Statement of Administration Policy: S. 1116 - Mary McLeod Bethune Council House

(House)
(Senators Warner (R) Virginia and Hollings (D) South Carolina)

The Administration opposes enactment of S. 1116, because:

— the Council House is privately owned and operated, is not open to the general public, and is not an appropriate recipient of annual Federal operations and maintenance funds (which are specifically prohibited by existing law, but expressly authorized by this bill); the Administration accepted the original legislation in 1982 with the understanding that it would offer a single infusion of $200,000 of Federal funds for restoration of the Council House with no annual operations and maintenance funding;

— Congress has already appropriated $298,000 to mark, interpret, and restore the Council House, $98,000 more than authorized in the original statute; and

— most of those funds were used for salaries by the private organization that operates the House.