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Title 20 — EducationRelease 119-73not60

§80a Display of Contributions of Armed Forces

Title 20 › Chapter 3— SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, NATIONAL MUSEUMS AND ART GALLERIES › Subchapter X— NATIONAL ARMED FORCES MUSEUM ADVISORY BOARD › § 80a

Last updated Apr 5, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Smithsonian must honor and display how the U.S. military helped build and protect America's free and peaceful society. It must show the bravery and sacrifices of service members to inspire people, explain the hardships of war and the effort for peace, and show peacetime military contributions to science, nuclear energy, polar and space exploration, electronics, engineering, aeronautics, and medicine. It must also explain current national security issues, have a research center to study war and the military’s role in keeping a lasting peace by deterrence, and collect and show important military objects. These duties do not take away the Smithsonian’s other powers, including the National Air and Space Museum.

Full Legal Text

Title 20, §80a

Education — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)The Smithsonian Institution shall commemorate and display the contributions made by the military forces of the Nation toward creating, developing, and maintaining a free, peaceful, and independent society and culture in the United States of America. The valor and sacrificial service of the men and women of the Armed Forces shall be portrayed as an inspiration to the present and future generations of America. The demands placed upon the full energies of our people, the hardships endured, and the sacrifice demanded in our constant search for world peace shall be clearly demonstrated. The extensive peacetime contributions the Armed Forces have made to the advance of human knowledge in science, nuclear energy, polar and space exploration, electronics, engineering, aeronautics, and medicine shall be graphically described. The Smithsonian Institution shall interpret through dramatic display significant current problems affecting the Nation’s security. It shall be equipped with a study center for scholarly research into the meaning of war, its effect on civilization, and the role of the Armed Forces in maintaining a just and lasting peace by providing a powerful deterrent to war. In fulfilling its purposes, the Smithsonian Institution shall collect, preserve, and exhibit military objects of historical interest and significance.
(b)The provisions of this subchapter in no way rescind subchapter VII of this chapter, which established the National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution, or any other authority of the Smithsonian Institution.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Change of Name

“National Air and Space Museum” substituted for “National Air Museum” in subsec. (b) pursuant to section 2 of Pub. L. 89–509, which is classified to section 77 of this title.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

20 U.S.C. § 80a

Title 20 — Education

Last Updated

Apr 5, 2026

Release point: 119-73not60