Beautifying Federal Civic Architecture Act of 2023

II 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 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 of 2023’’. 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 23:07 Jul 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1943.IS S1943 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •S 1943 IS (C) ennoble the United States; 1 (D) command respect from the general 2 public; 3 (E) be visually identifiable as civic build- 4 ings; and 5 (F) as appropriate, respect regional archi- 6 tectural heritage; 7 (2) architecture, with particular regard for tra- 8 ditional and classical architecture, that meets the 9 criteria described in paragraph (1) is the preferred 10 architecture for applicable Federal public buildings; 11 (3) in the District of Columbia, classical archi- 12 tecture is the preferred and default architecture for 13 Federal public buildings absent exceptional factors 14 necessitating another style of architecture; 15 (4) where the architecture of applicable Federal 16 public buildings diverges from the preferred architec- 17 ture, great care and consideration shall be taken to 18 choose a design that— 19 (A) commands respect from the general 20 public; and 21 (B) clearly conveys to the general public 22 the dignity, enterprise, vigor, and stability of 23 the system of self-government of the United 24 States; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:07 Jul 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1943.IS S1943 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •S 1943 IS (5) when renovating, reducing, or expanding ap- 1 plicable Federal public buildings that do not meet 2 the criteria described in paragraph (1), (2), or (3), 3 the feasibility and potential expense of building rede- 4 sign to 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)(A) the Administration should seek input 10 from future users of applicable Federal public build- 11 ings and the general public in the community where 12 those buildings will be located; and 13 (B) give the input received from the general 14 public under subparagraph (A) substantial consider- 15 ation before selecting an architectural firm or design 16 style for those buildings. 17 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 18 In this Act: 19 (1) 2023 DOLLARS.—The term ‘‘2023 dollars’’ 20 means dollars adjusted for inflating using the Gross 21 Domestic Product price deflator of the Bureau of 22 Economic Analysis, with 2023 as the base year. 23 (2) ADMINISTRATION.—The term ‘‘Administra- 24 tion’’ means the General Services Administration. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:07 Jul 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1943.IS S1943 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •S 1943 IS (3) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis- 1 trator’’ means the Administrator of General Serv- 2 ices. 3 (4) APPLICABLE FEDERAL PUBLIC BUILDING.— 4 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘applicable 5 Federal public building’’ means— 6 (i) any Federal courthouse; 7 (ii) any Federal agency headquarters; 8 (iii) any public building in the District 9 of Columbia; and 10 (iv) any other public building the cost 11 or expected cost to design, build, and finish 12 of which is more than $50,000,000 in 13 2023 dollars. 14 (B) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘applicable 15 Federal public building’’ does not include an in- 16 frastructure project or land port of entry. 17 (5) BRUTALIST.—The term ‘‘Brutalist’’ means 18 the style of architecture that grew out of the early 19 20th-century modernist movement that is character- 20 ized by a massive and block-like appearance with a 21 rigid geometric style and large-scale use of exposed 22 poured concrete. 23 (6) CLASSICAL ARCHITECTURE.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:07 Jul 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1943.IS S1943 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •S 1943 IS (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 Louise Blanchard Bethune, Robert 16 Mills, and Thomas U. Walter; and 17 (IV) 20th Century practitioners, 18 including Julian Abele, Daniel 19 Burnham, Charles F. McKim, John 20 Russell Pope, Julia Morgan, Robert 21 Robinson Taylor, and the firm of 22 Delano and Aldrich. 23 (B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘Classical ar- 24 chitecture’’ includes styles such as Neoclassical, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:07 Jul 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1943.IS S1943 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •S 1943 IS Georgian, Federal, Greek Revival, Beaux-Arts, 1 and Art Deco. 2 (7) COUNCIL.—The term ‘‘Council’’ means the 3 Council on Improving Federal Civic Architecture es- 4 tablished by section 4(a). 5 (8) DECONSTRUCTIVIST.—The term 6 ‘‘Deconstructivist’’ means the style of architecture— 7 (A) generally known as 8 ‘‘deconstructivism’’; and 9 (B) that subverts the traditional values of 10 architecture through features such as frag- 11 mentation, disorder, discontinuity, distortion, 12 skewed geometry, and the appearance of insta- 13 bility. 14 (9) GENERAL PUBLIC.—The term ‘‘general 15 public’’ means members of the public who are not— 16 (A) artists, architects, engineers, art or ar- 17 chitecture critics, instructors or professors of 18 art or architecture, or members of the building 19 industry; or 20 (B) affiliated with any interest group, 21 trade association, or any other organization 22 whose membership is financially affected by de- 23 cisions involving the design, construction, or re- 24 modeling of public buildings. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:07 Jul 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1943.IS S1943 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •S 1943 IS (10) OFFICER.—The term ‘‘officer’’ has the 1 meaning given the 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 the term in section 8 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, Italianate, Renaissance Re- 14 vival, Romanesque, Pueblo Revival, Spanish Co- 15 lonial, and other styles of architecture histori- 16 cally rooted in various regions of the United 17 States. 18 SEC. 4. COUNCIL ON IMPROVING FEDERAL CIVIC ARCHI- 19 TECTURE. 20 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established the 21 Council on Improving Federal Civic Architecture. 22 (b) MEMBERSHIP.— 23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Council shall be com- 24 posed of— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:07 Jul 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1943.IS S1943 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •S 1943 IS (A) the Chair of the Commission of Fine 1 Arts serving in that position on the date of en- 2 actment of this Act; 3 (B) any individual who served as Chair of 4 the Commission of Fine Arts before the date of 5 enactment of this Act, if that individual chooses 6 to serve on the Council; 7 (C) the Secretary of the Commission of 8 Fine Arts; 9 (D) the Architect of the Capitol (or a des- 10 ignee); 11 (E) the Commissioner of the Public Build- 12 ing Service of the Administration; 13 (F) the Chief Architect of the Administra- 14 tion; and 15 (G) not more than 10 individuals, to be 16 evenly appointed by the Chair of the Committee 17 on Environment and Public Works of the Sen- 18 ate and the Chair of the Committee on Trans- 19 portation and Infrastructure of the House of 20 Representatives, from among citizens of the 21 United States that are not employees or officers 22 of the Federal Government. 23 (2) CHAIR.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:07 Jul 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1943.IS S1943 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 9 •S 1943 IS (A) IN GENERAL.—The Council shall be 1 chaired by an individual described in any of 2 subparagraphs (A) through (G) of paragraph 3 (1), who shall be elected by the Council. 4 (B) VICE CHAIR; SUBCOMMITTEES.—The 5 Chair of the Council may— 6 (i) designate a Vice Chair; and 7 (ii) establish subcommittees. 8 (3) CERTAIN MEMBERS.—Members of the 9 Council described in paragraph (1)(G)— 10 (A) shall serve on the Council until the 11 date on which the Council terminates under 12 subsection (e); and 13 (B) shall not be removed except for ineffi- 14 ciency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance. 15 (4) COMPENSATION.— 16 (A) NO COMPENSATION.—Except as pro- 17 vided in subparagraph (B), a member of the 18 Council shall receive no compensation as a re- 19 sult of serving on the Council. 20 (B) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—A member of the 21 Council shall be allowed travel expenses, includ- 22 ing per diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates au- 23 thorized for employees of agencies under sub- 24 chapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, United States 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:07 Jul 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1943.IS S1943 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 10 •S 1943 IS Code, while away from their homes or regular 1 places of business in the performance of serv- 2 ices for the Council. 3 (c) DUTIES OF COUNCIL.—The Council shall— 4 (1) not later than 1 year after the date of en- 5 actment of this Act, and annually thereafter until 6 the date on which the Council terminates under sub- 7 section (e), submit to the Administrator a report 8 recommending updates to policies, procedures, or 9 practices of the Administration that— 10 (A)(i) identifies any policies, procedures, or 11 practices of the Administration that do not ad- 12 here to sections 2 and 5; and 13 (ii) recommends updates to those policies, 14 procedures, and practices to align those policies, 15 procedures, and practices with those sections; 16 (B) analyzes the design for any new appli- 17 cable Federal public building and, if necessary, 18 recommends changes so that the applicable 19 Federal public building adheres to sections 2 20 and 5; and 21 (C) analyzes all applicable Federal public 22 buildings, including the architectural styles of 23 those buildings, and recommends redesigns, if 24 any, to align those buildings with section 2; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:07 Jul 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1943.IS S1943 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 11 •S 1943 IS (2) recommend to the Administrator changes to 1 Administration policies for situations in which the 2 Administration participates in a design selection 3 pursuant to chapter 89 of title 40, United States 4 Code (commonly known as the ‘‘Commemorative 5 Works Act’’), in furtherance of the purposes of this 6 Act and consistent with applicable law. 7 (d) APPLICABILITY.—Chapter 10 of title 5, United 8 States Code (commonly known as the ‘‘Federal Advisory 9 Committee Act’’), shall apply to the Council. 10 (e) TERMINATION.—The Council shall terminate on 11 the date that is 5 years after the date on which the Council 12 holds the initial meeting of the Council. 13 SEC. 5. GSA REQUIREMENTS. 14 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall adhere to 15 the policy of the United States described in section 2. 16 (b) NOTIFICATION.— 17 (1) IN GENERAL.—If the Administrator pro- 18 poses to approve a design for a new applicable Fed- 19 eral public building that diverges from the preferred 20 architecture, including Brutalist or Deconstructivist 21 architecture or any design derived from or related to 22 those styles of architecture, the Administrator shall 23 submit to the Assistant to the President for Domes- 24 tic Policy and the appropriate committees of Con- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:07 Jul 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1943.IS S1943 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 12 •S 1943 IS gress, not later than 30 days before the date on 1 which the Administrator could reject the design 2 without incurring substantial expenditures, a notifi- 3 cation in accordance with paragraph (2). 4 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—A notification submitted 5 under paragraph (1) shall describe the reasons the 6 Administrator proposes to approve a design de- 7 scribed in that paragraph, including— 8 (A) a detailed explanation of why the Ad- 9 ministrator believes selecting the design is justi- 10 fied, with particular focus on whether the de- 11 sign is as beautiful and reflective of the dignity, 12 enterprise, vigor, and stability of the system of 13 self-government in the United States as alter- 14 native designs of comparable cost using pre- 15 ferred architecture; 16 (B) the total expected cost of adopting the 17 proposed design, including estimated mainte- 18 nance and replacement costs throughout the ex- 19 pected lifecycle of the design; 20 (C)(i) a description of the designs using 21 preferred architecture seriously considered for 22 the project, including copies of blueprints or 23 renderings of those designs that have been pro- 24 duced; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:07 Jul 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1943.IS S1943 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 13 •S 1943 IS (ii) the total expected cost of adopting 1 those designs, including estimated maintenance 2 and replacement costs throughout the expected 3 lifecycles of those designs; and 4 (D) the steps that the A [Text truncated for display. 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