The bill amends chapter 3 of title 36, United States Code, by inserting a new section (§307) that designates the composition known as “Here Rests in Honored Glory” by Donald B. Miller as the national hymn of the United States.
The text is a straight statutory declaration: it names the work by title and author and adds an entry to the chapter’s table of sections.
On its face the change is ceremonial—Congress is labeling one composition as the national hymn—but that label has downstream consequences. Federal agencies, military bands, event organizers, and rights holders will now need to navigate how the designation interacts with performance practice, licensing, and ceremonial protocols, even though the bill creates no funding, performance rules, or copyright exceptions.
At a Glance
What It Does
The bill inserts a new §307 into chapter 3 of title 36 that declares the words and music known as “Here Rests in Honored Glory” by Donald B. Miller to be the national hymn of the United States. It also amends the chapter’s table of sections to list the new provision.
Who It Affects
Immediate stakeholders include the named composer or their estate and any rights-holders, military and civic bands that perform patriotic music, federal agencies that publish ceremonial guidance, and event organizers who may incorporate the hymn into programs.
Why It Matters
By adding a national hymn to title 36, Congress creates an official symbolic reference point that agencies and institutions may use in ceremonies and publications. Because the bill does not address copyright, licensing and practical use remain governed by existing intellectual property law, potentially producing unexpected costs or administrative steps for performers and hosts.
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What This Bill Actually Does
This bill does one thing: it adds a short statutory provision to the section of the U.S. Code that collects national symbols and patriotic observances. The provision names a specific composition—“Here Rests in Honored Glory” by Donald B.
Miller—as the national hymn. The legislative language is declarative and does not tie the designation to any regulatory program, funding stream, penalty, or required action.
Because it lives in title 36, the designation becomes part of the official inventory of U.S. symbols that federal agencies and the public consult for guidance on ceremonial matters. Agencies that produce event checklists, protocol instructions, or educational materials will likely reference the new entry when listing available patriotic works.
The bill does not instruct agencies to prefer the hymn over other pieces or to create uniform performance guidelines.Importantly, the bill is silent on intellectual property. If the composition remains under copyright, the named composer or rights-holder retains the usual exclusive rights; the statutory label does not place the work in the public domain or waive licensing fees.
That gap means performance and reproduction will continue to require the same clearances as any other copyrighted composition unless separate action occurs.Finally, the bill contains a clerical amendment to the table of sections for chapter 3 to add the new section number. There are no appropriations, no criminal penalties, and no administrative mechanism created by this text; its effects are primarily symbolic and administrative rather than regulatory or fiscal.
The Five Things You Need to Know
The bill adds a new section—§307—to chapter 3 of title 36 designating “Here Rests in Honored Glory” by Donald B. Miller as the national hymn.
The statutory language is purely declarative: it names the words and music and does not create duties, penalties, or funding for federal agencies.
The bill includes a clerical amendment to the chapter 3 table of sections to list the new §307 entry.
The text contains no language affecting copyright ownership or performance rights—existing intellectual property law governs reuse and public performance.
There is no directive to federal agencies, the armed forces, or state and local governments to adopt or prioritize the hymn in ceremonies; any use will be voluntary and treated as guidance or tradition rather than a legal requirement.
Section-by-Section Breakdown
Every bill we cover gets an analysis of its key sections.
Designation of the national hymn
This is the operative clause: a single sentence that designates the composition known as “Here Rests in Honored Glory” by Donald B. Miller as the national hymn. Mechanically, that sentence is all the bill accomplishes substantively. Practically, the placement within chapter 3 (which already contains statutes naming the flag, the national anthem, and other symbols) means the work gains formal recognition and an official citation in the U.S. Code that agencies and institutions can cite in materials and protocols.
Administrative indexing in title 36
The bill also amends the chapter’s table of sections to add an entry for §307. That change is clerical but important for how the U.S. Code is navigated: it ensures the national hymn appears in codified lists and electronic searches of chapter 3. The amendment does not expand legal effect beyond indexing—the bill contains no implementing regulations, appropriation language, or cross-references to other statutes.
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Who Benefits
- Donald B. Miller or the composer’s estate — receives formal national recognition that can raise the composition’s profile for performances, recordings, and educational use.
- Military and civic ceremonial organizers — gain an officially named hymn they can reference when designing tributes, memorials, and other formal events.
- Cultural institutions and historians — receive a new official reference point for exhibits and scholarship on American patriotic music.
- Publishers and record labels that control rights to the composition — may benefit commercially if demand for licensed performances and recordings increases due to the designation.
Who Bears the Cost
- Event organizers, bands, and performance venues — may face licensing fees and administrative steps if the composition remains under copyright and they choose to use it.
- Federal agencies and military bands — will need to update guidance, printed materials, and online resources to reflect the new statutory list, imposing modest administrative costs.
- Rights-clearance entities and licensing organizations — could see increased transactional workload as organizations seek permission to perform or reproduce the hymn.
- Stakeholders seeking broader representativeness in national symbols — may incur political or reputational costs if the designation prompts debates about cultural inclusion and the selection process.
Key Issues
The Core Tension
The core dilemma is between formal symbolic recognition and practical control: Congress can name a national hymn to recognize cultural value, but it cannot, and this bill does not attempt to, resolve the commercial and administrative consequences of that recognition—leaving rights-holders, performers, and institutions to reconcile national symbolism with copyright, cost, and representational concerns.
The bill’s simplicity is its strength and weakness. By offering only a declarative designation, Congress avoids entangling the federal government in selecting or funding a specific musical program, but it also leaves open operational questions that fall to other laws and institutions.
The most immediate unresolved issue is copyright: the statute does not attempt to alter ownership or performance rights, so using the hymn in public ceremonies could trigger licensing costs and contractual negotiations that the designation itself neither addresses nor mitigates.
Another tension is symbolic: adding a national hymn to the list of official symbols elevates a single composition in a pluralistic society without providing criteria or context for that choice. Institutions that adopt the hymn will need to decide whether to substitute it for existing practices or add it alongside established observances, and those decisions can have cultural and political ripple effects.
Finally, because the bill creates no implementing guidance, inconsistent adoption is likely—some agencies or services may embrace the hymn quickly, while others ignore it, producing patchwork protocol and potential confusion about whether its use is customary or mandatory.
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