PRIA Logo™
Title 20, EducationRelease 119-110

§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 Sep 22, 2026|Official source

Summary

Create displays and a study center that honor and explain the military’s role in building and protecting a free, peaceful, independent America. The Smithsonian must show the courage and sacrifice of service members, the hardships faced by the nation, and how the Armed Forces work toward peace. It must also show peacetime contributions to science and technology, including nuclear energy, polar and space exploration, electronics, engineering, aeronautics, and medicine. The museum must present current security issues, support research on war and its effects, and collect, keep, and display important military objects. These requirements do not cancel the law that created the National Air and Space Museum or any other Smithsonian authority.

Full Legal Text

Title 20, §80a

Education, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Study center; historical collections
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)National Air and Space Museum provisions unaffected
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

Sep 22, 2026

Release point: 119-110