Sponsors (12)
The bill creates a well‑specified, durable 250th‑anniversary time capsule with educational and historical benefits and public context, but it imposes small federal costs and locks the contents from scholars and the public for 250 years.
Students, families, and the general public gain a physical 250th‑anniversary time capsule preserving a joint congressional message and commemorative items for future educational and historical use.
Federal preservation staff and future visitors benefit from required material and size standards that increase the likelihood the capsule's contents remain preserved and intact for 250 years.
Taxpayers and visitors receive contextual information because the bill requires an informational plaque, approved by congressional committees, explaining the capsule's purpose and placement.
Students, researchers, and historians are barred from accessing the capsule's contents until 2276, preventing scholarly use and public engagement for 250 years.
Federal employees and taxpayers will incur modest administrative burdens and staff time to plan and implement the capsule's construction and placement.
The Treasury may incur production or coordination costs to mint designated commemorative coins for inclusion, creating minor federal expenses.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Creates a time capsule in the Capitol Visitor Center to be sealed by 7/4/2026 and opened on 7/4/2276 with contents chosen by the four congressional leaders.
Official title: To provide for the creation of a congressional time capsule in commemoration of the semiquincentennial of the United States, and for other purposes.
Introduced November 20, 2025 by Bonnie Watson Coleman · Last progress November 20, 2025
Creates a Semiquincentennial Congressional Time Capsule to be sealed and buried in the Capitol Visitor Center by July 4, 2026. The contents are to be jointly selected by the four congressional leadership offices, must meet material and size limits, and the capsule will remain sealed until July 4, 2276 when it will be presented to the 244th Congress for disposition. Assigns the Architect of the Capitol responsibility for creating and installing the capsule and an informational plaque (with committee approval for the plaque wording). The leadership offices may consult the Architect, the Smithsonian, and other federal entities about contents; the bill sets content requirements (including a joint letter and semiquincentennial coins) and caps the capsule size.