized to hire staff and, while no federal employees could be detailed to the commission, federal agencies could provide technical support. Finally, the bill would prohibit federal funds from being used for commission expenses; it would have to rely on gifts and contributions to cover those costs.

H.R. 863 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.

Procedural history

The Commission to Study the Potential Creation of a National Women's History Museum Act of 2013 was introduced into the United States House of Representatives on February 27, 2013 by Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D, NY-12). The bill was referred to the United States House Committee on Natural Resources, the United States House Committee on House Administration, and the United States House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Public Lands and Environmental Regulation. The bill was reported by the Committee on House Administration on April 10, 2014 alongside House Report 113-411 part 1. The bill was scheduled to be voted on under suspension of the rules on May 7, 2014.

Debate and discussion

Rep. Maloney, who introduced the bill, argued that "the museums and memorials in our nation’s Capitol demonstrate what we value. We have museums dedicated to flight, postage stamps, law enforcement and many other important people and issues of interest, but not to women. This bill would provide women, comprising 53% of our population, a long overdue home on our National Mall to honor their many contributions that are the very fabric of our country."

President and CEO of the National Women's History Museum Joan Wages spoke in favor of the bill, saying that "there is precedence for a commission of this kind. The National Museum of African American History and Culture and the National Museum of the American Latino had congressional commissions and provided similar reports to Congress, including site recommendations for their permanent homes."

Superintendent of the National Mall and Memorial Parks Bob Vogel asked, on behalf of the National Park Service, the Committee to amend the bill to remove all specific location references so that the bill would comply with the Commemorative Works Act and consider additional sites for the museum. The Committee did make this amendment.

Proposed sites

The old Smithsonian Arts and Industries Building has been mentioned as a potential home for this proposed museum.