Former Presidents Facilities and Services Reform Act of 1980
Latest action. Referred to House Committee on the Judiciary.
Former Presidents Facilities and Services Reform Act of 1980 - Title I: Presidential Libraries - Prohibits the Administrator of General Services from establishing any Presidential archival depository after January 20, 1983. Directs the Administrator to submit to Congress a prospectus for establishing a central Presidential library (library) for the deposit and preservation of the records and papers of former Presidents, and historical materials related to the former Presidents. Requires the prospectus to provide: (1) for the establishment of the library in a phased manner allowing for expansion; (2) that the first phase of the library shall provide for the deposit and preservation of the records, papers, and materials concerning two former Presidents; (3) that the archival and research space for each former President in the library shall equal the average space provided per President in all Presidential archival depositories; and (4) that a specified area be established for museum displays concerning each former President. Authorizes the Administrator to lend any item stored in the library for display in a private Presidential museum or library. Directs the Administrator to duplicate and make available upon request the more historically significant documents. Requires the President, while holding office, to dispose of his or her Presidential records which have no administrative, historical, informational, or evidentiary value after obtaining the views of the Archivist of the United States concerning such disposal, unless the Archivist notifies the President that the Archivist intends to request advice from certain congressional committees. Declares that the provisions of this title apply only to: (1) the records of those Presidents taking office after January 20, 1969, for whom a Presidential archival depository is not established before January 20, 1983; and (2) all Presidential records to which the Government has title. Title II: Former Presidents - Changes the amount of the annual allowance to which the spouse of a deceased former President is entitled from $20,000 to two-thirds of the allowance to which a former President is entitled. Repeals the requirement that the spouse must waive the right to any other Government annuity or pension to qualify for such allowance. Authorizes the Administrator to provide to each former President, upon request: (1) one office; (2) compensation, without an aggregate ceiling, for members of an office staff who shall be subject to certain provisions of civil service laws; (3) payment for the travel and subsistence allowances for specified office employees; (4) communications services; and (5) printing and binding expenses. Allows any Federal employee to be detailed to the office staff of a former President with the consent of the employee's agency head. Authorizes the Administrator to provide a former Vice President with necessary services and facilities for winding up his or her office affairs which are similar to the services and facilities provided to a former President under this title. Prohibits the use of funds provided for necessary services and facilities of a former President or Vice President for partisan political activities or income generating activities. Permits a former President to use such funds to prepare his or her memoirs if the former President signs an agreement providing that the Public Printer will print and distribute such memoirs. Prohibits the expenditure of such funds for a former President any time beyond 90 days after the former President dies. Requires each former President to submit to Congress an annual report concerning activities carried out with the assistance of such funds. Authorizes appropriations to carry out the provisions of this title concerning the services and facilities to be provided for former Presidents and Vice Presidents. Repeals specified provisions of the Presidential Transition Act of 1963. Title III: Protection of Former Presidents, Former Vice Presidents, and Their Families - Prohibits the United States Secret Service from protecting a former President, former Vice President, or the spouse, widow, widower, or minor child of a former President except as authorized under this title. Authorizes the Secret Service to protect: (1) a former President for eight years after the individual becomes a former President; and (2) the spouse of a former President to the extent that such protection is incidental to the protection of the former President. Permits the Secretary of the Treasury to reinstate for six months the Secret Service protection of a former President or the spouse, widow, widower, or minor child of a former President after the original protection has been terminated upon finding that a serious threat warranting such protection exists. Allows the Secretary to extend for six-month periods the Secret Service protection provided to such an individual upon the individual's written request and upon the approval of an existing advisory committee established to determine whether protection should be furnished to certain Presidential or Vice Presidential candidates. Establishes the Advisory Panel on Secret Service Protection to review requests for extended protection and to make recommendations on such requests to such advisory committee. Permits the Secretary to authorize Secret Service protection for a former Vice President for a period beginning on the last day of the individual's Vice Presidential term and ending on the last day of the fiscal year in which the term expires, upon the former Vice President's written request and upon finding that a threat exists which warrants such protection. Declares that this title shall take effect on October 1, 1981.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on April 30, 1980. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on April 30, 1980: Referred to House Committee on the Judiciary.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 96th Congress (1979-80), 613 of the 12,581 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 4.9 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
L. PREYER (D-NC) introduced it on April 30, 1980, and 1 member has since signed on as a cosponsor.
They are 1 Democrat.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on April 30, 1980, 16934 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 16934 days ago, on April 30, 1980.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 96th Congress has not finished by January 3, 1981 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers