As of April 2014, the law has been amended five times, most notably by the Commemorative Works Clarification and Revision Act of 2003 (Pub.

The pressure to build more memorials on the National Mall was extremely heavy, with roughly 15 new proposals being introduced in each session of Congress.

Approximately 25 additional memorials had been seriously proposed but lacked a congressional sponsor to introduced authorizing legislation in Congress.

The House made additional amendments of its own, and concurred with the Senate bill by voice vote on September 29.

Area I roughly encompassed a zone extending from the White House to the United States Capitol; from the Capitol along Maryland Avenue SW to and along the 14th Street Bridge; the Virginia shore of the Potomac River from the 14th Street Bridge to Columbia Island; Columbia Island; the National Park Service land fronting Arlington National Cemetery (excluding Memorial Drive) north to Key Bridge; Key Bridge due east across the Potomac River to Rock Creek; Rock Creek north to 26th Street NW and L Street NW; south on 26th Street NW to I Street NW; roughly west from the intersection of I and 26th Streets NW to the National Park Service land on the D.C. shore of the Potomac River; south along the Potomac River to West Potomac Park (including the grounds of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts); east along the National Mall to The Ellipse; and north to the White House.

[5] Section 4(a) of the Act formally established the National Capital Memorial Advisory Committee (NCMAC).

An individual or the last surviving member of a group to be commemorated had to have died at least 25 years ago for a memorial to be erected.

"[9][10] Section 8(a) barred the District of Columbia or Department of the Interior from issuing a construction permit for a commemorative work unless its site and design had been approved by the secretary or administrator, the Commission of Fine Arts, and the National Capital Planning Commission; unless the memorial planners could prove they had consulted knowledgeable individuals regarding historic preservation and "structural soundness and durability" about the memorial design; the memorial's builder had design and construction contracts signed; and the memorial's builder had sufficient funds in hand to complete construction.

[11][12][a][1] Section 8(b) also required memorial builders to collect an amount equal to 10 percent of the total cost of construction.

This amount was to be turned over to the United States Treasury, which would hold them in trust as a perpetual operations and maintenance fund for the memorial.

It was referred to the House Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, which approved an amended bill on October 21.

The backers of these memorials convinced Congress that they were close to raising enough funds to build their commemorative works and obtain final design approval.

[19] Section 2(a) of the amendment made minor revisions to the commemorative works encompassed by the CWA.

Commemorative works now included plaques and inscriptions, and memorial sponsors had to be either a public agency or a nonprofit organization as defined by the Internal Revenue Code.

[20] Section 2(b)(2) added the requirement that a major conflict occur at least 10 years ago in order to be authorized in Area I.

[24] Section 8903(b) now barred absolutely works commemorating lesser conflicts or units of the armed forces.

[27] No longer could memorial backers submit their proposed sites and designs directly to the CFA or the NCPC.

Now, according to Section 8905(a)(2), only the Department of the Interior or GSA had that authority (which effectively forced memorial backers to coordinate with them to get a submission made).

[29] Section 8906(b)(1) now required that the 10 percent trust fund be turned over to the Treasury before a construction permit could be issued.

[30] Congress enacted the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Visitor Center Authorization (Public Law 108–126) on November 17, 2003.

The VVMF had raised significant sums of money to construct this museum (which it called a "visitor center", so as not to alarm Smithsonian Institution officials), and it had a potent and well-organized grassroots campaign pressuring Congress to approve the plan.

[b][34] Title II, Section 203(c)(3) relaxed slightly the standard for issuing a construction permit.

Now the Secretary of the Interior or the Administrator of the GSA, in consultation with NCMAC, had the discretion to issue a construction permit if both the NCPC and CFA had issued final (not preliminary) design approval and the foundation had 75 percent (not 100 percent) of the construction funds in hand.

It barred construction of any museum in either Area I or East Potomac Park, and authorized the CFA and NCPC to develop joint regulations, guidelines, and criteria to carry out the CWA.