20 U.S.C. § 80b — Selection of site

(a) Authorization of Board of Regents; submission of recommendations to Congress. The Smithsonian Institution's Board of Regents must investigate and survey land and buildings in and near Washington, D.C. that could work for displaying military collections. It does this with advice and help from "the Board" — a group this section doesn't define, so its identity comes from elsewhere in the law. The Board of Regents must first consult the Commission on Fine Arts, the National Capital Planning Commission, and the General Services Administration. Then it must send Congress its recommendations for acquiring land and buildings for this purpose. (b) Public exhibits and study collections; exhibits of military and naval operations. Once the Smithsonian acquires buildings this way, it must use them to house public exhibits and study collections that don't fit with the Smithsonian's military exhibits on the National Mall. These buildings must have space to display large military objects. They must also allow for rebuilding, in a fitting way, examples of fortifications, trenches, and other military and naval facilities — the kinds used during the American colonial period, the Revolutionary War, and later American military and naval history. This rebuilding happens on the land acquired under subsection (a).