Kennedy Center Protection Act

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6925 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 6925

To require the removal of any signage or other identification from the 
 John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts that differs from the 
  designation ``John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts'', as 
designated under section 3 of the John F. Kennedy Center Act (20 U.S.C. 
                     76i), and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           December 23, 2025

  Mrs. McClain Delaney (for herself, Mr. Larson of Connecticut, Mrs. 
  Hayes, and Mrs. Grijalva) introduced the following bill; which was 
     referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To require the removal of any signage or other identification from the 
 John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts that differs from the 
  designation ``John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts'', as 
designated under section 3 of the John F. Kennedy Center Act (20 U.S.C. 
                     76i), and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Kennedy Center Protection Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Congress established the National Cultural Center in 
        1958 to present musical programs, lectures, and other arts 
        programs for youth and the elderly.
            (2) Our 35th President, John Fitzgerald Kennedy was 
        particularly devoted to the advancement of the performing arts 
        within the United States.
            (3) Congress statutorily renamed the National Cultural 
        Center the ``John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts'' 
        in 1964 following President Kennedy's untimely death.
            (4) On February 7, 2025, President Trump announced his 
        intention to terminate members of the Kennedy Center and 
        appoint himself as chair, an unprecedented action.
            (5) On December 18, 2025, it was announced that the Board 
        of Trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing 
        Arts voted unanimously to rename the Center ``The Donald J. 
        Trump and John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts''.
            (6) Congress itself established the Kennedy Center and its 
        Board of Trustees, and such a vote of the Board is clearly 
        beyond its statutory authority.
            (7) The renaming of any Federal building for a sitting 
        President signals a slide towards authoritarianism.
            (8) Congress itself retains sole authority to rename the 
        John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts through statute.

SEC. 3. JOHN F. KENNEDY CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS.

    (a) In General.--The reported vote of the Trustees of the John F. 
Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on December 18, 2025, renaming 
the Center as the ``Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Center for the 
Performing Arts'' is hereby void.
    (b) Removal.--Not later than 1 day after the date of enactment of 
this Act, the Trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing 
Arts shall remove any signage or other identification from the John F. 
Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts that differs from the 
designation ``John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts'', as 
designated under section 3 of the John F. Kennedy Center Act (20 U.S.C. 
76i).
    (c) References.--Any reference in a law, map, regulation, document, 
paper, publication, signage, or other record of the United States to 
the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts changed after the 
vote described in subsection (a) shall return to the name ``John F. 
Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts''.
    (d) Restriction on Board Authority.--Section 5 of the John F. 
Kennedy Center Act (20 U.S.C. 76k) is amended by adding at the end the 
following:
    ``(h) Restrictions on Board Authority.--The Board may not undertake 
any vote or proposal or authorize any action to rename the John F. 
Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.''.
    (e) Reporting on Funds Used.--Not later than 30 days after the date 
of enactment of this Act, the Trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center 
for the Performing Arts shall submit to Congress a report detailing any 
public or private funds used to install, alter, or implement the change 
in the name of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
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