Sponsors (4)
The bill creates a preserved, size-limited Semiquincentennial time capsule with clearer implementation duties and reduced physical risk to the Capitol, but it concentrates approval authority, imposes modest administrative costs, and delays public access and oversight for 250 years.
Future historians, students, and the American public will have a jointly approved Semiquincentennial time capsule preserving current congressional leadership and related records for research and commemoration.
Taxpayers and Capitol visitors benefit because limits on materials and size reduce the risk of degradation and potential damage to the Capitol Visitor Center.
Federal custodians (Architect of the Capitol) have a clear mandate and timeline to create and deposit the time capsule, improving administrative clarity for implementation.
The American public, researchers, and oversight bodies will be denied access and oversight of the capsule's contents until 2276, delaying transparency and accountability for 250 years.
Members of Congress and the public may be excluded from choosing contents because the requirement that four congressional leadership offices jointly approve items concentrates control and risks politicizing what is preserved.
Taxpayers and federal staff will incur additional administrative duties and coordination costs imposed on the Architect of the Capitol and congressional leadership, with limited near-term public benefit.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Directs the Architect of the Capitol and congressional leadership to select, seal, and bury a time capsule in the Capitol Visitor Center by July 4, 2026, to be opened July 4, 2276.
Creates a sealed congressional time capsule to be prepared by the Architect of the Capitol, filled with items jointly selected by the four congressional leadership offices, to be sealed and buried in the Capitol Visitor Center by July 4, 2026 and unsealed July 4, 2276 for presentation to the 244th Congress. It limits capsule dimensions, requires use of low‑degradation materials, and requires committee approval for burial location and plaque installation; one short provision only sets an official short title and does not change law or appropriate funds.
Official title: Provide for the creation of a congressional time capsule in commemoration of the semiquincentennial of the United States, and for other purposes.
Introduced January 27, 2026 by Thomas Roland Tillis · Last progress February 18, 2026