Beautifying Federal Civic Architecture Act

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3627 To establish the President’s Council on Improving Federal Civic Architecture, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 24, 2023 Mr. BANKS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure A BILL To establish the President’s Council on Improving Federal Civic Architecture, 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 ‘‘Beautifying Federal 4 Civic Architecture Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. POLICY OF THE UNITED STATES. 6 It is the policy of the United States that— 7 (1) applicable Federal public buildings should— 8 (A) uplift and beautify public spaces; 9 (B) inspire the human spirit; 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:09 Jun 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3627.IH H3627 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3627 IH (C) ennoble the United States; 1 (D) command respect from the general 2 public; 3 (E) be visually identifiable as civic build- 4 ings; and 5 (F) as appropriate, respect regional archi- 6 tectural heritage; 7 (2) architecture, with particular regard for tra- 8 ditional and classical architecture, that meets the 9 criteria described in paragraph (1) is the preferred 10 architecture for applicable Federal public buildings; 11 (3) in the District of Columbia, classical archi- 12 tecture is the preferred and default architecture for 13 Federal public buildings absent exceptional factors 14 necessitating another style of architecture; 15 (4) where the architecture of applicable Federal 16 public buildings diverges from the preferred architec- 17 ture, great care and consideration shall be taken to 18 choose a design that— 19 (A) commands respect from the general 20 public; and 21 (B) clearly conveys to the general public 22 the dignity, enterprise, vigor, and stability of 23 the system of self-government of the United 24 States; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:09 Jun 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3627.IH H3627 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3627 IH (5) when renovating, reducing, or expanding ap- 1 plicable Federal public buildings that do not meet 2 the criteria described in paragraph (1), the feasi- 3 bility and potential expense of building redesign to 4 meet those criteria should be examined; 5 (6) where feasible and economical, a redesign 6 described in paragraph (5) should be given substan- 7 tial consideration, especially with respect to the exte- 8 rior of the applicable Federal building; and 9 (7) the Administration should seek input from 10 future users of applicable Federal public buildings 11 and the general public in the community where those 12 buildings will be located before selecting an architec- 13 tural firm or design style and give the general 14 public’s input substantial consideration. 15 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 16 In this Act: 17 (1) 2023 DOLLARS.—The term ‘‘2023 dollars’’ 18 means dollars adjusted for inflation using, with 19 2023 as the base year, the Gross Domestic Product 20 price deflator of the Bureau of Economic Analysis. 21 (2) ADMINISTRATION.—The term ‘‘Administra- 22 tion’’ means the General Services Administration. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:09 Jun 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3627.IH H3627 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3627 IH (3) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis- 1 trator’’ means the Administrator of General Serv- 2 ices. 3 (4) APPLICABLE FEDERAL PUBLIC BUILDING.— 4 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘applicable 5 Federal public building’’ means— 6 (i) any Federal courthouse; 7 (ii) any Federal agency headquarters; 8 (iii) any public building in the District 9 of Columbia; and 10 (iv) any other public building the cost 11 or expected cost to design, build, and finish 12 of which is more than $50,000,000 in 13 2023 dollars. 14 (B) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘applicable 15 Federal public building’’ does not include an in- 16 frastructure project or land port of entry. 17 (5) BRUTALIST.—The term ‘‘Brutalist’’ means 18 the style of architecture that grew out of the early 19 20th-century modernist movement that is character- 20 ized by a massive and block-like appearance with a 21 rigid geometric style and large-scale use of exposed 22 poured concrete. 23 (6) CLASSICAL ARCHITECTURE.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:09 Jun 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3627.IH H3627 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3627 IH (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘classical ar- 1 chitecture’’ means the architectural tradition— 2 (i) derived from the forms, principles, 3 and vocabulary of the architecture of 4 Greek and Roman antiquity; and 5 (ii) later developed and expanded on 6 by— 7 (I) Renaissance architects, in- 8 cluding Alberti, Brunelleschi, Michel- 9 angelo, and Palladio; 10 (II) Enlightenment masters, in- 11 cluding Robert Adam, John Soane, 12 and Christopher Wren; 13 (III) 19th Century architects, in- 14 cluding Benjamin Henry Latrobe, 15 Robert Mills, Louise Blanchard Be- 16 thune, and Thomas U. Walter; and 17 (IV) 20th Century practitioners, 18 including Julian Abele, Daniel 19 Burnham, Charles F. McKim, Robert 20 Robinson Taylor, John Russell Pope, 21 Julia Morgan, and the firm of Delano 22 and Aldrich. 23 (B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘Classical ar- 24 chitecture’’ includes styles such as Neoclassical, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:09 Jun 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3627.IH H3627 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3627 IH Georgian, Federal, Greek Revival, Beaux-Arts, 1 and Art Deco. 2 (7) COUNCIL.—The term ‘‘Council’’ means the 3 President’s Council on Improving Federal Civic Ar- 4 chitecture established by section 4(a). 5 (8) DECONSTRUCTIVIST.—The term 6 ‘‘Deconstructivist’’ means the style of architecture— 7 (A) generally known as 8 ‘‘deconstructivism’’; and 9 (B) that emerged during the late 1980s 10 that subverts the traditional values of architec- 11 ture through features such as fragmentation, 12 disorder, discontinuity, distortion, skewed geom- 13 etry, and the appearance of instability. 14 (9) GENERAL PUBLIC.—The term ‘‘general 15 public’’ means members of the public who are not— 16 (A) artists, architects, engineers, art or ar- 17 chitecture critics, instructors or professors of 18 art or architecture, or members of the building 19 industry; or 20 (B) affiliated with any interest group, 21 trade association, or any other organization 22 whose membership is financially affected by de- 23 cisions involving the design, construction, or re- 24 modeling of applicable Federal public buildings. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:09 Jun 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3627.IH H3627 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3627 IH (10) OFFICER.—The term ‘‘officer’’ has the 1 meaning given such term in section 2104 of title 5, 2 United States Code. 3 (11) PREFERRED ARCHITECTURE.—The term 4 ‘‘preferred architecture’’ means the architecture de- 5 scribed in section 2(2). 6 (12) PUBLIC BUILDING.—The term ‘‘public 7 building’’ has the meaning given such term in sec- 8 tion 3301(a) of title 40, United States Code. 9 (13) TRADITIONAL ARCHITECTURE.—The term 10 ‘‘traditional architecture’’ includes— 11 (A) classical architecture; and 12 (B) the historic humanistic architecture, 13 including Gothic, Romanesque, Pueblo Revival, 14 Spanish Colonial, and other Mediterranean 15 styles of architecture historically rooted in var- 16 ious regions of America. 17 SEC. 4. PRESIDENT’S COUNCIL ON IMPROVING FEDERAL 18 CIVIC ARCHITECTURE. 19 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established the 20 President’s Council on Improving Federal Civic Architec- 21 ture. 22 (b) MEMBERSHIP.— 23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Council shall be com- 24 posed of— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:09 Jun 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3627.IH H3627 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 3627 IH (A) the chair of the Commission of Fine 1 Arts; 2 (B) all prior living chairs of the Commis- 3 sion of Fine Arts who elect to serve; 4 (C) the Secretary of the Commission of 5 Fine Arts; 6 (D) the Architect of the Capitol; 7 (E) the Commissioner of the Public Build- 8 ing Service of the Administration; and 9 (F) the Chief Architect of the Administra- 10 tion. 11 (2) CHAIR.— 12 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Council shall be 13 chaired by an individual described in paragraph 14 (1)(A), who shall be designated by the Presi- 15 dent. 16 (B) VICE CHAIR; SUBCOMMITTEES.—The 17 Chair of the Council may— 18 (i) designate a Vice Chair; and 19 (ii) establish subcommittees. 20 (3) COMPENSATION.— 21 (A) NO COMPENSATION.—Except as pro- 22 vided in subparagraph (B), a member of the 23 Council shall receive no compensation as a re- 24 sult of serving on the Council. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:09 Jun 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3627.IH H3627 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 3627 IH (B) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—A member of the 1 Council shall be allowed travel expenses, includ- 2 ing per diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates au- 3 thorized for employees of agencies under sub- 4 chapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, United States 5 Code, while away from their homes or regular 6 places of business in the performance of serv- 7 ices for the Council. 8 (c) DUTIES OF THE COUNCIL.—The Council shall— 9 (1) not later than 1 year after the date of en- 10 actment of this Act, submit to the Administrator a 11 report recommending updates to policies and proce- 12 dures of the Administration that— 13 (A) incorporates the policy of the United 14 States described in section 2, including how the 15 recommended updates to policies and proce- 16 dures will accomplish such policy; and 17 (B) advances the purposes of this Act, in- 18 cluding how those recommendations accomplish 19 those purposes; and 20 (2) recommend to the Administrator changes to 21 Administration policies for situations in which the 22 Administration participates in a design selection 23 pursuant to chapter 89 of title 40, United States 24 Code (commonly known as the ‘‘Commemorative 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:09 Jun 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3627.IH H3627 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 3627 IH Works Act’’), in furtherance of the purposes of this 1 Act and consistent with applicable law. 2 (d) ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT; STAFF.— 3 (1) ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT.—On request of 4 the Council, the Administrator shall provide funding 5 and administrative and technical support to the 6 Council. 7 (2) STAFF.—The Administrator— 8 (A) shall direct employees of the Adminis- 9 tration to provide any relevant information the 10 Council requests; and 11 (B) may detail those employees to aid in 12 the work of the Council, on request of the 13 Council. 14 (e) FACA FUNCTIONS.—Any functions of the Presi- 15 dent under chapter 10 of title 5, United States Code, ex- 16 cept for the reporting to Congress under section 1005(b) 17 of that title, shall be performed by the Administrator in 18 accordance with guidelines and procedures established by 19 the Administrator. 20 (f) TERMINATION.—The Council shall terminate on 21 the date that is 5 years after the date on which the Council 22 first meets. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:09 Jun 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3627.IH H3627 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 3627 IH SEC. 5. GSA REQUIREMENTS. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall adhere to 2 the policy of the United States described in section 2. 3 (b) NOTIFICATION.— 4 (1) IN GENERAL.—If the Administrator pro- 5 poses to approve a design for a new applicable Fed- 6 eral public building that diverges from the preferred 7 architecture, including Brutalist or Deconstructivist 8 architecture or any design derived from or related to 9 those styles of architecture, the Administrator shall 10 submit to the Assistant to the President for Domes- 11 tic Policy, the Committee on Homeland Security and 12 Governmental Affairs of the Senate, and the Com- 13 mittee on Oversight and Accountability of the House 14 of Representatives not later than 30 days before the 15 date on which the Administrator could reject the de- 16 sign without incurring substantial expenditures a no- 17 tification in accordance with paragraph (2). 18 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—A notification submitted 19 under paragraph (1) shall describe the reasons the 20 Administrator proposes to approve a design de- 21 scribed in that paragraph, including— 22 (A) a detailed explanation of why the Ad- 23 ministrator believes selecting the design is justi- 24 fied, with particular focus on whether the de- 25 sign is as beautiful and reflective of the dignity, 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:09 Jun 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3627.IH H3627 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 3627 IH enterprise, vigor, and stability of the system of 1 self-government in the United States as alter- 2 native designs of comparable cost using pre- 3 ferred architecture; 4 (B) the total expected cost of adopting the 5 proposed design, including estimated mainte- 6 nance and replacement costs throughout the ex- 7 pected lifecycle of the design; and 8 (C)(i) a description of the designs using 9 preferred architecture seriously considered for 10 the project; and 11 (ii) the total expected cost of adopting 12 those designs, including estimated maintenance 13 and replacement costs throughout the expected 14 lifecycles of those designs. 15 SEC. 6. SAVINGS PROVISION. 16 Nothing in this Act— 17 (1) impairs or otherwise affects— 18 (A) the authority granted by law to an ex- 19 ecutive department or agency, or the head 20 thereof; or 21 (B) the functions of the Director of the Of- 22 fice of Management and Budget relating to 23 budgetary, administrative, or legislative pro- 24 posals; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:09 Jun 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3627.IH H3627 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 3627 IH (2) creates any right or benefit, substantive or 1 procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any 2 party against— 3 (A) the United States, including— 4 (i) any department, agency, or entity 5 of the United States; or 6 (ii) any officer, employee, or agent of 7 the United States; or 8 (B) any other person. 9 SEC. 7. REPORT TO CONGRESS. 10 On an annual basis, the Administrator shall submit 11 to the Committee on Oversight and Accountability of the 12 House of Represe [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]