[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1943 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1943
To establish the Council on Improving Federal Civic Architecture, and
for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
June 13, 2023
Mr. Rubio (for himself, Mr. Hagerty, Mrs. Blackburn, Mr. Lee, Mr. Budd,
and Mr. Braun) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish the Council on Improving Federal Civic Architecture, and
for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Beautifying Federal Civic
Architecture Act of 2023''.
SEC. 2. POLICY OF THE UNITED STATES.
It is the policy of the United States that--
(1) applicable Federal public buildings should--
(A) uplift and beautify public spaces;
(B) inspire the human spirit;
(C) ennoble the United States;
(D) command respect from the general public;
(E) be visually identifiable as civic buildings;
and
(F) as appropriate, respect regional architectural
heritage;
(2) architecture, with particular regard for traditional
and classical architecture, that meets the criteria described
in paragraph (1) is the preferred architecture for applicable
Federal public buildings;
(3) in the District of Columbia, classical architecture is
the preferred and default architecture for Federal public
buildings absent exceptional factors necessitating another
style of architecture;
(4) where the architecture of applicable Federal public
buildings diverges from the preferred architecture, great care
and consideration shall be taken to choose a design that--
(A) commands respect from the general public; and
(B) clearly conveys to the general public the
dignity, enterprise, vigor, and stability of the system
of self-government of the United States;
(5) when renovating, reducing, or expanding applicable
Federal public buildings that do not meet the criteria
described in paragraph (1), (2), or (3), the feasibility and
potential expense of building redesign to meet those criteria
should be examined;
(6) where feasible and economical, a redesign described in
paragraph (5) should be given substantial consideration,
especially with respect to the exterior of the applicable
Federal building; and
(7)(A) the Administration should seek input from future
users of applicable Federal public buildings and the general
public in the community where those buildings will be located;
and
(B) give the input received from the general public under
subparagraph (A) substantial consideration before selecting an
architectural firm or design style for those buildings.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) 2023 dollars.--The term ``2023 dollars'' means dollars
adjusted for inflating using the Gross Domestic Product price
deflator of the Bureau of Economic Analysis, with 2023 as the
base year.
(2) Administration.--The term ``Administration'' means the
General Services Administration.
(3) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the
Administrator of General Services.
(4) Applicable federal public building.--
(A) In general.--The term ``applicable Federal
public building'' means--
(i) any Federal courthouse;
(ii) any Federal agency headquarters;
(iii) any public building in the District
of Columbia; and
(iv) any other public building the cost or
expected cost to design, build, and finish of
which is more than $50,000,000 in 2023 dollars.
(B) Exclusions.--The term ``applicable Federal
public building'' does not include an infrastructure
project or land port of entry.
(5) Brutalist.--The term ``Brutalist'' means the style of
architecture that grew out of the early 20th-century modernist
movement that is characterized by a massive and block-like
appearance with a rigid geometric style and large-scale use of
exposed poured concrete.
(6) Classical architecture.--
(A) In general.--The term ``classical
architecture'' means the architectural tradition--
(i) derived from the forms, principles, and
vocabulary of the architecture of Greek and
Roman antiquity; and
(ii) later developed and expanded on by--
(I) Renaissance architects,
including Alberti, Brunelleschi,
Michelangelo, and Palladio;
(II) Enlightenment masters,
including Robert Adam, John Soane, and
Christopher Wren;
(III) 19th Century architects,
including Benjamin Henry Latrobe,
Louise Blanchard Bethune, Robert Mills,
and Thomas U. Walter; and
(IV) 20th Century practitioners,
including Julian Abele, Daniel Burnham,
Charles F. McKim, John Russell Pope,
Julia Morgan, Robert Robinson Taylor,
and the firm of Delano and Aldrich.
(B) Inclusions.--The term ``Classical
architecture'' includes styles such as Neoclassical,
Georgian, Federal, Greek Revival, Beaux-Arts, and Art
Deco.
(7) Council.--The term ``Council'' means the Council on
Improving Federal Civic Architecture established by section
4(a).
(8) Deconstructivist.--The term ``Deconstructivist'' means
the style of architecture--
(A) generally known as ``deconstructivism''; and
(B) that subverts the traditional values of
architecture through features such as fragmentation,
disorder, discontinuity, distortion, skewed geometry,
and the appearance of instability.
(9) General public.--The term ``general public'' means
members of the public who are not--
(A) artists, architects, engineers, art or
architecture critics, instructors or professors of art
or architecture, or members of the building industry;
or
(B) affiliated with any interest group, trade
association, or any other organization whose membership
is financially affected by decisions involving the
design, construction, or remodeling of public
buildings.
(10) Officer.--The term ``officer'' has the meaning given
the term in section 2104 of title 5, United States Code.
(11) Preferred architecture.--The term ``preferred
architecture'' means the architecture described in section
2(2).
(12) Public building.--The term ``public building'' has the
meaning given the term in section 3301(a) of title 40, United
States Code.
(13) Traditional architecture.--The term ``traditional
architecture'' includes--
(A) classical architecture; and
(B) the historic humanistic architecture, including
Gothic, Italianate, Renaissance Revival, Romanesque,
Pueblo Revival, Spanish Colonial, and other styles of
architecture historically rooted in various regions of
the United States.
SEC. 4. COUNCIL ON IMPROVING FEDERAL CIVIC ARCHITECTURE.
(a) Establishment.--There is established the Council on Improving
Federal Civic Architecture.
(b) Membership.--
(1) In general.--The Council shall be composed of--
(A) the Chair of the Commission of Fine Arts
serving in that position on the date of enactment of
this Act;
(B) any individual who served as Chair of the
Commission of Fine Arts before the date of enactment of
this Act, if that individual chooses to serve on the
Council;
(C) the Secretary of the Commission of Fine Arts;
(D) the Architect of the Capitol (or a designee);
(E) the Commissioner of the Public Building Service
of the Administration;
(F) the Chief Architect of the Administration; and
(G) not more than 10 individuals, to be evenly
appointed by the Chair of the Committee on Environment
and Public Works of the Senate and the Chair of the
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the
House of Representatives, from among citizens of the
United States that are not employees or officers of the
Federal Government.
(2) Chair.--
(A) In general.--The Council shall be chaired by an
individual described in any of subparagraphs (A)
through (G) of paragraph (1), who shall be elected by
the Council.
(B) Vice chair; subcommittees.--The Chair of the
Council may--
(i) designate a Vice Chair; and
(ii) establish subcommittees.
(3) Certain members.--Members of the Council described in
paragraph (1)(G)--
(A) shall serve on the Council until the date on
which the Council terminates under subsection (e); and
(B) shall not be removed except for inefficiency,
neglect of duty, or malfeasance.
(4) Compensation.--
(A) No compensation.--Except as provided in
subparagraph (B), a member of the Council shall receive
no compensation as a result of serving on the Council.
(B) Travel expenses.--A member of the Council shall
be allowed travel expenses, including per diem in lieu
of subsistence, at rates authorized for employees of
agencies under subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5,
United States Code, while away from their homes or
regular places of business in the performance of
services for the Council.
(c) Duties of Council.--The Council shall--
(1) not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of
this Act, and annually thereafter until the date on which the
Council terminates under subsection (e), submit to the
Administrator a report recommending updates to policies,
procedures, or practices of the Administration that--
(A)(i) identifies any policies, procedures, or
practices of the Administration that do not adhere to
sections 2 and 5; and
(ii) recommends updates to those policies,
procedures, and practices to align those policies,
procedures, and practices with those sections;
(B) analyzes the design for any new applicable
Federal public building and, if necessary, recommends
changes so that the applicable Federal public building
adheres to sections 2 and 5; and
(C) analyzes all applicable Federal public
buildings, including the architectural styles of those
buildings, and recommends redesigns, if any, to align
those buildings with section 2; and
(2) recommend to the Administrator changes to
Administration policies for situations in which the
Administration participates in a design selection pursuant to
chapter 89 of title 40, United States Code (commonly known as
the ``Commemorative Works Act''), in furtherance of the
purposes of this Act and consistent with applicable law.
(d) Applicability.--Chapter 10 of title 5, United States Code
(commonly known as the ``Federal Advisory Committee Act''), shall apply
to the Council.
(e) Termination.--The Council shall terminate on the date that is 5
years after the date on which the Council holds the initial meeting of
the Council.
SEC. 5. GSA REQUIREMENTS.
(a) In General.--The Administrator shall adhere to the policy of
the United States described in section 2.
(b) Notification.--
(1) In general.--If the Administrator proposes to approve a
design for a new applicable Federal public building that
diverges from the preferred architecture, including Brutalist
or Deconstructivist architecture or any design derived from or
related to those styles of architecture, the Administrator
shall submit to the Assistant to the President for Domestic
Policy and the appropriate committees of Congress, not later
than 30 days before the date on which the Administrator could
reject the design without incurring substantial expenditures, a
notification in accordance with paragraph (2).
(2) Requirements.--A notification submitted under paragraph
(1) shall describe the reasons the Administrator proposes to
approve a design described in that paragraph, including--
(A) a detailed explanation of why the Administrator
believes selecting the design is justified, with
particular focus on whether the design is as beautiful
and reflective of the dignity, enterprise, vigor, and
stability of the system of self-government in the
United States as alternative designs of comparable cost
using preferred architecture;
(B) the total expected cost of adopting the
proposed design, including estimated maintenance and
replacement costs throughout the expected lifecycle of
the design;
(C)(i) a description of the designs using preferred
architecture seriously considered for the project,
including copies of blueprints or renderings of those
designs that have been produced; and
(ii) the total expected cost of adopting those
designs, including estimated maintenance and
replacement costs throughout the expected lifecycles of
those designs; and
(D) the steps that the Administrator took to
solicit and consider the views of the general public
about the design.
SEC. 6. REPORTS TO CONGRESS.
Not less frequently than once annually, the Administrator shall
submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report that
includes--
(1) a detailed explanation of the steps the Administrator
has taken to adhere to sections 2 and 5;
(2) a detailed explanation of the steps the Administrator
has taken to adopt recommendations made by the Council in a
report submitted under section 4(c)(1); and
(3) a list of all applicable Federal public buildings that
the Federal Government owns and a description of the
architectural style of those buildings.
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