20 U.S.C. § 76h: Board of Trustees

There is established in the Smithsonian Institution a bureau, which shall be directed by a board to be known as the Trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (hereafter in this subchapter referred to as the “Board”), whose duty it shall be to maintain and administer the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and site thereof as the National Center for the Performing Arts, a living memorial to John Fitzgerald Kennedy, and to execute such other functions as are vested in the Board by this subchapter. the Secretary of Health and Human Services; the Librarian of Congress; the Secretary of State; the Chairman of the Commission of Fine Arts; the Mayor of the District of Columbia; the Superintendent of Schools of the District of Columbia; the Director of the National Park Service; the Secretary of Education; the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution; the Speaker and the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives; the chairman and ranking minority member of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives; and three additional Members of the House of Representatives appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives; the Majority Leader and the Minority Leader of the Senate; the chairman and ranking minority member of the Committee on Environment and Public Works of the Senate; and three additional Members of the Senate appointed by the President of the Senate; and thirty-six general trustees, who shall be citizens of the United States, to be appointed in accordance with subsection (b). any member appointed to fill a vacancy occurring before the expiration of the term for which the predecessor of the member was appointed shall be appointed for the remainder of the term; a member shall continue to serve until the successor of the member has been appointed; and the term of office of a member appointed before July 21, 1994 , shall expire as designated at the time of appointment. There shall be an Advisory Committee on the Arts composed of such members as the President of the United States may designate, to serve at the pleasure of the President. Persons appointed to the Advisory Committee on the Arts, including officers or employees of the United States, shall be persons who are recognized for their knowledge of, or experience or interest in, one or more of the arts in the fields covered by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The President shall designate the Chairman of the Advisory Committee on the Arts. In making such appointments the President shall give consideration to such recommendations as may from time to time be submitted to him by leading national organizations in the appropriate art fields. The Advisory Committee on the Arts shall advise and consult with the Board and make recommendations to the Board regarding existing and prospective cultural activities to be carried out by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The Advisory Committee on the Arts shall assist the Board in carrying out section 76k(a) of this title . Members of the Advisory Committee on the Arts shall serve without compensation. The amendment made by paragraph (1)(C)(i) [amending this section] shall take effect on the date of expiration of the term of the Chairman of the District of Columbia Recreation Board serving as a trustee of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on the date of enactment of this Act [ July 21, 1994 ]. The amendment made by paragraph (1)(C)(ii) [amending this section] shall take effect on the date of enactment of this Act.” commence on the date on which the new general trustee is appointed by the President; and terminate on September 1, 2007 .” the late John Fitzgerald Kennedy served with distinction as President of the United States and as a Member of the Senate and the House of Representatives; by the untimely death of John Fitzgerald Kennedy the United States and the world have suffered a great loss; the late John Fitzgerald Kennedy was particularly devoted to education and cultural understanding and the advancement of the performing arts; it is fitting and proper that a living institution of the performing arts, designated as the National Center for the Performing Arts, named in the memory and honor of this great leader, shall serve as the sole national monument to his memory within the District of Columbia and its environs; such a living memorial serves all of the people of the United States by preserving, fostering, and transmitting the performing arts traditions of the people of the United States and other countries by producing and presenting music, opera, theater, dance, and other performing arts; and such a living memorial should be housed in the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, located in the District of Columbia.”