REFUSE Confederate Principles Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8095 To direct the Secretary of the Interior to establish a grant program to provide funds for the removal of Confederate symbols, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AUGUST 22, 2020 Mr. RUSH introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources A BILL To direct the Secretary of the Interior to establish a grant program to provide funds for the removal of Confederate symbols, 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 ‘‘Rejecting and Elimi- 4 nating the Foul Use of Symbols Exulting Confederate 5 Principles Act’’ or the ‘‘REFUSE Confederate Principles 6 Act’’. 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:00 Sep 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8095.IH H8095 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8095 IH SEC. 2. EMANCIPATION HISTORIC PRESERVATION PRO- 1 GRAM. 2 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—The Secretary, 3 in consultation with the Director, shall establish, within 4 the National Park Service, a program to be known as the 5 ‘‘Emancipation Historic Preservation Program’’ to— 6 (1) award grants to eligible entities in accord- 7 ance with this section to— 8 (A) remove a Confederate symbol; 9 (B) remove and replace a Confederate 10 symbol with an alternative monument, memo- 11 rial, statue, commemorative structure, symbol, 12 or signage; 13 (C) remove and replace a Confederate sym- 14 bol with an alternative monument, memorial, 15 statue, commemorative structure, symbol, or 16 signage to commemorate or depict the freedom 17 of enslaved African Americans; and 18 (D) remove and transfer a Confederate 19 symbol to a State historic preservation program 20 as defined in section 60.3 of title 36, Code of 21 Federal Regulations; and 22 (2) provide technical assistance to eligible enti- 23 ties related to the activities described in paragraph 24 (1). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:00 Sep 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8095.IH H8095 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8095 IH (b) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this sec- 1 tion, the Secretary shall give priority to applications that 2 include activities described in subsection (a)(1)(C) and 3 (a)(1)(D). 4 (c) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a grant 5 under this section, an eligible entity shall submit to the 6 Secretary an application at such time, in such manner, 7 and containing such information as the Secretary may re- 8 quire, including— 9 (1) a plan for how the eligible entity will use 10 grant funds to carry out one or more of the activi- 11 ties described in subsection (a)(1); 12 (2) if the application is for activities described 13 in subsection (a)(1)(C), information demonstrating 14 the relevance of the eligible entity’s application to 15 activities described in subsection (a)(1)(C); and 16 (3) if the application is for activities described 17 in subsection (a)(1)(D), information identifying the 18 eligible entity as a State historic preservation pro- 19 gram as defined in section 60.3 of title 36, Code of 20 Federal Regulations for activities described in sub- 21 section (a)(1)(D). 22 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 23 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to provide 24 grants under this section, $15,000,000 for each fiscal year 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:00 Sep 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8095.IH H8095 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8095 IH through 2030, of which $9,000,000 for each fiscal year 1 shall be made available to State historic preservation pro- 2 grams as defined in section 60.3 of title 36, Code of Fed- 3 eral Regulations, for costs related to the removal, transfer, 4 and storage of Confederate symbols under subsection 5 (a)(1)(D). 6 SEC. 3. LIMITATIONS ON USE OF FUNDS. 7 None of the funds made available by this Act may 8 be used by the Secretary, the Director, or an eligible entity 9 for the preservation, rehabilitation, restoration, recon- 10 struction, or new construction of a Confederate symbol. 11 SEC. 4. REPORTS. 12 (a) GRANTEE REPORTS TO SECRETARY AND DIREC- 13 TOR.—Not later than 90 days after the earlier of the date 14 of expiration of a project period or the completion of a 15 project, each entity that receives a grant under this Act 16 shall submit to the Secretary and the Director a final re- 17 port containing such information as the Secretary may re- 18 quire. 19 (b) ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 20 October 31 of each calendar year after the enactment of 21 this Act, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report 22 of the progress of the grant program established pursuant 23 to this Act. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:00 Sep 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8095.IH H8095 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 8095 IH SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 1 In this Act: 2 (1) CONFEDERATE SYMBOL.—The term ‘‘Con- 3 federate symbol’’ includes— 4 (A) a Confederate flag; or 5 (B) a monument, memorial, statue, com- 6 memorative structure, symbol, or signage that 7 honors a Confederate leader, Confederate sol- 8 dier, the Confederate States of America, or the 9 Confederacy in general. 10 (2) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 11 the Director of the National Park Service. 12 (3) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti- 13 ty’’ means— 14 (A) a State; 15 (B) a political subdivision of a State, in- 16 cluding— 17 (i) a city; and 18 (ii) a county; 19 (C) a territory or insular possession of the 20 United States; 21 (D) the District of Columbia; 22 (E) an Indian Tribe (which has the mean- 23 ing given the term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ in section 4 24 of the Indian Self-Determination and Education 25 Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304)); 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:00 Sep 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8095.IH H8095 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 8095 IH (F) a special purpose district, including 1 park districts; 2 (G) an academic institution; or 3 (H) a State historic preservation program, 4 as defined in section 60.3 of title 36, Code of 5 Federal Regulations. 6 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 7 the Secretary of the Interior. 8 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:00 Sep 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H8095.IH H8095 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS