20 U.S.C. § 956 — National Endowment for the Humanities

**(a) Establishment** There is established within the Foundation the National Endowment for the Humanities. **(b) Chairperson of the Endowment; appointment, term, reappointment; vacancy; expiration of term** (1) The Endowment shall be headed by a chairperson, who shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. (2) The term of office of the Chairperson shall be four years, and the Chairperson shall be eligible for reappointment. The provisions of this paragraph shall apply to any person appointed to fill a vacancy in the office of the Chairperson. Upon expiration of the Chairperson’s term of office the Chairperson shall serve until the Chairperson’s successor shall have been appointed and shall have qualified. **(c) Functions of the Endowment; publications; traditionally underrepresented recipients of financial assistance** The Chairperson, with the advice of the National Council on the Humanities (hereinafter established), is authorized to enter into arrangements, including contracts, grants, loans, and other forms of assistance, to— (1) develop and encourage the pursuit of a national policy for the promotion of progress and scholarship in the humanities; (2) initiate and support research and programs to strengthen the research and teaching potential of the United States in the humanities by making arrangements with individuals or groups to support such activities; any loans made by the Endowment shall be made in accordance with terms and conditions approved by the Secretary of the Treasury; (3) initiate and support training and workshops in the humanities by making arrangements with institutions or individuals (fellowships awarded to individuals under this authority may be for the purpose of study or research at appropriate nonprofit institutions selected by the recipient of such aid, for stated periods of time); (4) initiate and support programs and research which have substantial scholarly and cultural significance and that reach, or reflect the diversity and richness of our American cultural heritage, including the culture of, a minority, inner city, rural, or tribal community; (5) foster international programs and exchanges; (6) foster the interchange of information in the humanities; (7) foster, with groups, education in, and public understanding and appreciation of the humanities; (8) support the publication of scholarly works in the humanities; (9) insure that the benefit of its programs will also be available to our citizens where such programs would otherwise be unavailable due to geographic or economic reasons; and (10) foster programs and projects that provide access to, and preserve materials important to research, education, and public understanding of, the humanities. In the case of publications under clause (8) of this subsection such publications may be supported without regard for the provisions of [section 501 of title 44](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title44-section501&num=0&edition=prelim) only if the Chairperson consults with the Joint Committee on Printing of the Congress and the Chairperson submits to the Committee on Labor and Human Resources of the Senate and the Committee on Education and Labor of the House of Representatives a report justifying any exemption from such section 501. In selecting individuals and groups of exceptional talent as recipients of financial assistance to be provided under this subsection, the Chairperson shall give particular regard to scholars, and educational and cultural institutions, that have traditionally been underrepresented. **(d) Coordination and development of Endowment programs with other Federal and non-Federal programs** The Chairperson shall coordinate the programs of the National Endowment for the Humanities, insofar as practicable, with existing Federal programs, designated State humanities agencies and with those undertaken by other public agencies or private groups, and shall develop the programs of the Endowment with due regard to the contribution to the objectives of this subchapter which can be made by other Federal agencies under existing programs. **(e) Limitation on amount of grant for workshop activities for which an admission or other charge is made to the general public** The total amount of any grant under subsection (c)(3) to any group engaging in workshop activities for which an admission or other charge is made to the general public shall not exceed 30 per centum of the total cost of such activities. **(f) Grants-in-aid programs; designation of State administrative agency; matching funds; applications and plans; allotments; cost limitations; grants to regional groups; non-Federal funding; definitions; suspension of grants; single entity limitation** (1) The Chairperson, with the advice of the National Council on the Humanities, is authorized, in accordance with the provisions of this subsection, to establish and carry out a program of grants-in-aid in each of the several States in order to support not more than 50 per centum of the cost of existing activities which meet the standards enumerated in subsection (c) of this section, and in order to develop a program in the humanities in such a manner as will furnish adequate programs in the humanities in each of the several States. (2) (A) Whenever a State desires to designate or to provide for the establishment of a State agency as the sole agency for the administration of the State plan, such State shall designate the humanities council in existence on the date the State agency is established as the State agency, and shall match from State funds a sum equal to 50 per centum of that portion of Federal financial assistance received by such State under this subsection which is described in the first sentence of paragraph (4) relating to the minimum State grant, or 25 per centum of the total amount of Federal financial assistance received by such State under this subsection, whichever is greater, for the fiscal year involved. In any State in which the State selects the option described in this subparagraph, the State shall submit, before the beginning of each fiscal year, an application for grants and accompany such application with a plan which the Chairperson finds— (i) designates or provides for the establishment of a State agency (hereinafter in this section referred to as the “State agency”) as the sole agency for the administration of the State plan; (ii) provides that the chief executive officer of the State will appoint new members to the State humanities council designated under the provisions of this subparagraph, as vacancies occur as a result of the expiration of the terms of members of such council, until the chief executive officer has appointed all of the members of such council; (iii) provides, from State funds, an amount equal to 50 per centum of that portion of Federal financial assistance received by such State under this subsection which is described in the first sentence of paragraph (4) relating to the minimum State grant, or 25 per centum of the total amount of Federal financial assistance received by such State under this subsection, whichever is greater, for the fiscal year involved; (iv) provides that funds paid to the State under this subsection will be expended solely on programs approved by the State agency which carry out the objectives of subsection (c) and which are designed to bring the humanities to the public; (v) provides assurances that State funds will be newly appropriated for the purpose of meeting the requirements of this subparagraph; (vi) provides that the State agency will make such reports, in such form and containing such information, as the Chairperson may require, including a description of the progress made toward achieving the goals of the State plan; (vii) provides— (I) assurances that the State agency has held, after reasonable notice, public meetings in the State to allow scholars, interested organizations, and the public to present views and make recommendations regarding the State plan; and (II) a summary of such recommendations and of the response of the State agency to such recommendations; and (viii) contains— (I) a description of the level of participation during the most recent preceding year for which information is available by scholars and scholarly organizations in programs receiving financial assistance under this subsection; (II) for the most recent preceding year for which information is available, a description of the extent to which the programs receiving financial assistance under this subsection are available to all people and communities in the State; and (III) a description of programs receiving financial assistance under this subsection that exist or are being developed to secure wider participation of scholars and scholarly organizations identified under subclause (I) of this clause or that address the availability of the humanities to all people or communities identified under subclause (II) of this clause. (B) In any State in which the chief executive officer of the State fails to submit an application under subparagraph (A), the grant recipient in such State shall— (i) establish a procedure which assures that six members of the governing body of such grant recipient shall be appointed by an appropriate officer or agency of such State, except that in no event may the number of such members exceed 25 per centum of the total membership of such governing body; and (ii) provide, from any source, an amount equal to the amount of Federal financial assistance received by such grant recipient under this subsection for the fiscal year involved. (3) Whenever a State selects to receive Federal financial assistance under this subsection for any fiscal year under paragraph (2)(B), any appropriate entity desiring to receive such assistance shall submit an application for such assistance at such time as shall be specified by the Chairperson. Each such application shall be accompanied by a plan which the Chairperson finds— (A) provides assurances that the grant recipient will comply with the requirements of paragraph (2)(B); (B) provides that funds paid to the grant recipient will be expended solely on programs which carry out the objectives of subsection (c); (C) establishes a membership policy which is designed to assure broad public representation with respect to programs administered by such grant recipient; (D) provides a nomination process which assures opportunities for nomination to membership from various groups within the State involved and from a variety of segments of the population of such State, and including individuals who by reason of their achievement, scholarship, or creativity in the humanities, are especially qualified to serve; (E) provides for a membership rotation process which assures the regular rotation of the membership and officers of such grant recipient; (F) establishes reporting procedures which are designed to inform the chief executive officer of the State involved, and other appropriate officers and agencies, of the activities of such grant recipient; (G) establishes procedures to assure public access to information relating to such activities; (H) provides that such grant recipient will make reports to the Chairperson, in such form, at such times, and containing such information, as the Chairperson may require, including a description of the progress made toward achieving the goals of the plan; (I) provides— (i) assurances that the grant recipient has held, after reasonable notice, public meetings in the State to allow scholars, interested organizations, and the public to present views and make recommendations regarding the plan; and (ii) a summary of such recommendations and of the response of the grant recipient to such recommendations; and (J) contains— (i) a description of the level of participation during the most recent preceding year for which information is available by scholars and scholarly organizations in programs receiving financial assistance under this subsection; (ii) for the most recent preceding year for which information is available, a description of the extent to which the programs receiving financial assistance under this subsection are available to all people and communities in the State; and (iii) a description of programs receiving financial assistance under this subsection that exist or are being developed to secure wider participation of scholars and scholarly organizations identified under clause (i) of this subparagraph or that address the availability of the humanities to all people or communities identified under clause (ii) of this subparagraph. No application may be approved unless the accompanying plan satisfies the requirements specified in this subsection. (4) Of the sums available to carry out this subsection for any fiscal year, each State and each grant recipient which has a plan approved by the Chairperson shall be allotted at least $200,000. If the sums appropriated are insufficient to make the allotments under the preceding sentence in full, such sums shall be allotted among such States and grant recipients in equal amounts. In any case where the sums available to carry out this subsection for any fiscal year are in excess of the amount required to make the allotments under the first sentence of this paragraph— (A) 34 per centum of the amount of such excess for such fiscal year shall be available to the Chairperson for making grants under this subsection to States and regional groups and entities applying for such grants; (B) 44 per centum of the amount of such excess for such fiscal year shall be allotted in equal amounts among the States and grant recipients which have plans approved by the Chairperson; and (C) 22 per centum of the amount of such excess for such fiscal year shall be allotted among the States and grant recipients which have plans approved by the Chairperson in amounts which bear the same ratio to such excess as the population of the State for which the plan is approved (or, in the case of a grant recipient other than a State, the population of the State in which such grant recipient is located) bears to the population of all the States. (5) (A) The amount of each allotment to a State for any fiscal year under this subsection shall be available to each State or grant recipient, which has a plan or application approved by the Chairperson in effect on the first day of such fiscal year, to pay not more than 50 per centum of the total cost of any project or production described in paragraph (1). The amount of any allotment made under paragraph (4) for any fiscal year— (i) which exceeds $125,000, but (ii) which does not exceed 20 per centum of such allotment, shall be available, at the discretion of the Chairperson, to pay up to 100 per centum of the cost of programs under this subsection if such programs would otherwise be unavailable to the residents of that State. (B) Any amount allotted to a State under the first sentence of paragraph (4) for any fiscal year which is not obligated by the State agency or grant recipient prior to sixty days prior to the end of the fiscal year for which such sums are appropriated shall be available to the Chairperson for making grants to regional groups. (C) Funds made available under this subsection shall not be used to supplant non-Federal funds. (D) For the purposes of this paragraph, the term “regional group” means any multistate group, whether or not representative of contiguous States. (E) For purposes of paragraph (4)(B), the term “State” and the term “grant recipient” include, in addition to the several States of the Union, only those special jurisdictions specified in [section 952(g) of this title](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title20-section952/g&num=0&edition=prelim) which have a population of 200,000 or more, according to the latest decennial census. (6) All amounts allotted or made available under paragraph (4) for a fiscal year which are not granted to any entity during such fiscal year shall be available to the National Endowment for the Humanities for the purpose of carrying out subsection (c). (7) Whenever the Chairperson, after reasonable notice and opportunity for hearing, finds that— (A) a group or grant recipient is not complying substantially with the provisions of this subsection; (B) a State agency or grant recipient is not complying substantially with terms and conditions of its State plan or grant recipient application approved under this subsection; or (C) any funds granted to any group or State agency or grant recipient under this subsection have been diverted from the purposes for which they are allotted or paid, the Chairperson shall immediately notify the Secretary of the Treasury and the group, State agency, or grant recipient with respect to which such finding was made that no further grants will be made under this subsection to such group, State agency, or grant recipient until there is no longer a default or failure to comply or the diversion has been corrected, or, if the compliance or correction is impossible, until such group, State agency, or grant recipient repays or arranges the repayment of the Federal funds which have been improperly diverted or expended. (8) Except as provided in the third sentence of paragraph (4), and paragraphs (5) and (6), the Chairperson may not make grants under this subsection to more than one entity in any State. **(g) Payment of performers and supporting personnel; standards, regulations, and procedures** It shall be a condition of the receipt of any grant under this section that the group, individual, or State agency or entity receiving such grant furnish adequate assurances to the Secretary of Labor that (1) all professional performers and related or supporting professional personnel employed on projects or productions which are financed in whole or in part under this section will be paid, without subsequent deduction or rebate on any account, not less than the minimum compensation as determined by the Secretary of Labor to be the prevailing minimum compensation for persons employed in similar activities; and (2) no part of any project or production which is financed in whole or in part under this section will be performed or engaged in under working conditions which are unsanitary or hazardous or dangerous to the health and safety of the employees engaged in such project or production. Compliance with the safety and sanitary laws of the State in which the performance or part thereof is to take place shall be prima facie evidence of compliance. The Secretary of Labor shall prescribe standards, regulations, and procedures necessary to carry out this subsection. **(h) Program of contracts or grants-in-aid to public agencies and private nonprofit organizations; limitation on payments** (1) The Chairperson of the National Endowment for the Humanities, with the advice of the National Council on the Humanities, is authorized, in accordance with the provisions of this subsection, to establish and carry out a program of contracts with, or grants-in-aid to, public agencies and private nonprofit organizations for the purpose of— (A) enabling cultural organizations and institutions to increase the levels of continuing support and to increase the range of contributors to the program of such organizations or institutions; (B) providing administrative and management improvements for cultural organizations and institutions, particularly in the field of long-range financial planning; (C) enabling cultural organizations and institutions to increase audience participation in, and appreciation of, programs sponsored by such organizations and institutions; (D) stimulating greater cooperation among cultural organizations and institutions especially designed to serve better the communities in which such organizations or institutions are located; (E) fostering greater citizen involvement in planning the cultural development of a community; and (F) for bicentennial programs, assessing where our society and Government stand in relation to the founding principles of the Republic, primarily focused on projects which will bring together the public and private citizen sectors in an effort to find new processes for solving problems facing our Nation in its third century. (2) (A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B) of this paragraph, the total amount of any payment made under this subsection for a program or project may not exceed 50 per centum of the cost of such program or project. (B) The Chairperson, with the advice of the Council, may waive all or part of the requirement of matching funds provided in subparagraph (A) of this paragraph, but only for the purposes described in clause (F) of paragraph (1), whenever he determines that highly meritorious proposals for grants and contracts under such clause, could not otherwise be supported from non-Federal sources or from Federal sources other than funds authorized by [section 960(a)(3) of this title](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title20-section960/a/3&num=0&edition=prelim), unless such matching requirement is waived. Such waiver may not exceed 15 per centum of the amount appropriated in any fiscal year and available to the National Endowment for the Humanities for the purpose of this subsection. (3) In carrying out the program authorized by this subsection, the Chairperson of the National Endowment for the Humanities shall have the same authority as is established in subsection (c) and [section 959 of this title](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title20-section959&num=0&edition=prelim). **(i) Interagency agreements** The Chairperson may enter into interagency agreements to promote or assist with the humanities-related activities of other Federal agencies, on either a reimbursable or nonreimbursable basis, and may use funds authorized to be appropriated for the purposes of subsection (c) for the costs of such activities. **(j) Payment of wages at prevailing rates; authority of Secretary of Labor** It shall be a condition of the receipt of any grant under this section that the group or individual of exceptional talent or the State, State agency, or entity receiving such grant furnish adequate assurances to the Secretary of Labor that all laborers and mechanics employed by contractors or subcontractors on construction projects assisted under this section shall be paid wages at rates not less than those prevailing on similar construction in the locality, as determined by the Secretary of Labor in accordance with sections 3141–3144, 3146, and 3147 of title 40. The Secretary of Labor shall have, with respect to the labor standards specified in this subsection, the authority and functions set forth in Reorganization Plan Numbered 14 of 1950 and [section 3145 of title 40](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title40-section3145&num=0&edition=prelim). **(k) National information and data collection system on humanities, scholars, educational and cultural groups, and audiences; development and implementation plan; state of the humanities reports** The Chairperson of the National Endowment for the Humanities shall, in ongoing consultation with State and local agencies, other relevant organizations, and relevant Federal agencies, continue to develop and implement a practical system of national information and data collection and public dissemination on the humanities, scholars, educational and cultural groups, and their audiences. Such system shall include cultural and financial trends in the various humanities fields, trends in audience participation, and trends in humanities education on national, regional, and State levels. Such system shall be used, along with a summary of the data submitted with plans under subsection (f), to prepare a report on the state of the humanities in the Nation. The state of the humanities report shall include a description of the availability of the Endowment’s programs to emerging and culturally diverse scholars, cultural and educational organizations, and communities and of the participation of such scholars, organizations, and communities in such programs. The state of the humanities report shall be submitted to the President and the Congress, and provided the States, not later than October 1, 1992, and quadrennially thereafter. **(l) Eligibility of group for financial assistance** Any group shall be eligible for financial assistance under this section only if— (1) no part of its net earnings inures to the benefit of any private stockholder or stockholders, or individual or individuals; and (2) donations to such group are allowable as a charitable contribution under the standards of [section 170(c) of title 26](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title26-section170/c&num=0&edition=prelim). **(m) Annual awards** The Chairperson, with the advice of the National Council on the Humanities, is authorized to make the following annual awards: (1) The Jefferson Lecture in the Humanities Award to one individual for distinguished intellectual achievement in the humanities. The annual award shall not exceed $10,000. (2) The Charles Frankel Prize to honor individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the public understanding of the humanities. Not more than 5 individuals may receive such prize each year. Each prize shall not exceed $5,000.