[House Hearing, 113 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
MARKUP OF H.R. 863, COMMISSION TO STUDY THE POTENTIAL
CREATION OF A NATIONAL
WOMEN'S HISTORY MUSEUM ACT OF 2013
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MEETING
before the
COMMITTEE ON HOUSE
ADMINISTRATION
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED THIRTEENTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
__________
HELD IN WASHINGTON, DC, APRIL 2, 2014
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on House Administration
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COMMITTEE ON HOUSE ADMINISTRATION
CANDICE S. MILLER, Michigan, Chairman
GREGG HARPER, Mississippi ROBERT A. BRADY, Pennsylvania
PHIL GINGREY, M.D., Georgia Ranking Minority Member
AARON SCHOCK, Illinois ZOE LOFGREN, California
TODD ROKITA, Indiana JUAN VARGAS, California
RICHARD NUGENT, Florida
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Professional Staff
Sean Moran, Staff Director
Kyle Anderson, Minority Staff Director
MARKUP OF H.R. 863, COMMISSION TO STUDY THE POTENTIAL CREATION OF A
NATIONAL WOMEN'S HISTORY MUSEUM ACT OF 2013
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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 2, 2014
House of Representatives,
Committee on House Administration,
Washington, DC.
The committee met, pursuant to call, at 10:31 a.m., in room
1310, Longworth House Office Building, Hon. Candice S. Miller
(chairman of the committee) presiding.
Present: Representatives Miller, Harper, Gingrey, Schock,
Nugent, Brady, Lofgren, and Vargas.
Staff Present: Sean Moran, Staff Director; Peter
Schalestock, Deputy General Counsel; Yael Barash, Legislative
Clerk; Bob Sensenbrenner, Senior Counsel; Mary Sue Englund,
Director of Administration; Erin Sayago, Communications
Director; John Clocker, Deputy Staff Director; Kyle Anderson,
Minority Staff Director; Matt Pinkus, Minority Senior Policy
Advisor; Matt DeFreitas, Minority Professional Staff; Khalil
Abboud, Minority Deputy Counsel; Thomas Hicks, Minority Senior
Counsel; Mike Harrison, Minority Chief Counsel; Greg Abbott,
Minority Professional Staff; and Eddie Flaherty, Minority Chief
Clerk.
The Chairman. I would like to call to order the Committee
on House Administration for today's committee hearing. A quorum
is present, so we can proceed. And the meeting record will
remain open for 5 legislative days so that members might submit
any other materials that they might wish to be included in the
record.
And first of all, we are going to have a markup, a quick
markup here before we go into our hearing scheduled today on
the National Zoo. Our markup will consider one item, which is
H.R. 863, which is a bill to establish a commission to study
the potential creation of a National Women's History Museum.
The Committee on Natural Resources actually has primary
jurisdiction over this bill, over this issue. House
Administration has jurisdiction over the single issue of the
bill of having a commission consider whether the museum should
be part of the Smithsonian Institution. We will be issuing a
report on that issue to move the bill forward in the process.
But again on other matters, such as the museum's location, the
makeup of the commission, et cetera, they will be addressed by
the Committee on Natural Resources.
At the end of last year, this committee held a hearing on
the topic of the bill that is before us today, and we received
testimony from our colleagues and the bill's sponsor in the
House, Representative Marsha Blackburn and Representative
Carolyn Maloney. Their testimony urged Congress to establish a
National Women's Museum paid for and maintained entirely with
private funds. This bipartisan measure was cosponsored by more
than 85 Members. It is an appropriate step to study the
possibility of a future Women's History Museum.
The accomplishments of women are woven throughout the
tapestry of our great Nation's history, within small towns or
large cities, within each State, and across the entire Nation.
Women have contributed in every war effort, been inventors,
been architects, business innovators, and leaders in shaping
America's politics as well. Creating a commission to study this
endeavor would be an important step toward memorializing
America's memory of the deep and enduring contributions women
have made.
Since the 105th Congress various bills have been introduced
to advance the creation of a women's museum. One bill even
passed the House and two in the Senate. And today I hope our
committee's action will enable this measure to move forward
during this Congress.
Establishing a commission is a step in the right direction
to fully explore how such a museum would integrate with our
existing national institutions, especially the Smithsonian, as
well as regional and local cultural institutions, what it will
cost, how we can fund it, and where would we put it? These
issues, and I am sure many more, are some areas that a
commission will discuss, investigate, and make recommendations
for consideration.
And I am sure that we can all agree that the intellectual,
cultural, economic, and countless other contributions by half
of our society deserve to have the right custodians for today
and tomorrow's generation of women to learn about the
accomplishments of yesterday's generations. And with this goal
in mind, we are considering this bill to establish a commission
to study the potential creation of a National Women's History
Museum.
Again, this bill is also under the jurisdiction of the
House Committee on Natural Resources. And it is also important
to note that there has been talk that this bill hopefully will
receive floor consideration this year. So I am pleased to have
the committee's members' support to consider moving this bill
forward and to provide an opportunity to determine how our
Nation can best represent the significant milestones and
advancements of our foremothers.
I would now recognize my colleague, my ranking member on
the committee, Mr. Brady, for the purpose of his opening
statement.
Mr. Brady. Thank you, Madam Chairman.
Madam Chairman, I join with you in support of bipartisan
legislation providing for a commission to study the creation of
the National Women's History Museum in Washington, D.C. Women
comprise more than half of the United States population. They
have achieved historic accomplishments in all fields of
endeavor and deserve this opportunity for recognition in the
Nation's Capital.
I anticipate this action on the legislation would be
followed later this spring by a hearing on the final report of
the American Latino Museum Commission, which has been before us
since 2011, and which you expressed an interest in at the end
of this year.
I would urge the members prior to final action on this bill
by the House to work to expand the size of the Women's History
Museum Commission to a more workable number beyond the current
eight and to include Presidential appointees, as was the case
with the African-American Museum and the American Latino Museum
Commissions. This would enhance the commission's chances of
ultimate success.
I look forward to the opportunity to evaluate the
commission's work during the 114th Congress, and I urge an aye
vote for this legislation.
The Chairman. Thank the gentleman very much.
Are there other members of the committee that would like to
have an opening statement? The gentleman from Georgia, Dr.
Gingrey.
Mr. Gingrey. Madam Chairman, I want to thank you for
calling this markup on H.R. 863, the Commission to Study the
Potential Creation of a National Women's History Museum Act. If
enacted, this legislation would establish a commission which
would then be required to submit a report to the President and
to Congress detailing their recommendations for the
establishment of a National Women's History Museum located here
in Washington, D.C.
The bill will also direct the commission to report on
whether the Women's History Museum should be part of the
Smithsonian Institution, which is why this committee has the
opportunity to weigh in on the legislation before us today.
While some museums devoted to women's history already
exist, most cover only specific aspects of women's
contributions, such as the National Museum of Women in the Arts
or the Women of the West Museum. Rather than trying to pick and
choose places to add women's history in existing exhibits, a
National Women's History Museum will provide a chance to give a
more comprehensive account of women's numerous contributions to
our Nation's history.
Women make up more than half of this country's population,
yet too often their achievements and their contributions
throughout history have been overshadowed. It is past time that
we focus on the important influence women have had in their own
right, and this bill before us today creates a commission that
is a critical first step in so doing. Today's markup gives us
as a committee an important chance to show our commitment to
ensuring that women's history is honored and given the
attention that it deserves.
Madam Chairman, I thank you, and I yield back.
The Chairman. Thank the gentleman.
Are there any other members that wish to make an opening
statement?
The gentlelady from California.
Ms. Lofgren. Just briefly, I wanted to compliment the
supporters actually in the private sector who helped bring us
to this day. It was just a short period of time ago that you
and I sat here and we had the authors here, but we also had the
people who worked so hard out in the community to get support
and to give us hope that we will be able to actually see this
as a museum.
So I think this is a very important day. Obviously, it is
just a first step, but it is an important first step. And I
know that they are still committed to continuing their efforts.
We are going to count on them. I see them here in the audience,
and I wanted to note that.
And thank you, Madam Chair. I agree with the ranking
member. I hope that this can be a model for us and that we will
be able to take similar swift action on the Latino Museum,
which has actually been under consideration for a considerable
period of time. So if we had a hearing on that, maybe we would
have the same outcome on that.
And I, with those comments, would yield back on this great
day.
The Chairman. Thank you very much.
As I did mention, I am interested in pursuing a hearing on
the Latino Museum and would certainly go through these one at a
time here. But in regards to your comments, Ms. Lofgren, as
well, I certainly want to add, and I see some of the ladies out
in the audience today that have been so passionate and so
dedicated and committed to pushing this forward. So we want to
thank you for that and I know you are going to all continue
with that as we take this, as has been mentioned, very
important first step.
I now call up and lay before the committee, H.R. 863.
[The Act, H.R. 863, follows:]
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The Chairman. And without objection, the first reading of
the bill is dispensed with, and the bill is considered read and
open for amendment at any point. Is there any debate? Are there
any members that want to offer an amendment on the bill? If
not, I would move that the committee favorably report H.R. 863.
The question is on the motion.
All those in favor, signify by saying aye.
Opposed, say nay.
Motion carried.
In the opinion of the chair, as I say, the ayes have it. So
without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid upon the
table. Does any member wish to file supplemental minority or
additional views for inclusion in the committee report to the
House.
Mr. Brady. Madam Chair?
The Chairman. Mr. Brady.
Mr. Brady. I would like to announce that the Democratic
members will request 2 additional calendar days provided by
Clause 2, Rule 11 of the Rules of the House in order to file
these.
The Chairman. Pursuant to Clause 2 of Rule 11, the member
is entitled to 2 additional calendar days to file such views in
writing and signed by that member with the clerk of the
committee.
I would now ask unanimous consent that the staff be
authorized to make technical and conforming changes to the
measure the committee just considered. Without objection, so
ordered.
That concludes today's markup. Congratulations, ladies, and
we look forward to working with you very much.
This portion of our meeting, the markup, is adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 10:41 a.m., the committee was adjourned.]