The President, the Vice President, the Chief Justice, and the heads of executive departments are constituted an establishment by the name of the Smithsonian Institution for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men, and by that name shall be known and have perpetual succession with the powers, limitations, and restrictions hereinafter contained, and no other.

The regents to be selected shall be appointed as follows: The Members of the Senate by the President thereof; the Members of the House by the Speaker thereof; and the nine other persons by joint resolution of the Congress. The Members of the House so appointed shall serve for the term of two years; and on every alternate fourth Wednesday of December a like number shall be appointed in the same manner to serve until the fourth Wednesday in December, in the second year succeeding their appointment. The Senators so appointed shall serve during the term for which they shall hold, without re-election, their office as Senators. Vacancies, occasioned by death, resignation, or otherwise, shall be filled as vacancies in committees are filled. The regular term of service for the other nine members shall be six years; and new elections thereof shall be made by joint resolutions of Congress. Vacancies occasioned by death, resignation, or otherwise may be filled in like manner by joint resolution of Congress.

The Board of Regents shall meet in the city of Washington and elect one of their number as chancellor, who shall be the presiding officer of the Board of Regents, and called the chancellor of the Smithsonian Institution, and a suitable person as Secretary of the institution, who shall also be the secretary of the Board of Regents. The board shall also elect three of their own body as an executive committee, and shall fix the time for the regular meetings of the board; and, on application of any three of the regents to the Secretary of the institution, it shall be his duty to appoint a special meeting of the Board of Regents, of which he shall give notice, by letter, to each of the members; and, at any meeting of the board, eight shall constitute a quorum to do business. Each member of the board shall be paid his necessary traveling and other actual expenses, in attending meetings of the board, which shall be audited by the executive committee, and recorded by the Secretary of the board; but his service as regent shall be gratuitous.

The members of the institution may hold stated and special meetings, for the supervision of the affairs of the institution and the advice and instruction of the Board of Regents, to be called in the manner provided for in the by-laws of the institution, at which the President, and in his absence the Vice President, shall preside.

The Secretary of the Board of Regents shall take charge of the building and property of the institution, and shall, under their direction, make a fair and accurate record of all their proceedings, to be preserved in the institution until no longer needed in conducting current business; and shall also discharge the duties of librarian and of keeper of the museum, and may, with the consent of the Board of Regents, employ assistants.

The Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, subject to adequate security and other investigations as he may determine to be appropriate, and subject further to a prior determination by him that no qualified United States citizen is available for the particular position involved, is authorized to employ and compensate aliens in a scientific or technical capacity at authorized rates of compensation without regard to statutory provisions prohibiting payment of compensation to aliens.

The chancellor of the Smithsonian Institution may, by an instrument in writing filed in the office of the Secretary thereof, designate and appoint a suitable person to act as Secretary of the Institution when there shall be a vacancy in said office, and whenever the Secretary shall be unable from illness, absence, or other cause to perform the duties of his office; and in such case the person so appointed may perform all the duties imposed on the Secretary by law until the vacancy shall be filled or such inability shall cease. The said chancellor may change such designation and appointment from time to time as the interests of the Institution may in his judgment require.

The Secretary and his assistants shall, respectively, receive for their services such sum as may be allowed by the Board of Regents; and shall be removable by the Board of Regents whenever, in their judgment, the interests of the institution require such removal.

Whenever suitable arrangements can be made from time to time for their reception, all objects of art and of foreign and curious research, and all objects of natural history, plants, and geological and mineralogical specimens belonging to the United States, which may be in the city of Washington, in whosesoever custody they may be, shall be delivered to such persons as may be authorized by the Board of Regents to receive them, and shall be so arranged and classified in the building erected for the institution as best to facilitate the examination and study of them; and whenever new specimens in natural history, geology, or mineralogy are obtained for the museum of the institution, by exchanges of duplicate specimens, which the Regents may in their discretion make, or by donation, which they may receive, or otherwise, the Regents shall cause such new specimens to be appropriately classed and arranged. The minerals, books, manuscripts, and other property of James Smithson, which have been received by the Government of the United States, shall be preserved separate and apart from other property of the institution.

The Smithsonian Institution is authorized to include in its estimates of appropriations such sums as may be needful for the preservation and maintenance of the John Gellatly art collection.

The Regents shall make, from the interest of the fund, an appropriation, not exceeding an average of $25,000 annually, for the gradual formation of a library composed of valuable works pertaining to all departments of human knowledge.

The site and lands selected for buildings for the Smithsonian Institution shall be deemed appropriated to the institution, and the record of the description of such site and lands, or a copy thereof, certified by the chancellor and Secretary of the Board of Regents, shall be received as evidence in all courts of the extent and boundaries of the lands appropriated to the institution.

All laws for the protection of public property in the city of Washington shall apply to, and be in force for, the protection of the lands, buildings, and other property of the Smithsonian Institution. All moneys recovered by or accruing to, the institution shall be paid into the Treasury of the United States, to the credit of the Smithsonian bequest, and separately accounted for.

Appropriations are authorized for the maintenance of the Astrophysical Observatory and the making of solar observations at high altitudes; for repairs and alterations of buildings and grounds occupied by the Smithsonian Institution in the District of Columbia and elsewhere; and for preparation of manuscripts, drawings, and illustrations for publications.

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.

The Secretary of the Treasury is authorized and directed to receive into the Treasury, on the same terms as the original bequest of James Smithson, such sums as the Regents may, from time to time, see fit to deposit, not exceeding, with the original bequest, the sum of $1,000,000. This shall not operate as a limitation on the power of the Smithsonian Institution to receive money or other property by gift, bequest, or devise, and to hold and dispose of the same in promotion of the purposes thereof.

The Regents are authorized to make such disposal of any other moneys which have accrued, or shall hereafter accrue, as interest upon the Smithsonian fund, not herein appropriated, or not required for the purposes herein provided, as they shall deem best suited for the promotion of the purpose of the testator.

Whenever money is required for the payment of the debts or performance of the contracts of the institution, incurred or entered into in conformity with the provisions of sections 41 to 46, 48, 50, 51 to 53, 54 to 57, and 67 of this title, or for making the purchases and executing the objects authorized by said sections, the Board of Regents, or the executive committee thereof, may certify to the chancellor and secretary of the board that such sum of money is required, whereupon they shall examine the same, and, if they shall approve thereof, shall certify the same to the proper officer of the Treasury for payment. The board shall submit to Congress, at each session thereof, a report of the operations, expenditures, and condition of the institution.

All collections of rocks, minerals, soils, fossils, and objects of natural history, archaeology, and ethnology, made by the National Ocean Survey, the United States Geological Survey, or by any other parties for the Government of the United States, when no longer needed for investigations in progress shall be deposited in the National Museum.

The Secretary of the Army is authorized to furnish to the National Museum, for exhibition, upon request therefor by the administrative head thereof, such articles of arms, materiel, equipment, or clothing as have been issued from time to time to the United States Army, or which have been or may hereafter be produced for the United States Army, and which are objects of general interest or of foreign or curious research, provided that such articles can be spared.

Congress may alter, amend, add to, or repeal any of the provisions of sections 41 to 46, 48, 50, 51 to 53, and 54 to 57, of this title; but no contract or individual right made or acquired under such provisions shall be thereby divested or impaired.

The Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution is hereby authorized to cooperate with any State, educational institution, or scientific organization in the United States to continue independently or in cooperation anthropological researches among the American Indians and the natives of lands under the jurisdiction or protection of the United States and the excavation and preservation of archaeological remains.

There is authorized to be appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the sum of $20,000, which shall be available until expended for the purposes stated in section 69 of this title: Provided, That at such time as the Smithsonian Institution is satisfied that any State, educational institution, or scientific organization in any of the United States is prepared to contribute to such investigation and when, in its judgment such investigation shall appear meritorious, the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution may direct that an amount from this sum equal to that contributed by such State, educational institution, or scientific organization, not to exceed $2,000, to be expended from such sum in any one State during any calendar year, be made available for cooperative investigation: Provided further, That all such cooperative work and division of the result thereof shall be under the direction of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution: Provided further, That where lands are involved which are under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Indian Affairs or the National Park Service, cooperative work thereon shall be under such regulations and conditions as the Secretary of the Interior may provide.