20 U.S.C. § 54: Appropriation of interest

Summary

$541,379.63 from James Smithson must be lent to the Treasury and invested in government bonds with maturities the Smithsonian requests. The Treasury Secretary will set the interest from market yields. The interest must be used forever to support and maintain the Smithsonian. Only interest may be spent; principal cannot. Any money or stocks from Smithson’s bequest now or later in the Treasury are pledged to repay the Treasury.

Title 20, §54

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So much of the property of James Smithson as has been received in money, and paid into the Treasury of the United States, being the sum of $541,379.63, shall be lent to the United States Treasury and invested in public debt securities with maturities requested by the Smithsonian Institution bearing interest at rates determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, based upon current market yields on outstanding marketable obligations of the United States of comparable maturities, and this interest is hereby appropriated for the perpetual maintenance and support of the Smithsonian Institution; and all expenditures and appropriations to be made, from time to time, to the purposes of the Institution shall be exclusively from the accruing interest, and not from the principal of the fund. All the moneys and stocks which have been, or may hereafter be, received into the Treasury of the United States, on account of the fund bequeathed by James Smithson, are hereby pledged to refund to the Treasury of the United States the sums hereby appropriated.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Codification R.S. § 5590 derived from acts Aug. 10, 1846, ch. 178, § 2, 9 Stat. 102; Feb. 5, 1867, ch. 34, § 2, 14 Stat. 391.

Amendments

1982—Pub. L. 97–199 substituted “and invested in public debt securities with maturities requested by the Smithsonian Institution bearing interest at rates determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, based upon current market yields on outstanding marketable obligations of the United States of comparable maturities, and this interest is hereby” for “, at 6 per centum per annum interest; and 6 per centum interest on the trust-fund and residuary legacy received into the United States Treasury, payable in half-yearly payments, on the first of January and July in each year, is”, substituted “purposes of the Institution” for “purposes of the institution”, and substituted “are hereby pledged” for “are pledged”.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 1982 Amendment Pub. L. 97–199, § 2,

June 22, 1982, 96 Stat. 121, provided that: “The amendment made by the first section [amending this section] shall apply with respect to fiscal years beginning after

September 30, 1982.”

§54 Appropriation of Interest