Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 114 Part 5.djvu/399

 PUBLIC LAW 106-554-APPENDIX D-2 114 STAT. 2763A-359 APPENDIX D-2 —S. 2885 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the "Jamestown 400th Commemoration Commission Act of 2000". SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. (a) FINDINGS.— Congress finds that— (1) the founding of the colony at Jamestown, Virginia in 1607, the first permanent English colony in the New World, and the capital of Virginia for 92 years, has major significance in the history of the United States; (2) the settlement brought people from throughout the Atlantic Basin together to form a multicultural society, including English, other Europeans, Native Americans, and Africans; (3) the economic, political, religious, and social institutions that developed during the first 9 decades of the existence of Jamestown continue to have profound effects on the United States, particularly in English common law and language, cross cultural relationships, and economic structure and status; (4) the National Park Service, the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities, and the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation of the Commonwealth of Virginia collectively own and operate significant resources related to the early history of Jamestown; and (5) in 1996— (A) the Commonwealth of Virginia designated the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation as the State agency responsible for planning and implementing the Commonwealth's portion of the commemoration of the 400th anniversary of the founding of the Jamestown settlement; (B) the Foundation created the Celebration 2007 Steering Committee, known as the Jamestown 2007 Steering Committee; and (C) planning for the commemoration began. (b) PURPOSE. —The purpose of this Act is to establish the Jamestown 400th Commemoration Commission to— (1) ensure a suitable national observance of the Jamestown 2007 anniversary by complementing the programs and activities of the Commonwealth of Virginia; (2) cooperate with and assist the programs and activities of the State in observance of the Jamestown 2007 anniversary; (3) assist in ensuring that Jamestown 2007 observances provide an excellent visitor experience and beneficial interaction between visitors and the natural and cultural resources of the Jamestown sites;

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