African American History Museum bill

(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary has been expanded because action occurred on the measure.)

National Museum of African American History and Culture Act - (Sec. 4) Establishes within the Smithsonian Institution (SI) the National Museum of African American History and Culture, to be operated as a center for scholarship and a location for museum training, public education, exhibits, and collection and study of items and materials relating to the life, art, history, and culture of African Americans that encompass the period of slavery, the era of reconstruction, the Harlem renaissance, the civil rights movement, and other periods of the African American diaspora.

(Sec. 5) Establishes the National Museum of African American History and Culture Council to: (1) advise and assist the SI Board of Regents on Museum planning, design, construction, operation, and budgets; and (2) have responsibility and authority with respect to the Museum's collections and work, subject to the Board of Regents' general policies.

(Sec. 6) Requires the Secretary of SI to appoint a Director to manage the Museum.

(Sec. 7) Authorizes the Director of the Museum to carry out educational and liaison programs in support of Museum goals.

Requires the Director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), in consultation with the Council and the Director of the Museum, to establish specified grant, scholarship, internship, and fellowship programs relating to African American museums. Authorizes appropriations to the IMLS Director for such programs.

(Sec. 8) Directs the Board of Regents, in consultation with specified Commissions and congressional committee officials, to select the Museum's site from one of four specified sites on, adjacent to, or near the national mall. Requires the Board of Regents to pay costs of planning, design, and construction of the Museum on the chosen site as follows: 50 percent from Federal funds and 50 percent from non-Federal sources. Authorizes appropriations.

(Sec. 9) Provides for Congressional Budget Act compliance by declaring that authority under this Act to enter into contracts or to make payments shall be effective in any fiscal year only to the extent provided in advance in an appropriations Act, except that amounts made available under section 11 of this Act shall remain available until expended.

(Sec. 10) Directs the Council and the Board of Regents, in carrying out their duties under this Act, to consider the reports and plans submitted by the National Museum of African American History and Culture Plan for Action Presidential Commission under the National Museum of African American History and Culture Plan for Action Presidential Commission Act of 2001 (Public Law 107-106).

(Sec. 11) Authorizes appropriations to SI to carry out this Act (except as already provided) in a specified amount for FY 2004, and in necessary amounts for subsequent fiscal years.

Written by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. All summary versions on Congress.gov