HF 2059 (LSB 5466HH (7) 83)

HOUSE FILE 2059

BY  REICHERT

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to the Iowa statues on display in the United States capitol.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  NEW SECTION.  303.90  Legislative intent.

   It is the intent of the general assembly to exchange the statues of Samuel Kirkwood and James Harlan, both currently on display in the United States capitol, with statues of Alexander Clarke and Norman Borlaug.
    Sec. 2.  NEW SECTION.  303.91  Committees —— membership and organization.
   1.  Two committees are created and charged with organizing and raising the funds necessary to exchange Iowa’s statues on display in the United States capitol with alternative statues.
   a.  A committee of seven is created, to be appointed by the governor and to serve at the pleasure of the governor, to exchange the Kirkwood statue currently on display in the United States capitol with a statue of Alexander Clarke.
   b.  A committee of seven is created, to be appointed by the governor and to serve at the pleasure of the governor, to exchange the Harlan statue currently on display in the United States capitol with a statue of Norman Borlaug.
   2.  Each committee shall annually select its own chairperson and establish its rules of procedure. Each committee shall meet as may be deemed necessary by the chairperson. A majority of the members of each committee shall constitute a quorum.
   3.  Members shall serve without compensation or reimbursement for actual expenses.
    Sec. 3.  NEW SECTION.  303.92  Powers and duties.

   Each of the committees shall:

   1.  Raise all of the funds necessary for the operation of the committee.
   2.  Solicit donations to exchange the statue, commission the creation of a new statue, and make all arrangements with the architect of the United States capitol necessary for the new statue to be put into place.
   3.  Provide for the display of the statue, displaced from the United States capitol in the rotunda of the Iowa capitol, for a minimum period of ten years.
   4.  Provide for a perpetual display of the statue displaced from the United States capitol at a suitable location within Iowa, following the statue’s display in the Iowa capitol.
    Sec. 4.  NEW SECTION.  303.93  Duties of the department.

   The department of cultural affairs shall provide all necessary administrative support for each of the committees and shall administer the capitol statuary fund.
    Sec. 5.  NEW SECTION.  303.94  Capitol statuary fund.

   A capitol statuary fund is created in the state treasury, to be administered by the department of cultural affairs. The proceeds of the fund shall be used for the purposes specified in section 303.92 and for the perpetual care of all four statues. The department may accept gifts, bequests, other moneys, including but not limited to state or federal moneys, and in-kind contributions for deposit in the fund. The gifts, grants, bequests from public and private sources, state and federal moneys, and other moneys received by the department shall be deposited in the fund. Notwithstanding section 12C.7, interest or earnings on moneys in the fund shall be credited to the fund. Notwithstanding section 8.33, any unexpended or unencumbered moneys remaining in the fund at the end of the fiscal year shall not revert to the general fund of the state, but shall remain available for expenditure from the fund by the department in succeeding fiscal years.
EXPLANATION
   Under federal law each state is allowed to place two statues of its noted personages in statuary hall in the U.S. capitol. Federal legislation enacted in 2000, Pub. L. No. 106-554, provides that any state may request the joint committee on the library of congress to approve the replacement of a statue the state has provided for display in statuary hall in the U.S. capitol.
   This bill provides for the exchange of the statues of Samuel Kirkwood and James Harlan, with statues of Alexander Clarke and Norman Borlaug.
   The bill creates two seven-member committees which are responsible for raising, through donations, all funds necessary to make these changes. The committee members will not receive any compensation or reimbursement. Staff support is provided by the department of cultural affairs.
   The bill creates a capitol statuary fund in the state treasury, administered by the department of cultural affairs. The fund will finance committee operations, the change in statuary, and provide for the perpetual care of all four statues.
   Samuel Jordan Kirkwood was Iowa’s civil war governor, also serving in the U.S. Senate and as the U.S. secretary of the interior in 1881-1882. James Harlan was Iowa’s first superintendent of public instruction, a U.S. senator, and U.S. secretary of the department of the interior. Alexander G. Clark, the son of emancipated slaves, was a lawyer, newspaper editor, and civil rights advocate; in addition, Clark served as the U.S. minister to Liberia. Geneticist Dr. Norman E. Borlaug developed strains of high-yield wheat and received the Nobel Peace Prize as father of the “Green Revolution”.