[House Hearing, 116 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
OVERSIGHT OF THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION: OPPORTUNITIES FOR GROWTH BY
HONORING LATINO AMERICANS AND ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICANS
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HEARING
BEFORE THE
COMMITTEE ON HOUSE
ADMINISTRATION
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED SIXTEENTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
__________
FEBRUARY 5, 2020
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on House Administration
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Available on the Internet:
https://govinfo.gov/committee/house-administration
__________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
41-334 PDF WASHINGTON : 2020
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C O N T E N T S
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FEBRUARY 5, 2020
Page
Oversight of the Smithsonian Institution: Opportunities for
Growth by Honoring Latino Americans and Asian Pacific Americans 1
OPENING STATEMENTS
Chairperson Zoe Lofgren.......................................... 1
Prepared statement of Chairperson Lofgren.................... 3
Hon. Rodney Davis, Ranking Member................................ 30
Prepared statement of Ranking Member Davis................... 31
WITNESSES
Hon. Jose E. Serrano, Fifteenth District of New York............. 6
Prepared statement by Hon. Serrano........................... 8
Hon. Will Hurd, Twenty-Third District of Texas................... 10
Prepared statement of Hon. Hurd.............................. 12
Hon. Grace Meng, Sixth District of New York...................... 15
Prepared statement of Hon. Meng.............................. 17
Mr. Lonnie G. Bunch, III, Secretary, Smithsonian Institution..... 18
Prepared statement of Mr. Bunch.............................. 21
Mr. Henry Munoz, Chair, National Museum of the American Latino
Commission..................................................... 44
Prepared statement of Mr. Munoz.............................. 46
Dr. Beth Lew-Williams, Associate Professor of History, Princeton
University..................................................... 57
Prepared statement of Dr. Lew-Williams....................... 59
Ms. Lisa Sasaki, Director, Smithsonian Asian Pacific American
Center......................................................... 63
Prepared statement of Ms. Sasaki............................. 65
Dr. Eric Petersen, Specialist in American National Government,
Congressional Research Service................................. 67
Prepared statement of Dr. Petersen........................... 69
SUBMISSIONS FOR THE RECORD
Chairperson Lofgren and Ranking Member Davis to Chairperson
McCollum and Ranking Member Joyce, letter...................... 24
An Important Story That Must Be Told, The Hill, Article.......... 79
OVERSIGHT OF THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION: OPPORTUNITIES FOR GROWTH BY
HONORING LATINO AMERICANS AND ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICANS
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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2020
House of Representatives,
Committee on House Administration,
Washington, DC.
The Committee met, pursuant to call, at 10:03 a.m., in Room
1310, Longworth House Office Building, Hon. Zoe Lofgren
[Chairperson of the Committee] presiding.
Present: Representatives Lofgren, Raskin, Davis of
California, Fudge, Aguilar, Davis of Illinois, Walker, and
Loudermilk.
Staff Present: Sean Jones, Legislative Clerk; David Tucker,
Senior Counsel and Parliamentarian; Daniel Taylor, Chief
Counsel; Khalil Abboud, Deputy Staff Director; Jennifer Daulby,
Minority Staff Director; Mary Sue Englund, Minority Director of
Administrative Operations; Tim Monahan, Minority Deputy Staff
Director; and Carson Steelman, Legislative Correspondent for
Mr. Walker.
The Chairperson. The Committee will come to order. I note
that Mr. Davis will be slightly delayed, but we will recognize
him for his opening statement when he arrives.
I would like to say welcome to the Committee on House
Administration as we focus on opportunities for growth at the
Smithsonian Institution by honoring Latino Americans and Asian
Pacific Americans.
There are two proposals for new Smithsonian museums: H.R.
2420, a bill to establish the National Museum of the American
Latino; and H.R. 4132, a bill to establish a commission to
study the potential creation of a National Museum of Asian
Pacific American History and Culture. This hearing is intended
to inform our consideration of those measures as well as other
matters related to overseeing the Smithsonian.
And I would like to start by thanking the participants in
today's hearing for providing us with your expertise. I
recognize that some witnesses have traveled to Washington from
places across the country for this hearing, and we are very
grateful that you are here.
I would like also to give special recognition to
Representatives Jose Serrano, Will Hurd, and Grace Meng,
sponsors of the two bills we are discussing today.
I am very proud to represent San Jose and Santa Clara
County in what is a very diverse district. San Jose has the
largest concentration of Vietnamese Americans in the United
States, and it is also home to northern California's largest
Mexican American community. For years, I have seen firsthand
how these communities are emblematic of the American
experience, and I am looking forward to hearing from our
witnesses as to how we can help tell the story of Asian Pacific
Americans and Latino Americans through potential new
Smithsonian museums.
For those who may be unfamiliar with the process by which a
new Smithsonian museum is created, it typically begins with a
legislatively created commission tasked with making
recommendations to the President and Congress as to whether a
new museum should be established and what the process of
standing up that museum would look like. H.R. 4132, if enacted,
would establish such a commission to study the creation of a
National Museum of Asian Pacific American History and Culture.
This legislation is primarily referred to the Natural
Resources Committee, but given its implication for future
Smithsonian operations, this Committee will exercise its
jurisdiction in planning carefully for the future growth of the
Smithsonian.
The National Museum of the American Latino has already had
a commission, which has produced a report and issued
recommendations, and H.R. 2420 is a bill that, if enacted,
would authorize the establishment of this important museum.
[The statement of the Chairperson follows:]
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As I mentioned earlier, before I turned on the microphone,
Ranking Member Davis is going to be slightly late, but he will
give his opening statement when he arrives.
I would now like to welcome our witnesses. Joining us this
morning, as I mentioned, is our first panel: Representative
Jose Serrano, who represents the Bronx in New York's 15th
Congressional District.
I think I speak sadly for all of us that this is his final
term in Congress on behalf of his constituents in the Bronx.
Over the course of his 15 terms, Jose Serrano has pursued an
agenda that reflects his core values of equal opportunity and
fair treatment for all. He is a tireless fighter for civil
liberties, immigration reform, and many other initiatives that
benefit the neediest and most vulnerable members of our
society.
As a former chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus
and its current dean, he has been a tireless advocate for the
National Museum of the American Latino.
Representative Serrano, I am so glad and grateful that you
are able to be here with us today.
And Representative Will Hurd has spent his entire career as
a public servant, first as an undercover CIA agent and more
recently as a Member of Congress. Since being elected in 2014,
Representative Hurd has applied his expertise to his work on
the Intelligence Committee and has worked to help keep our
country safe. Representative Hurd is an original cosponsor of
H.R. 2420. We also will miss him next year, as he has announced
his retirement.
We do thank you very much for being here in support of this
important piece of legislation.
Representative Grace Meng represents a district in Queens
just a short drive over the White Stone Bridge from
Representative Serrano's district in the Bronx. Representative
Meng is currently serving her fourth term in Congress. She is
the first and only Asian American Member of Congress from New
York State, the first female Member of Congress from Queens
since Geraldine Ferraro, and she has spent her time in Congress
focusing on helping individuals in public housing and military
veterans. She is a tireless advocate for children and a co-
founder and co-chair of the Kids' Safety Caucus.
And we thank you, Congresswoman Meng, for being here.
At this time, before we hear from the witnesses, I ask
unanimous consent that all Members have five legislative days
to revise and extend their remarks and that all written
statements be made part of the record.
Without objection, so ordered.
I will remind our witnesses, we do go by the five-minute
rule, so please adhere to the lights.
And we will turn to you, Congressman Serrano, first, for
your statement.
STATEMENTS OF THE HON. JOSE E. SERRANO, A REPRESENTATIVE IN
CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF NEW YORK; THE HON. WILL HURD, A
REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF TEXAS; AND THE
HON. GRACE MENG, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF
NEW YORK
STATEMENT OF THE HON. JOSE E. SERRANO
Mr. Serrano. Thank you. And first let me thank you for
those kind words. Sixteen years in the State Assembly and 30 in
Congress, probably enough. I leave as a chairman, I leave in
the majority--I will leave in the majority. And so, like some
ballplayers, I should leave on top before it is time to go. But
I thank you for those words, and I thank you for your work. And
I am glad to be here with my colleagues.
Chairperson Lofgren, Ranking Member Davis, and members of
the Committee, thank you for your invitation to testify on the
importance of honoring the contributions of Latino and Asian
Pacific Americans and ensuring their full inclusion within the
Smithsonian Institution.
I am proud to join my fellow New Yorker and colleague from
Queens, Ms. Meng, as well as the Republican co-leader of our
bill Mr. Hurd of Texas.
As you know, Latinos have been part of this country since
its foundation. Today, nearly 60 million Americans, or 18
percent of our U.S. population, identify as Latino or Hispanic.
As a proud Puerto Rican, I am one of them. The U.S. Census
reports that by 2060 this community will reach 111 million
folks in this country, or nearly 28 percent of our population.
In addition, Latinos make up a quarter of the Nation's 54
million K-through-12 students. We are the largest ethnic group
in the United States and second only to Asian Americans in
terms of growth.
Latinos have left an indelible mark on our Nation's history
and helped shape it in ways that most Americans and even many
in our own community are unaware. We have served in every war
since the American Revolution, fighting bravely and paying a
heavy price on behalf of our Nation. We write award-winning
Broadway plays and films. We are sports heroes and legends. We
have been on the front lines of the fight for civil rights. We
have shaped the music we all dance to, the food we eat, and
countless other staples of American life.
But Latino art and history is noticeably absent from
recognition in many cultural institutions across this Nation,
including the Smithsonian. To deny the telling of this story
not only does a disservice to our contributions and sacrifices
but also renders American history incomplete. There is no doubt
that without the significant contributions of Latinos the
country we know today would be much different.
Last May, on the eighth anniversary of the Latino museum
commission report to President Obama and the U.S. Congress,
which laid forth a roadmap for creating a sustainable, world-
class Latino museum, a bipartisan group of my colleagues joined
me in reintroducing H.R. 2420, the National Museum of the
American Latino Act, which, with 264--let me repeat that--with
264 cosponsors in the House, and counting, and 27 in the U.S.
Senate, we are closer than ever to turning this dream into a
reality.
H.R. 2420 was modeled after a successful legislation that
created other museums. It would authorize establishment of a
Latino museum and use the commission's report's vision and
recommendations to get us there. And it will be paid for just
as other museums have been, with 50 percent of the cost coming
from private donations and 50 percent from Federal funds.
Next year, the Molina Family Latino Gallery will open in
the American History Museum. This is a step in the right
direction, but no matter how hard we try, hundreds of years of
history, art, and culture cannot be contained in one 4,500-
square-foot exhibit. We deserve a dedicated museum for our own
in the heart of Washington, D.C. We need a Latino museum, and
we need it soon. If you can do it before I leave Congress, I
would be very, very happy.
Thank you, Chairperson Lofgren and Members of the
Committee, for having this important conversation and
challenging the Smithsonian to be more vibrant, inclusive, and
welcoming.
With consideration of these bills, the Committee will
continue honoring James Smithson's wish that the institution
which bears his name will be ``an establishment for the
increase and diffusion of knowledge.'' I am sure he would be
proud if he were here today.
Thank you.
[The statement of Mr. Serrano follows:]
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The Chairperson. Thank you very much, Congressman Serrano.
Congressman Hurd, we would be happy to hear from you.
STATEMENT OF THE HON. WILL HURD
Mr. Hurd. Chairperson Lofgren, Mr. Walker, and to my other
very, very distinguished colleagues, thanks for having me here
today. As the lead Republican on H.R. 2420, the National Museum
of American Latino Act, and as a representative of a majority-
Latino district, I am proud to discuss the need for a
Smithsonian museum of the American Latino right here in our
Nation's capital.
The National Mall in Washington, D.C., is our country's
front yard. It has museums for miles telling our Nation's
stories, stories of natural history, of air and space, of art,
of buildings, of the American Indian, and, most recently, of
African American history and culture. But there is one set of
stories that is missing, the stories of the largest ethnic
minority in the United States.
The U.S. is home to almost 59 million Latinos and Latinas,
and estimates: As Congressman Serrano said, by 2060, one out of
every four people in the United States will be of Latino
heritage.
This bill would make the first strides towards establishing
a permanent museum for the American Latino by instituting a
board of trustees that will be responsible for finding a
location, developing a long-term plan for construction, and
advising the Smithsonian Board of Regents.
Not only does this bill establish a leadership structure to
make the idea of the museum a reality, but it authorizes a
public-private partnership that will establish the 50-50
matching program to fund this project.
Next year, the Smithsonian is opening within the Museum of
American History a Latino center, the first gallery space to
celebrate the experience of American Latinos and Latinas. The
space will showcase the contributions of the American Latino,
like how they have served in our Nation's uniform in every war
since Revolution. But the space will pale in comparison to the
existing museums, many of which have exhibition space well over
100,000 square feet.
In just over four months, the National Museum of African
American History and Culture hit the 1-million-visitors mark,
and since its opening, the museum has welcomed more than 6
million tourists. This is an indication of how successful a
museum of the American Latino can be. Our Nation's investment
in displaying these stories that Americans and millions of
tourists from around the world will want to hear will be more
than worth it.
Our bill, as my partner in crime on this has said, has more
than 260 bipartisan cosponsors in the House, and my colleagues
Senators Cornyn, Menendez, Rubio, McSally, and Capito are
leading this bipartisan effort in the Senate.
This isn't a Republican or Democratic issue; this is an
American issue. This transcends each of us here today and will
allow future generations of Americans from sea to shining sea
to learn from our past, appreciate the progress made today, and
work together to create a stronger future.
Growing up in San Antonio, I was exposed to the rich Latino
culture that is prominent in all aspects of American culture.
From the music we listen to, the clothes we wear and the food
we eat, to the gifted minds of our doctors, educators, and
businesspeople, we see these accomplishments woven into our
everyday lives and the very fabric of our Nation. I appreciate
you all giving me the opportunity to do this.
And I will end with an experience I had about 2 weeks ago.
I am with a friend at the Native American museum, and as we are
going through the displays, my friend, who was 30-ish, had
never heard of the Trail of Tears. But because we were at a
museum and were able to expose and be exposed to something that
is so important to our culture, to our history, we had the
opportunity to have that moment. And we need that opportunity
when it comes to the impact Latino culture has had and is
having in the United States.
So I am glad to be a cosponsor of this. And I would like to
also get this done before my friend and fellow Member, Mr.
Serrano, leaves as well.
Thank you all for the time.
[The statement of Mr. Hurd follows:]
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The Chairperson. Thank you very much.
And now we will turn to our last witness on this panel,
Congresswoman Meng.
STATEMENT OF THE HON. GRACE MENG
Ms. Meng. Chairperson Lofgren, Ranking Member Davis, and
distinguished Members of this Committee, thank you for this
opportunity to discuss my bill, H.R. 4132, the Commission to
Study the Potential Creation of a National Museum of Asian
Pacific American History and Culture Act, a bill that I have
proudly introduced each of the past three Congresses.
I also want to thank my colleagues Congressman Serrano and
Congressman Hurd for being here to testify in support of their
legislation, H.R. 2420, of which I am a proud supporter and
cosponsor as well. And if you would like to move both of our
bills before they leave, I would be very happy as well.
I come before you today to emphasize the need to weave the
narrative to the Asian Pacific American communities into the
greater American story. After all, the past shapes who we are,
just as it also strengthens how we move forward.
There is no doubt that Asian Pacific Americans are the
fastest-growing ethnic population in the U.S., and our
community is becoming an increasingly powerful and visible
force in all aspects of American life. From entertainment to
medicine, from academia to entrepreneurship, from social
justice to innovation, our community has made invaluable
contributions to every facet of our Nation. But too often our
community is excluded or forgotten in history--our American
history.
As long ago as 1850, men were recruited from the Asia-
Pacific region to the U.S. to work in mines, factories, farms,
and on the construction of railroads. Since then, APAs have
immeasurably contributed to the advancement of our country.
From the Chinese Americans who fought at the Battles of
Antietam and Gettysburg during the American Civil War to the
Japanese Americans who comprised the 442nd Regimental Combat
Team during World War II and who became the most decorated unit
in the history of the U.S. military; from the Chinese Exclusion
Act to the Japanese American internment camps; and from the
first wave of Southeast Asian refugees on our shores to the
Filipino Americans who helped found the farm-worker labor
movement, these events have left an indelible mark on our
American story. Shamefully, too often, these stories are
starkly missing.
From these halls of Congress to every American classroom,
we also cannot forget our APA heroes who fought for human and
civil rights and social justice with their every breath,
including Grace Lee Boggs, a human rights activist for seven
decades; Larry Itliong, the quintessential leader for labor
rights and justice; Colonel Young Oak Kim, the highly decorated
U.S. Army combat veteran of World War II and the Korean War;
Dalip Singh Saund, the first Asian American elected to
Congress; and Patsy Mink, the first woman of color elected to
Congress and whose name is synonymous with Title IX.
Chairperson Lofgren, Ranking Member Davis, museums are
gateways for Americans and the world to see our country's rich
history, challenges it overcame, and potential for greatness.
That is why a commission to study the potential creation of a
national museum of Asian Pacific American history is the first
step in elevating the APA experiences. Doing so would ensure
that Americans of all ethnicities and generations can learn
about the impact our community has had in our Nation's values,
traditions, culture, and history. After all, the Asian Pacific
American story is the American story.
Thank you again for this opportunity to come before your
Committee. I ardently hope we can work together to preserve the
unique histories of all Americans, including Asian Pacific
Americans, for future generations.
Thank you.
[The statement of Ms. Meng follows:]
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The Chairperson. Thank you very much.
As is our practice, we will not subject our colleagues to
questioning under the five-minute rule, but we would like to
thank you for the vision that you have shown in working on
these bills to make sure that the pride we have as Americans
extends to every element of our beautiful country. And we thank
you for taking time to be here today.
We will call up our next panel.
So we welcome, Secretary Lonnie Bunch. We are so pleased to
have you here in our chambers again.
As we know, Secretary Bunch is the 14th Secretary of the
Smithsonian, and he now joins us for his second appearance
before the Committee since he assumed the role of Secretary in
June of last year.
Though a relatively new Secretary, Mr. Bunch is certainly
no stranger to the Smithsonian museum. From 2005 until 2019,
Mr. Bunch served as the founding director of the Smithsonian's
National Museum of African American History and Culture.
Secretary Bunch took the idea of an African American History
museum, he translated it into reality.
Frankly, it is an amazingly good museum. Since it opened in
2016, the museum has welcomed more than 5 million visitors and
compiled the collection of 40,000 objects in the first green
building on the National Mall.
Secretary Bunch is also an accomplished author, having
written on topics such as the American Presidency to museum
management. His most recent work, ``A Fool's Errand''--I love
the title--is about his experience creating the African
American History Museum.
We are so fortunate to have you as Secretary of the museum
and as a witness today. And, please, do give us your wisdom in
about five minutes.
STATEMENT OF LONNIE G. BUNCH III, SECRETARY, SMITHSONIAN
INSTITUTION, WASHINGTON, D.C.
Mr. Bunch. All right. Thank you.
Chairperson Lofgren, Ranking Member Davis, Members of the
Committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify before the
Committee again today.
When I was last before the Committee, we touched only
briefly on the topic of creating additional museums within the
Smithsonian, so I am grateful that you have decided to dedicate
this time to explore the topic in greater depth.
As the founding director of our most recent addition to the
Smithsonian, the National Museum of African American History
and Culture, I am happy to share the insights I gained creating
a museum that began without a staff, without a building,
without a collection.
What the National Museum of African American History and
Culture has demonstrated is that the experience of any
community offers a lens to better understand our collective
national identity. Its stories are the stories for everyone. It
can teach any visitor something about themselves, about their
history, and their country. By sharing the experiences of more
communities, the better we can understand each other and our
shared history.
As new museum legislation is debated within Congress, it is
essential that the Smithsonian not wait to provide its visitors
with a broader, more inclusive history. We had hoped to be
joined today by Eduardo Diaz, the director of the Smithsonian
Latino Center, who was called away on family matters. But I am
so pleased to be joined today by Lisa Sasaki, who is the
director of the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center.
Together, we can share how these centers make the Smithsonian
more effective, more vibrant, and more meaningful by embracing
an inclusive vision of our history and our culture.
I know that you share our vision for telling a more
complete and complex history of our Nation. While my memories
of opening the National Museum of African American History and
Culture are vivid, so are my memories of how difficult it was.
I quickly realized that the opening was still just the
beginning of a long journey.
As the head of the Institution of the Smithsonian, we will
be responsible for any new museums, and it is my obligation to
ensure that Congress is fully aware what it means to place this
responsibility on the Smithsonian. Any new museum must meet the
expectations the public has for a national museum. This means
appropriate size, programming, and collections. We must
contemplate the needs of staff, and we must be comfortable in
crafting an institution that has the right sight. There must
also be a wonderful location, because these buildings are
powerful symbols of how we as a Nation value the contributions
of the people they represent.
While I know everyone here would like to know how much a
new museum would cost, we simply don't have enough information
to provide a precise answer. The costs of construction are tied
ultimately to the site and the challenges that location may
present. Given expected construction cost increases and the
challenges of preferred sites, a comparable new museum will
likely exceed the cost of building the National Museum of
African American History and Culture.
It is so important to note that the costs do not end with
construction. The annual operating costs of a museum alone are
significant, but the true costs are also spread throughout the
Institution. Many functions of the Smithsonian are centralized,
such as maintenance, security, and a general counsel. We cannot
let additional museums detract--but, rather, enhance--our
ability to staff and tell the stories for all Americans.
Finally, it is important that Congress understands the
impact that new museums can have on our ability to maintain our
aging infrastructure. Several of our iconic buildings are
slated for or are currently undergoing extensive renovation.
Others are in need. As this Committee is well aware, our
backlog of maintenance costs has exceeded $1 billion, and many
of our facilities continue to fall behind.
I would like to thank you, however, for the bipartisan
support you have shown in helping us manage this problem and
supporting a more sustainable path for the Institution. We are
continuing to look at new ways to assess and address this
backlog. And Congress must understand that bringing a new
museum to fruition will increase these challenges--but
challenges that I think, together, we can overcome.
When building the National Museum of African American
History and Culture, I saw Congress as an essential partner. As
Secretary, I will take the same approach. It is imperative that
we work collaboratively to ensure we can meet all of our
challenges, new and old. And I am sure that we can build
museums worthy not only of the Smithsonian but worthy of the
communities that the museum represents with the right support
from Congress.
I stand ready to answer any questions you have because I am
excited about the opportunity to discuss the future of what may
happen at the Smithsonian. Thank you very much.
[The statement of Mr. Bunch follows:]
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The Chairperson. Thank you very much, Secretary Bunch.
I just wanted to put something in the record. I don't think
everyone knew. I think you are aware. But Ranking Member Davis
and I sent a letter to the Appropriations Committee last year
asking that they fund the deferred maintenance backlog fully
for the Smithsonian. This has been building over the years. It
is not because of these proposals. I ask unanimous consent that
the letter we sent on funding deferred maintenance be made part
of the record. Without objection, so ordered.
[The information is as follows:]
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Davis and I had discussed, back a long time ago--I
think Mr. Davis was on the staff. I was a new Member when Vic
Fazio decided it was time to get caught up, and that is when we
did the maintenance and really renovated and saved the Botanic
Garden; it is when we basically saved the old Library of
Congress, which was falling apart. And we think it is time to
do that with the Smithsonian, not to let maintenance deferred
ultimately cost us more because we have not paid attention.
We have not given up on this idea. And I want to recruit
the other Members of the Committee, especially one Member who
is on the Appropriations Committee, to see if we can't get that
done. Because, in the end, it is going to cost us more. And
these beautiful institutions really are in trust for us for the
future and for the public, and we want to make sure that we are
doing the right thing.
Having said that, in a way, ``A Fool's Errand,'' your new
book--hopefully that will not be the case with these two
proposals. We are having this hearing because we do hope to
move forward on these two.
I was struck by something that you said at the last hearing
where you were present, something to the effect of, if you
never start, you never finish. And so I think it is important
to start. That is not a guarantee that we get to the finish
line, frankly. This is an authorization. But we will never know
if we don't start and if we don't try.
Let me just ask you this, Secretary Bunch. When you take a
look at the Latino American museum as well as the Asian
American museum--we have a very diverse Asian American
community in the United States, a very diverse Latino community
in the United States--how do you approach that, in making sure
that, as we are inclusive, we are inclusive in the whole
community? How would you do that?
Mr. Bunch. I think it is important to realize that the key
to success of any Smithsonian Institution museum is
scholarship, and the scholarship allows us to understand the
diversity within these communities. It is a challenge to figure
out how to do that, but it is something that can be easily done
with good scholars and with good curators.
I think the most important thing for me, as I think about
new museums, is to recognize that it is a two-sided coin, that
on the one hand it is an opportunity to finally tell stories of
communities, their own diversity, their impact, the challenges
they face; but I think, to be the kind of Institution we really
want, there will also have to be the other side of the coin
that says, here is how you use Latino culture or the story of
the Asian Pacific Americans to better understand what it means
to be an American, to recognize that this is a story that
shapes us all, not just the communities.
So I think it can be done, but it is a challenge that needs
good leadership and good scholarship.
The Chairperson. Let me ask you this. I think back to some
of the efforts that have been made just in my own little
community, and I will just mention two examples.
We have Norm Mineta, who was born in San Jose in what was
then called and still is the oldest Japantown in the United
States. A group of elders decided to open a little museum, and
they did it with artifacts from their own community. And, you
know, it is small, but it is really quite wonderful. They honor
the Japanese Americans who walked out of the internment camps,
volunteering to fight in World War II, and ended up being the
most decorated unit in the entire history of the military
service in World War II. And they have artifacts from the
families of that unit and other things.
The second museum--I have a large Vietnamese American
community. Those refugees struggled. They came in little boats,
fleeing from communism, and are so happy to live in this free
country. And they have a little museum, again, made up of the
artifacts from the people who fled in boats or who fled from
the communists.
Would you think about accommodating those types of
activities that are sort of indigenous, in a way, but are very
real? How would you deal with that?
Mr. Bunch. Let me use the example of what we did with the
National Museum of African American History and Culture. There
are literally 150 small museums around the country that look at
African American culture. And there was great concern that, if
you create a museum, does that hurt us? Are we left----
The Chairperson. Well, they are not concerned in that way.
Let me make that clear.
Mr. Bunch. But I think what is important is that what we
realized is that a national museum ought to draw people to
Washington but then push them back to local museums. So let
people understand that you can't build these national museums
without recognizing that you are standing on the work that is
done at these small institutions.
So my goal would be to always celebrate those institutions
as part of the foundation of creating any national museum.
The Chairperson. That is really wonderful. Thank you so
much, Secretary Bunch.
And I will turn now to Mr. Walker.
Mr. Walker. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Mr. Bunch, let me say, you have done a great job. And I
appreciate, as we were talking about earlier, the heart and
energy that exists in the African American Museum, and I hope
that that is something that continues to be part of our future
in representing and honoring all cultures.
A couple questions, though. The Women's History Museum
Commission report indicated construction costs of the museum
would be fully financed by private funds. In your opinion, is
that model really possible? I just want to have kind of an
answer in the sense of knowing what we are facing moving
forward as we work bipartisan to try to get there. Is it
possible? And if not, why isn't it?
Mr. Bunch. I think that makes the hill a very steep hill to
climb. I would argue that what is crucially important is a
public-private partnership, that what that does, it allowed me,
for example, building the African American Museum, to talk
about how the support from Congress could be then leveraged
from the private sector. And, in essence, many people in the
private sector said, we want to help as long as we see that
Congress is also part of the process.
So can it be done without congressional support? Sure, it
can, but it makes it a much, much more difficult task. I am so
grateful that the legislation to create the African American
Museum had a 50-50 split.
Mr. Walker. Yes.
It is very clear, as recently as Super Bowl Sunday, the
incredible history and impact, musically and culturally, that
Latinos have made on our country.
The National Museum of American Latino Commission report
laid out a plan of which no Federal funds would be required for
the first six years of planning and pre-construction work for a
new museum. Once again, just from a clarity standpoint, do you
think that approach could work?
Mr. Bunch. I think that one of the great successes of what
would make any new museum work is to have some congressional
support up front so that they can find the staff to help raise
funds, they can plan better what this museum should be, which
will get people excited. I just think that it really has to be
a public-private partnership.
Mr. Walker. I have one more question, but I want to get off
the paper for just a second. Part of the attraction to the
African American Museum is just the atmosphere and the energy
that was captured in that. Do you think that can be duplicated
in these other arenas as well?
You don't walk through the African American Museum without
being moved tremendously. Is that something that you foresee
could be in other museums honoring different people, groups or
women in general?
Mr. Bunch. There is no doubt in my mind that the sense of
intimacy, the sense of reducing history to human scale, the
sense of drama that is at the African American Museum can be
replicated, even done even better in these new museums.
So my expectation would be that they would be places that
you would revel in the past but you would feel an intimacy that
would shape who we are today and maybe even point us toward who
we can become as a Nation.
Mr. Walker. Your answer was much more articulated than even
my question, so thank you.
So my final question here. The CBO prepared a recent cost
estimate for H.R. 1980, the proposed Smithsonian Women's
History Museum. Based on a 50-50 private Federal funding model,
the total construction costs would be around $484 million.
Do you believe this is a realistic funding level for
construction of a new museum? In the past, frankly, we have
seen lots of cost overruns and even delays. Does this cost
estimate account for those items? And if not, should it? And
why?
Mr. Bunch. I think it is a reasonable estimate. I think
that you have to realize that, if you are going to build a
museum of a size that is credible, it means that you are going
to spend $300 million to $400 million just to construct the
building, but you also then need another $90 million to $100
million to do the exhibitions, to build the collections.
So I think it is a number that is in the ballpark. My
expectation would be that it would probably cost more than it
cost to build the African American Museum.
Mr. Walker. Thank you, Secretary Bunch. Your expertise is
very valuable.
I yield back.
The Chairperson. Thank you.
Mr. Davis has arrived and said that he is going to put his
opening statement into the record, which we, by unanimous
consent, will do.
[The statement of Mr. Davis of Illinois follows:]
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
The Chairperson. And we will turn to Mrs. Davis.
Mrs. Davis of California. Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
And welcome, again----
Mr. Bunch. Thank you.
Mrs. Davis of California [continuing]. To the Committee and
bringing your expertise and your vision with you.
You know, I picked up from your words a kind of cautionary
tale, I guess, at this point. And I am just wondering if you
could expand on that a little bit.
One of the things that you mentioned, which was so critical
here, is the scholarship and bringing together all the
expertise and gathering that up, which was the job that you had
with the National Museum of African American History and
Culture.
How do you see that then? Is that something that we have
that is sitting there, ready to go? Or is that something that
really is a process over the course of five years, ten years?
Mr. Bunch. One of the great strengths of looking at the
Latino museum or Asian Pacific American museum is that the
Smithsonian has these two centers that are already doing a lot
of this work, that are building the relationships with
scholars, that are testing ideas and programs and education,
which the African American Museum didn't have. So, in some
ways, these centers are crucial whether we build the museum or
not, but they will allow the process to move more quickly.
I think the challenge is that, no matter what we do, it is
going to take several years of planning, of really getting to
know the audiences, understanding what people want and how to
then translate that into a concrete form. But I think that what
excites me is I listen to Eduardo Diaz or Lisa talk a little
bit about the work they are doing, and I think what a wonderful
foundation that is.
Mrs. Davis of California. I wonder, though, whether there
is a sense of--because they brought those elements together
already, essentially, whether there is an impatience then. And
how can you address that so that it is a standalone, which has
a different feel to it?
Mr. Bunch. As somebody whose whole career has been shaped
by a desire to not erase history, to expand our understanding
of who we are as Americans, I like the fact that there is a
lack of patience--right?--that it is really important to make
sure we tell these fuller stories.
I think what is important is to recognize that the
Smithsonian believes that we have to tell these stories
regardless of whether there are museums or not.
We are prepared, with the right leadership from Congress,
with the right understanding, to craft museums that are full of
wonder, that will enrich us as a community. But we are also
prepared to make sure that we build on the work, that support
you have given us, to be able to bring in curators who are
transformative, to be able to do the kinds of programs to make
sure that people see the Smithsonian as what it is: a place
that helps us understand all of who we are, not just part of
who we are.
Mrs. Davis of California. Thank you. I appreciate that.
And I am wondering, just in responding to the Chairperson,
whether the opportunity to fund the deferred maintenance--does
that give you a sense of, I guess, more preparedness to move
forward? Because, again, you know, trying to have eyes wide
open here, taking on too much can be problematic. But does that
make a difference so that we make sure that the deferred
maintenance is taken care of in existing museums?
Mr. Bunch. When I became Secretary, the--I won't say the
biggest surprise, but the sort of thing that really struck me
was that we have to wrestle with this deferred maintenance. It
is too important not to, and we don't want to just push it down
the road.
I think that if we can make sure that we do get the support
that allows us to continue our creative way of looking at
maintaining this deferred maintenance, to be able to restore
the Air and Space Museum that allows us to take away $200
million of deferred maintenance, to really think strategically
how we do it, then I think we can move in the directions of new
institutions.
But I think, without recognizing the impact of these on the
Smithsonian, I think what it does is it slows the process. It
makes the process something where the Smithsonian is fighting
within itself, rather than rallying around to craft these new
institutions.
Mrs. Davis of California. Well, I look forward to your
expertise as we move forward. Thank you very much.
The Chairperson. Thank you.
Mr. Davis is recognized for his questions.
And thank you.
Mr. Davis of Illinois. Thank you, Madam Chair.
And following up on my colleague Mrs. Davis's questions
about deferred maintenance and the backlog, look, I appreciate
what you do. Sorry we saddled you with Shimkus on the Board of
Regents, but, you know, he is really enjoying the opportunity,
and I know he speaks very highly of the entire board.
We want to see you succeed. We want to see the Smithsonian
continue to be the worldwide institution for history and
especially our history. But the deferred maintenance backlog
that Mrs. Davis mentioned, it really concerns a lot of us too.
It is upwards of $1 billion right now.
Your appropriations for maintenance are actually below
industry standard, which is an obstacle to this backlog.
What is the impact on your current facilities, including
some of the most visited museums in the world, like the Air and
Space Museum and American History Museum, if new museums are
added to your portfolio?
Mr. Bunch. There is no doubt that we have to figure out the
way to address that so that we are really reducing our backlog.
There is no doubt about that.
I think that I really take a lot for the support you have
given us for the Air and Space Museum. All that renovation is
really allowing us to reduce that backlog.
We are going to have to think very creatively. And what we
have done, as I mentioned before, is look at it in a much more
strategic way, to really analyze where the real needs are, so
that we are putting our resources in addressing what are the
most significant, crying-out needs.
Also, though, because of your support, we are able to do
more preventive maintenance, which I think is the way we want
to make sure that we don't have this challenge with the African
American Museum, we are doing more in the Museum of American
History.
But I think the point is that we have to do this with both
hands. If we create something new, we have to make sure what is
old is taken care of as well.
Mr. Davis of Illinois. I agree. And I am very supportive of
the concept. But we also want to make sure that you have the
resources at the Smithsonian to continue to put the best of the
best museums to honor our Nation's history like you have.
But if that maintenance remains at the current level, what
about 10 years from now? What is the state--you know, we are
doing well with the Air and Space Museum and some of the
backlog there and preventative maintenance. You know, if we
don't make changes to how we address the maintenance backlog
now, what do you anticipate these museums will look like in 10
years?
Mr. Bunch. Well, I think that it is hard for me to sort of
say, in 10 years, it will be X. What is clear to me is that we
have people working very diligently on what are all the things
we can do to reduce that backlog.
For me, the most important thing is to make sure that the
visitor experience at the Smithsonian remains high and
wonderful and treats people effectively. But, also, it is
crucially important that we maintain the collections.
So what I am doing is what any leader does: You juggle.
Right? You want to make sure that we have the resources that we
need, and I want to put a lot of our attention on maintaining
that.
And so we really are appreciative of the support that you
have given us in this regard. At some point, it is crucial for
us to simply say, are there new ways we can think about
maintaining and attacking the backlog? And that is something we
are working on.
Mr. Davis of Illinois. Well, we appreciate that.
And I do have a question later about storage capacity. And
if we don't get to it, I would love to be able to get a written
response later, because I think it is important for us to
understand the issues that you may face when it comes to
storage collections when you have the opportunity to have more
artifacts come in for newer opportunities and ideas.
But I do want to address in my last question, in testimony
before this Committee, your predecessor, Secretary Skorton,
stated that the Smithsonian did not have the capacity to bring
new museums to fruition given other competing challenges, which
is not what we want. We want to see new museums like those
discussed here today. But do you share that concern, Mr.
Secretary?
Mr. Bunch. I share the concern that we have to address this
backlog, but I believe that with your leadership and with our
creativity, that with the resources that we need, we can begin
to build new museums if necessary.
Mr. Davis of Illinois. I agree with you.
The Federal budget for the Smithsonian is about a billion
dollars. If additional funding is required to support new
museums and to meet other priorities, can you give me a range
of what you think you might make as a request for us to
continue to provide you the resources for new possibilities and
for existing museums?
Mr. Bunch. Well, I would like to really come back to that
and give you an answer. I think it is important to recognize
that, if you build a new museum, after you have built it, then
the costs are probably anywhere from $25 million to $40 million
annually just to operate, the direct costs.
Then there is probably another $40 million to $60 million
that is really the cost to make sure that you can provide the
security, that you can make sure that you have the contracting
to support that.
So there are costs. And that is what I meant by saying, if
we are going to do things like this, we have to realize that
opening the museum is just the beginning.
Mr. Davis of Illinois. Great. Thank you.
I yield back.
And I really enjoy working with you.
Mr. Bunch. Thank you very much.
The Chairperson. Thank you.
The gentleman from Maryland is recognized.
Mr. Raskin. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Mr. Bunch, welcome.
Mr. Bunch. Good to see you.
Mr. Raskin. How do you determine the appropriate size of a
museum?
Mr. Bunch. You look at several things. First of all, you
look at the visitation you might expect. There is a certain
number that the Smithsonian will always get. You also look at
the stories you want to tell, how many exhibitions you need to
tell. You want to look at whether or not you have on-site
storage or off-site storage.
So you look at a variety of factors. You also look at what
the site allows you to do. And what we have discovered is, to
be able to do a building that serves the public, also protects
the staff and gets the right amount of staff, it is about
350,000 square feet. That is, sort of, industry standard here
at the Smithsonian.
Mr. Raskin. So what are the major challenges presented by
creating a new museum, and what are the major benefits of
creating a new museum?
Mr. Bunch. You got three hours?
I think that there are many challenges. Obviously, the
challenge of balancing new with old--right?--making sure that
we are taking care of the entire Smithsonian.
It is crucially important to realize that we have to build
a strong fundraising apparatus from the very beginning so that
we can make sure of the resources that are there from the
private sector.
It is also essential to build a strong staff. And then most
of these museums, like the African American Museum, will have
to build collections, so to think about what are the variety of
strategies that allow you to find the stuff of history that
people need to see.
But maybe more than anything else, it is important to
recognize, how do these new museums find the right balance
between tradition and innovation? What is the role of
technology? Does that add additional burdens? Does that save us
costs?
Ultimately, what you are really doing is, on new museums,
from the African American Museum on to anything new we build,
what you are saying is: It is no longer acceptable just to be
something that serves audiences in Washington. So what are the
ways you reach beyond that?
So all of that are part of some of the challenges.
One of the benefits is really that--the history of America
is so complicated that no one building can do it. But the
Smithsonian has this amazing opportunity to create different
portals into what it means to be an American, a portal that may
go through the Air and Space Museum or the African American
Museum. And what that does is it means that, even if you are
only interested in technology, suddenly you can see
connectivity because you are at the Smithsonian. That is
something that doesn't happen anywhere else in the world.
Mr. Raskin. I wonder if you would reflect for a moment on
the experience of the African American Museum, since you were
the founding director of it. Specifically, if you would address
the original points of skepticism that were leveled against the
museum and then how the experience since has responded to the
original kinds of criticisms that were leveled against the
idea.
Mr. Bunch. Well, first, the notion was that this museum had
been floating around for 100 years so it would never happen. So
part of the strategy was making the museum exist from the day I
started, not waiting for a building--birthing the museum
online, doing traveling exhibitions, and basically creating a
space in the Museum of American History that now the other
museums are building on. I think that was crucially important.
I think one of the real challenges were that many of these
smaller African American museums were very concerned that this
would take away resources. But what has happened since then is
the visibility of the museum, the excitement about African
American culture has led to increased visitation around the
country, has led to more support from local governments for
these kinds of institutions.
I think the biggest challenge was to think, what does it
mean to be a 21st-century museum? What is the role of
technology? What is the role of reaching out? And I think the
museum, sort of, invented a lot of new things that we can build
upon.
So, ultimately, the key for us was to think about, how do
you craft a museum--the fundamental question I would ask is,
how do you craft a museum on the Mall that is part of the
Smithsonian that serves a community but serves more than that
community? That, I think, is one of the fundamental questions.
Mr. Raskin. Well, I appreciate that. And I just wanted to
tell you, a week doesn't go by when I am not there a day or two
a week for different events. It has become such a spectacular
asset, not just locally but nationally.
I yield back, Madam Chair.
The Chairperson. The gentleman yields back.
The gentleman from Georgia is recognized.
Mr. Loudermilk. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Mr. Secretary, thank you for being here. Thank you for your
leadership and guidance. I am a huge fan of the Smithsonian.
Mr. Bunch. Thank you.
Mr. Loudermilk. It has been part of my heritage growing up,
the excitement of seeing the artifacts, being in touch with our
history, our heritage, our culture. And I am invigorated by the
idea, the vision of moving forward.
One of the things about the Smithsonian Institution that I
think resonates with people is quality. There is a term back
home, especially if you see--like the museum I have in my
district, the Southern Museum of Railroad Heritage in Kennesaw,
Georgia, the site of the beginning of the Great Locomotive
Chase during the Civil War. It has been a museum for years.
Smithsonian partnered, and now the term is, it is a
Smithsonian-quality museum. And I think that is a very, very
important aspect.
So my concern is continuing that level of quality, the
viability going forward. And there are really three things--as
a business owner in the past, there are three things that can
really harm a business: being undercapitalized during the
growth period, the first three to five years; you don't have
enough capital to go forward and grow. The other thing, once
you are past that period, is the lack of growth. But there are
many businesses that fail because of excessive growth, that
they cannot keep up and maintain their current customer base or
their current product, and it causes the collapse of very
viable businesses.
I am going to echo some of the concerns we have here,
because I am with you. We want to make this happen. And you
have to have growth in business. If you are stagnant, people
tend to move on. Even if you are providing a good product, they
are always looking for better. So it is important to grow.
But with the maintenance backlog and nearly a billion-
dollar cost of the renovations that are greatly needed to the
Air and Space Museum, my concern is--and I hear what you are
saying, that you have really good people dedicated to
eradicating this backlog. But is there a plan--a plan--in place
that says, from this date to this date, we are going to
eliminate the backlog we know of now?
And that is just--I don't know that we really have our
hands wrapped around that. I know that, yes, part of leadership
is juggling, but also part of leadership is a plan with
benchmarks that you can get to.
If you wouldn't mind responding.
Mr. Bunch. Sure. I think that I have said as soon as I
became Secretary, that is one of our major priorities, to
develop that plan. We have parts of it in place. We don't have
a complete plan, and that is something we are working on.
But I think it is also key for us to understand that that
plan is going to mean we are going to have to tap our
fundraising to see if that is a way to begin to address it. We
are going to have to tap how we are already doing some
restorations and renovations in our old buildings. We have to
look at how do we move up so that we are spending more of our
money towards that maintenance. And the key for us was
preventative maintenance.
And so the support we have, we have a plan on how to make
sure that we don't continue just to grow the backlog, that----
Mr. Loudermilk. Right.
Mr. Bunch [continuing]. We actually put a cap on it. And so
that is what we are working on. And there will be a more
detailed plan as we move forward.
Mr. Loudermilk. Are there outside sources of revenue that
can bring things in? Like, one of my favorite television
channels is Smithsonian Channel.
Mr. Bunch. Sure.
Mr. Loudermilk. I love ``Aerial America.''
Mr. Bunch. Right.
Mr. Loudermilk. I mean, it is kind of a go-to program for
me. Do you receive any revenue from that from advertising? Are
there sources like that that we can--I never want to see us
charge for the actual museum, but----
Mr. Bunch. Right.
Mr. Loudermilk [continuing]. Are there outside revenue
sources that we can invest in to grow?
Mr. Bunch. We have looked at all the things that we have
sources of revenue coming in. We are looking at, are there--for
example, we have an endowment for the facilities that probably
throws off $50,000 a year, which is not much. So to think
about, as we look towards maybe another capital campaign, is
that endowment a crucial part of it, so is that going to allow
us to put more money into deferred maintenance.
Mr. Loudermilk. Okay.
Mr. Bunch. We are looking at all the opportunities we have
at this stage to see where we can take resources to go in this
direction.
Mr. Loudermilk. Last question, really quickly. You had
testified that the Mall area--this was in the Transportation
and Infrastructure Committee--is now a floodplain, could
potentially be subjected to floods. Is it wise for us to look
at building new museums actually in that area if that is a
concern?
Mr. Bunch. One of the things that we have looked at is, are
there models that say we shouldn't build in that area, are
there models that say we should move museums, and there aren't.
What we have had to do is, when we built the African
American Museum, we built that recognizing that there is going
to be rising water, that it is a different environment, and we
put systems in place to ensure that we can protect that
precious treasure.
We have also made--in areas where we couldn't build new,
you know, we have moved collections out of lower levels just to
make sure that we are protected.
So, like all of us, we are wrestling with what this means
and how we address it, but we think we have moved in a smart
way to make sure we have protected the collections right now.
Mr. Loudermilk. Thank you.
The Chairperson. Congresswoman Fudge.
Ms. Fudge. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you so much, Mr.
Secretary, for being here.
I just really have two questions: One is, for the museum
honoring Latinos, there was a capital site that was--or a
recommended site for the museum, which, we understand, can
accommodate a building of about 250,000 square feet.
Is that large enough, or are we putting ourselves behind
the eight ball before we start? And does that--will it
accommodate storage and administrative offices in that space?
Mr. Bunch. At 200,000 square feet, what you really have to
think about is collections will not be able to be housed in a
place like that. I am not sure that is large enough for the
staff that would really need to be--to handle that. And I also
think there is a symbolic issue, and that is, the question of
people who expect new museums expect them to carry the weight
like other Smithsonian museums, that the buildings themselves
are part of the symbol, and a building of 200,000 square feet
may not be large enough to do that.
Ms. Fudge. So what, then, would be your recommendation to
the Committee, because clearly, I don't think it is big enough,
knowing what we already have. What would you then do with your
storage needs? What would happen with that, if that is the site
that was selected?
Mr. Bunch. I think that what we would have to do is look
candidly at what we had to do with the African American Museum.
We had two options: One is, do you build new storage areas like
out in our Suitland campus or out in Dulles. To build a new
storage unit costs, you know, over $100 million.
Ms. Fudge. In addition to the cost of this building?
Mr. Bunch. Oh, absolutely. Or do you take rental spaces?
You know, we rent space out at Pennsy, and that is a cost that
is going to hurt us down the road.
So what you want to do is recognize, though, that the Mall
is sacred space, so you do want to use as much of that space as
possible for the visitors, and for the services that need to be
there, and you want to have a minimal collection storage, and
then you have got to find another place as your collections
grow.
Ms. Fudge. All right. And, so, I just want to be clear that
that then becomes a significantly larger cost than the cost of
the museum, which is what we are talking about today, so that
people are aware of the fact that it is going to impact a lot
of other things, including possibly your other plans for other
museums.
The other thing is, is there--and, if there is, please let
me know--a fund-raising plan for the museum? Do you know if
there is one, and, if so, what it is?
Mr. Bunch. I think, at this stage, it is too premature to
have a fund-raising plan. You would really want to, sort of,
think about exactly the location, to have leadership think
about what are the products that you want to produce--exhibits,
et cetera--but what is crucial, then, is to have the support so
that you can hire fund-raisers very early in the process. I
don't think we are there yet, but that is something that I
would argue needs to happen very shortly after a museum is
being willed into existence.
Ms. Fudge. Well, I would just close by saying that I
wholeheartedly support the museums, but I also--we have some
fiscal responsibility to the taxpayers to be sure that we are
acting in an appropriate manner as we start to move down the
road with this, so I thank you, and I yield back.
Mr. Bunch. Thank you.
The Chairperson. Thank you.
Mr. Aguilar from California, and also a member of the
Appropriations Committee, who we are looking to, to help us get
our deferred maintenance funds.
Mr. Aguilar. Thank you, Chairperson, and I think, with that
pressure in mind, I will just kind of start down that path.
Mr. Secretary, your budget request, as my colleagues had
mentioned, for fiscal year 2020, you had requested $219 million
for the facilities capital account. You were appropriated $253
million. So, my first question would be, how do you plan on
using the additional $34 million that you were appropriated?
The second piece of that is, the list--the specific list of
16 projects that you mentioned within the 219 requests, are
those still valid? Are those estimates? Is the completion of
those projects still possible given the dollars that we were
appropriating?
Mr. Bunch. Well, I think the estimates are still accurate.
Mr. Aguilar. Okay.
Mr. Bunch. And what we want to do is use some of the
additional resources to really focus on preventive maintenance,
to really make sure that we are just not continuing to dig a
deep hole.
I think that the additional support allows us to be even
more creative in how we use and how we address this. It also
reminds us that it is going to take a concerted effort with
Congress finding some other sources as well, because this is
really a challenge that we have left for so many years that it
is going to take more than 2 or 3 or 4 years to fix it.
Mr. Aguilar. Sure. And I don't want you to get ahead of OMB
and the President's budget next week, but, you know, just among
friends here, you know, what would be the capital request? What
would be the ballpark estimate of a capital facilities request
that you might propose to the Appropriations Committee?
Mr. Bunch. I would love to get back to you with that----
Mr. Aguilar. Sure.
Mr. Bunch [continuing]. Because we are still grappling with
what we think is the right number.
Mr. Aguilar. Sure. I look forward to monitoring that across
the process, and as the Chairperson said, we are serious about
addressing this, and maybe it takes some bold action on our
part in order to really chip away at this backlog in a big way.
But we are serious about meeting those obligations as well
as honoring the commitment. You sat there and heard our
colleagues talk about some of these ideas for future plans as
well, and I know that you have had a lot of those
conversations. I appreciate you attending the Hispanic Caucus
meeting a few months ago with Eduardo Diaz.
And you talked a little bit about the Molina Family Gallery
opening in 2021; the exhibit is going to have bilingual stories
and a cross-cultural audience as well to enjoy. Given the state
of play--and this is similar to questions you heard in that
meeting--given the state of play in our country when it comes
to race relations, can you speak to what steps the Smithsonian
Institution is taking to ensure that that 4,500-square-foot
exhibit can adequately represent over 600 years' worth of
diverse Latino American history?
Mr. Bunch. One of the things with the Molina Gallery that I
have asked is, give me a five-year to ten-year plan of what
else you would do in the gallery. The plan is to have an
opening exhibition that frames the broad issues, explores the
community. But clearly, one exhibit is not going to get us to
where we really need to be, but I think, if we look--much like
I did with the African American Museum, look at an array of
issues that we can explore over the next four, five, six years,
that begins to get at this, because the most important thing
the Molina Gallery does is twofold:
One is to sort of firmly say to the Smithsonian and say to
the Smithsonian's public, this is so important that we want to
give it square footage. That is--you know, when you come to see
it, that is important. But the second thing is, it should be a
space that allows us to test ideas, test the way the audience
engages, test the way different communities think about the
experiences, so, therefore, we can then improve, and if we move
down the road towards a museum, we have actually laid a strong
foundation.
Mr. Aguilar. I appreciate it. You know, one of our goals
is, as you heard with our colleague, both of whom are retiring,
Mr. Serrano and Mr. Hurd, we want to move that bill. We want to
mark that up, and we want to move it in a strong bipartisan
way, and part of that is, obviously, making the case that the
exhibit space that we are going to be utilizing is done
appropriately. I appreciate the steps that you are taking in
that regard.
What process are we going to use--and I know you are
talking about making that case and having that kind of long-
range view. What opportunities for collaboration are included
in that within the role that Mr. Diaz plays, as well as within
your role and in others? What are different opportunities where
folks can say, Hey, try this out, or why don't you include this
era, or do a little bit more of this instead of that? What
opportunities for collaboration and input----
Mr. Bunch. Uh-huh.
Mr. Aguilar [continuing]. Do you see in a more formal way?
Mr. Bunch. I think it is important to realize that the
Smithsonian is in a networked age, that it is--no longer has
broad-enough shoulders to carry everything, and it has got to
find ways to both collaborate with museums that care about the
subjects we want to explore, to help us look at new ideas, but
also to help us convey our ideas outside of Washington so that
what you want is a kind of mutually reciprocal relationship
that is a long-term commitment that improves both the
Smithsonian and local entities.
I think the other thing is to make sure that the Latino
Center of the Smithsonian is doing a much better job developing
new support, new interns, new fellows, so that we are really
making sure that we have got new generations of, if not museum
people who can shape museums, at least museum consumers who can
support it.
Mr. Aguilar. I appreciate it. Thanks, Mr. Secretary. Thank
you.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I yield back.
The Chairperson. The gentleman yields back.
Mr. Secretary, it is always an honor to have you here, and
we are very proud of you, and grateful that you are the
Secretary of the Smithsonian.
Mr. Bunch. Thank you.
The Chairperson. And thank you for answering our questions
and for the terrific job you are doing.
Mr. Bunch. Thank you very much. Appreciate it.
The Chairperson. All right. We will now call up the third
panel.
So welcome to everyone. I am going to introduce first Henry
R. Munoz III, who is the Chairman of the National Museum of the
American Latino Commission, a legislatively created,
independent position established to study the feasibility of
creating a museum dedicated to Latino American culture within
the Smithsonian.
In addition to leading the Commission, Mr. Munoz has served
the Smithsonian as vice chairman of the Smithsonian National
Board, chairman of the Smithsonian National Latino Board, and
trustee of the Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum. He is also
chairman of the board and chief creative officer of Munoz &
Company, one of the largest and oldest minority-owned design
practices in the country.
We also have Beth Lew-Williams, who is an associate
professor of history at Princeton University, and a historian
of race and migration in the United States, specializing in
Asian American history. Her recent book, ``The Chinese Must Go:
Violence, Exclusion, and the Making of the Alien in America,''
has won a variety of awards, including the Ray Allen Billington
Prize, and the Ellis W. Hawley Prize and the Organization of
American Historians, and the Sally and Ken Owens prize from the
Western History Association, as well as the Vincent P. DeSantis
Book Prize from the Society of Gilded Age and Progressive Era,
and the Caroline Bancroft History Prize, a book I think we
probably have to get and read.
Prior to her time at Princeton, Dr. Lew-Williams was a new
faculty fellow at Northwestern University appointed in history
and Asian American studies.
We have Lisa Sasaki, who is the Director of the Smithsonian
Asian Pacific American Center, a museum without walls, that
brings Asian Pacific American history, art, and culture to
communities through innovative museum experiences online and
throughout the country. She is also a frequent guest lecturer
for museum studies graduate programs, and, prior to her time at
the Smithsonian, Ms. Sasaki served as the Director of the
Audience and Civic Engagement Center at the Oakland Museum of
California, and the Director of program development at the
Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles.
And, finally, last but not least, Eric Petersen is a
specialist in American national government in the government
and finance division of the Congressional Research Service,
where he has worked for two decades. He conducts research and
provides policy analysis support and training for Members of
Congress and their staff. His research areas include the
Smithsonian Institution, congressional administration and
staffing, constituent service management, and the Government
Publishing Office, which, by the way, we will be having an
oversight hearing on that in the coming weeks.
Dr. Petersen earned undergraduate degrees at the Community
College of Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania. His
graduate work includes a master's in public administration from
Virginia Tech, and a Ph.D. in political science from Syracuse
University.
In addition to his work at CRS, he is a lecturer at the
John Glenn College of Public Affairs of the Ohio State
University.
Thanks to each of you. I will remind you that your
statements should be about 5 minutes, and then we will go to
questions.
So, Mr. Munoz, we will turn first to you.
STATEMENTS OF HENRY MUNOZ, CHAIR, NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE
AMERICAN LATINO COMMISSION, WASHINGTON, D.C.; DR. BETH LEW-
WILLIAMS, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF HISTORY, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY;
LISA SASAKI, DIRECTOR, SMITHSONIAN ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICAN
CENTER; AND DR. ERIC PETERSEN, SPECIALIST IN AMERICAN NATIONAL
GOVERNMENT, CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE
STATEMENT OF HENRY MUNOZ
Mr. Munoz. Thank you, Chairman, and thank you, members. It
is an honor to be here today to provide testimony regarding the
many decades of work held aloft by so many people across this
country--scholars, curators, historians, scientists, teachers,
artists, activists, businesspeople, volunteers, and everyday
citizens--I am one of them--to answer the question of whether
there should be a national museum of the American Latino in our
Nation's Capital.
I am here today, not just as the chairman of the Commission
to establish a national museum of the American Latino, but as
the first Latino in the 173-year history of the Smithsonian to
ever serve a term on its national board. Mainly, I am here
because I grew up in South Texas during a time where the
stories of people like myself and our families were not
included in museums or archives or libraries.
Our Commission, after working for almost two years, found
the answer to be abundantly clear: Yes, the time has come for
the creation of a place on The National Mall, where our most
important monuments are located, where we conduct the business
of our Congress, pay tribute to our veterans, gather to
inaugurate our presidents, and where we give full voice to our
freedom of speech. The Mall, more than any other public space
in our country, should tell the story of America, recognizing
that Latinos were here well before 1776, and that, in this new
century, our future is increasingly Latino, more than 58
million people and growing. The Commission investigated nine
sites, and, yes, made a recommendation of one.
The Commission believes strongly that the new museum should
be a part of our Nation's preeminent scientific research and
cultural institution, the Smithsonian Institution, and when
created, should be known as the Smithsonian American Latino
Museum, free to every American citizen and governed in the same
manner, and funded in the same manner as the National Museum of
the American Indian and the National Museum of African American
History and Culture, a place that, within the vision of the
Smithsonian, for the increase in diffusion of knowledge, is not
just a monument to past accomplishments, but a 21st-century
learning laboratory connected to cultural centers and schools
across the country, recognizing that many American children may
never visit Washington, D.C., and, yet, deserve to have access
to great American stories.
This is possible because of the work to create and the
funding of programs, exhibitions, and territorial positions
established throughout the Smithsonian Museum system over the
last 30 years at the American History Museum, the American Art
Museum, the National Portrait Gallery, the Cooper Hewitt
National Design Museum, and the Natural History Museum, and
this is just the beginning.
These efforts will soon be joined by the privately funded
Molina Family Latino Gallery within the walls of the American
History Museum, and our collections are accessible to every
American citizen through the Smithsonian's Latino Virtual
Museum.
The National Museum of the American Latino Commission
responded to the direction of Congress to engage the American
people in order to create a strategic plan for the
establishment and maintenance of the museum; to develop a fund-
raising strategy to support the museum; to report on the
availability and cost of collections to be acquired; to examine
the impact of this museum on regional Latino museums; to
analyze and recommend possible locations for the museum; to
recommend whether the museum should be located within the
Smithsonian Institution; to recommend a governance and
organizational structure for the museum; to engage the American
Latino community in the development of the museum; to determine
the cost of constructing, operating, and maintaining the
museum; and, finally, to assist in drafting legislation to
carry out the plan of action to create and construct the
museum.
In May of 2011, in a ceremony at the White House, the
members of the Commission, ahead of schedule and under budget,
delivered to the President of the United States and to Members
of the Congress, a final report containing our in-depth
analysis, findings, and recommendations. Based upon our work
with a broad group of thought leaders and experts, and, most
importantly, a dialogue with hundreds of thousands of citizens
in communities across the United States, both in person and
online, in the first-of-its-kind effort, now carried forward by
the friends of the American Latino Museum, the Commission
articulated a comprehensive plan for the establishment of the
Smithsonian American Latino Museum.
I have attached an executive summary of the Commission's
final report for your record, and I am happy to report that the
findings validate the readiness of this idea to be formalized
by Congress. It is completely within the capabilities of the
Smithsonian Institution and this young, dynamic, fast-growing,
and economically-significant population of Americans to give
birth to, and to sustain a new national museum.
At this moment in our country's history, when cultural
understanding could not be more essential to the enduring
strength of our democracy, I am asking, on behalf of the
American people, to carefully consider the importance of
creating the Smithsonian American Latino Museum so that we may
illuminate the American story for all.
[The statement of Mr. Munoz follows:]
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
The Chairperson. Thank you very much.
We will turn now to you, Dr.--let's see. Who am I----
Ms. Lew-Williams. Lew-Williams.
The Chairperson. Dr. Lew-Williams.
STATEMENT OF BETH LEW-WILLIAMS
Ms. Lew-Williams. Well, I want to thank the Committee for
holding this hearing and having this conversation, and thank
you for allowing me to testify.
Every year, I begin my semester at Princeton by asking my
students: What do you know about Asian Pacific American
history? What have you been taught? And the most frequent
answer I get is, Nothing. And, when pressed, they will usually
recall that the Chinese built the railroad and the Japanese
internment was a tragic mistake.
Most of the time, they have learned these things thanks to
a couple of paragraphs in their high-school textbook, and this
is true whether they come from New Jersey or from Texas or from
Virginia, or even from California. Their K-12 education is
practically devoid of the history and culture of Asian Pacific
Americans. And I think, if you think back to your own
education, I would wonder what you learned.
And, according to research, this lack of knowledge that I
observe in my classroom is due to a lack of exposure, and
studies of U.S. history and government textbook show a
startling dearth of content on Asian Pacific Americans. In the
National Register of Historic Places, only 3 percent of sites
are associated with their history, and history isn't the only
area of neglect. A 2019 study of U.S.--major U.S. art museums
found that only 0.06 percent of showcased artists are Asian
American.
What I want to say today is there is nothing natural about
this omission. Asians and Pacific Islanders are the fastest-
growing racial group in America today, and our history in this
country stretches back centuries. The first Chinese immigrants
came to America in the 1820s, and their numbers rapidly
increased with the 1849 gold rush in California. Chinese
workers blasted tunnels through the Sierra Mountains to make
way for the transcontinental railroad, they drained swamplands
to make way for agriculture, and they fell trees needed to
construct the towns and cities of the West. They were joined by
Japanese, Korean, and Sikh immigrants, who labored in the
fields and factories.
As Asian immigrants who made America's landscape and built
America's infrastructure, they also reshaped the legal
foundations of the Nation. They brought landmark cases before
the Supreme Court, which helped to define key concepts of
citizenship and equal protection.
As Asian American--Pacific Americans helped to build
America, we also need to remember that America built this
community through its actions in the world. The Spanish-
American War brought Filipinos, native Hawaiians, Guamanians,
Samoans into the national fold, and the Vietnam War brought
waves of Vietnamese, Cambodians, Lao, and Hmong refugees.
I think, if we fail to include Asian Pacific Americans in
our historical memory, we emerge with a distorted understanding
of our Nation. If we ignore the history of Chinese exclusion,
we can imagine that America once welcomed the huddled masses
yearning to breathe free.
If we dismiss the Philippines and the Pacific Islands, you
can pretend that America was never an empire. If we omit
Japanese confinement during World War II, we can forget how
quickly wartime hysteria can undermine our constitutional
principles.
If we want to understand the transformation of American
politics, we need to remember women, like Representative Patsy
Mink, the first woman of color to serve in Congress, and we
also need to remember Grace Lee Boggs, a revolutionary who
empowered the youth of Detroit. If we want to recognize the
richness of American culture, we need to talk about Asian
Pacific American food, music, architecture, art, and
literature.
People go to the Smithsonian to learn about America, who we
are as a people and a Nation. Our national museums capture the
stories we tell about ourselves, about our past and our future.
By creating an Asian Pacific American Smithsonian, Congress
could recognize the historically marginalized group and bring
them closer to the rightful role in American society and
American memory. This would convey a powerful vision of
inclusion, diversity, and equality.
I urge you to please take the first step in making this
vision a reality, to form a Commission to consider a National
Museum of Asian Pacific American History and Culture.
[The statement of Ms. Lew-Williams follows:]
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
The Chairperson. Thank you very much.
Ms. Sasaki.
STATEMENT OF LISA SASAKI
Ms. Sasaki. Chairperson Lofgren, Ranking Member Davis, and
members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to
testify before you today.
I am Lisa Sasaki, and I have the honor of serving as the
director of the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center since
2016. Prior to joining the Smithsonian Institution, I spent
over 20 years working in the museum field, specifically in
community-based museums like the Oakland Museum of California,
and the Japanese American National Museum.
It is my great privilege to work with the talented team of
curators, programmers, and professionals to highlight the
stories of what is currently the fastest-growing racial group
in America, an estimated 20 million Asian Pacific Americans and
their communities located across the mainland United States and
the Pacific.
The Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center was
established in 1997 as a mission-critical Pan-institutional
initiative to further the inclusion and representation of Asian
Pacific Americans across Smithsonian exhibitions, collections,
programs, and research. In its early years, the center produced
numerous temporary and traveling exhibitions and hosted notable
Asian Pacific American speakers, artists, and performers here
in Washington, D.C.
Today, the Center has expanded to also present digital
projects, community--excuse me--community-based public
programs, and educational resources that bring Asian Pacific
American art, history, and culture to a global audience. The
Center acts as a respected convener and cultural laboratory
working in close partnership with community organizations,
scholars, artists, and nationally-recognized institutions, such
as The Library of Congress and The Kennedy Center and other
Smithsonian units.
The Center also administers the Smithsonian Asian Pacific
American initiatives pool, federally appropriated funds that
support projects from across the Smithsonian's 19 museums and 9
research centers that focus on contributions and experiences of
Asian Pacific Americans through research, acquisitions,
programs, exhibitions, new media, publications, and educational
activities. Since its creation 4 years ago, this pool has
helped to support 49 projects in 16 different Smithsonian
units, including the creation of the first ever curator of
Asian Pacific American history position at the National Museum
of American History.
I appreciate the opportunity to testify before you today on
H.R. 4132, a bill to establish a commission to study the
potential creation of a National Museum of Asian Pacific
American History and Culture. If Congress deems it in the
public interest to move forward with the creation of the
commission, the Smithsonian and I stand ready to serve as
content experts should the bill pass into public law.
In the meanwhile, the center will continue to advance its
mandate to increase Asian Pacific American content and focus at
the Smithsonian Institution and around the country.
Specifically, we have recently launched a comprehensive
campaign designed to do the following.
One, create a series of national collecting initiatives
with Smithsonian museums to preserve Asian American Pacific
stories digitally and through the collections of object, art,
and archives.
Two, increase opportunities for Asian Pacific American
students and museum professionals within the Smithsonian,
helping to create the next generation of scholars, curators,
and leaders.
And, three, create the first dedicated Asian Pacific
American exhibition gallery in Washington, D.C., within the
Smithsonian.
I also wanted to now say a few words about our sister
program, the Smithsonian Latino Center, which is directed by my
colleague, Eduardo Daz. Eduardo had planned on testifying
before this Committee today, but was unable to, unfortunately,
due to a death in his family. Fortunately, his written
testimony is included for the record of this Committee hearing.
The Latino Center was created in 1997 to promote Latino
presence within the Smithsonian. The center works
collaboratively with the Institution's museum research centers,
record label, and traveling exhibition service, ensuring that
the contributions of the Latino community in helping build this
country and shape our national culture are explored, presented,
celebrated, and preserved.
The Center supports research, exhibition collections,
public and education programs, and digital outreach about the
U.S. Latino experience, as well as a range of professional
development programs in history, arts, culture, and the
sciences.
Currently, the center is preparing to unveil the first ever
Latino gallery on The National Mall, the Molina Family Latino
Gallery, which will open at the National Museum of American
History in spring 2021.
I am proud that The Latino Center is making great strides
to increase the visibility of Latino populations and their rich
and culturally diverse stories at the Smithsonian. I am equally
proud to be working at the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American
Center to ensure that Asian Pacific Americans are also
recognized.
I would like to thank the Committee for giving me this
opportunity to testify and for your support and interest in the
work of the Smithsonian. I am happy to answer any questions
that you might have.
[The statement of Ms. Sasaki follows:]
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
The Chairperson. Thank you very much.
And we will turn now, Dr. Petersen, to you.
STATEMENT OF ERIC PETERSEN
Mr. Petersen. Chairperson Lofgren, Ranking Member Davis,
and members of the Committee, thank you for your invitation to
testify before you today.
I have been asked to provide an overview of some of the
matters Congress might encounter in the potential consideration
and development of new Smithsonian museums, and this comes at a
time of great interest in these museums in Congress and among
museum advocates.
In addition to the potential projects under consideration
today, H.R. 1980, as reported by this Committee, would create a
women's history museum in the Smithsonian. It is unclear
whether Congress has ever considered the potential development
of three substantial museum projects essentially at the same
time.
Questions that Congress and this Committee might consider
regarding museum development range from big picture
philosophical considerations to practical and detailed
operational concerns, some of which we have heard today.
In this oral statement, I will focus on three areas of
concern, including the role and availability of private
entities to support museum initiatives; the capacity of the
Smithsonian to engage major new museum initiatives, along with
a number of current institutional demands; and, naturally, the
potential costs of establishing and operating new museums.
With regard to private interest in museums, the development
of the most recent Smithsonian museums, the National Museum of
African American History and Culture and the National Museum of
the American Indian, suggests that proposals for museums
typically grow from initial efforts of private individuals or
groups. In considering these proposals, there appears to be a
series of around 10 events involving the efforts of supporters,
Congress, and the Smithsonian. Private advocates appear to
engage in everything from the first idea for a museum to the
grand opening, and this can take a long time.
A hundred and eight years elapsed between the time when
George Heye began his collection and when the American Indian
Museum first opened its doors. Similarly, the African American
History and Culture Museum opened 101 years after the first
efforts of African American Civil War veterans to establish and
build a museum or monument.
In considering the development of new museums, Congress
might consider the commitment and capacity of advocates for
various museums to work independently and effectively in
support of that museum's establishment.
Within the Smithsonian, recent and current leaders have
taken an arguably discouraging approach to the creation of new
museums and have instead advocated in favor of other
priorities. The potential need for the Smithsonian to execute
the development of as many as three new national museums might
raise concerns about its capacity to effectively address
ongoing operations, resolve longstanding maintenance concerns
for existing facilities, in addition to consideration of the
museums.
In addition to these concerns, the extent to which the
Smithsonian Institution has or can develop the human capital
capacity to integrate new museums into its portfolio has not
been assessed in a publicly available manner. Any of these
concerns arguably might inform an assessment of the
Smithsonian's ability to successfully develop the new museums
under consideration.
Finally, if the national American Latino, Asian Pacific
American history and culture, or women's history museums are
created by Congress, as we have discussed this morning, and
they are funded in the same manner as other SI museums, they
could represent a significant enduring increase in the
appropriations provided for Smithsonian operations.
In advance of a detailed project, it can be difficult to
estimate costs for new museums, because those costs are going
to vary according to the scope of the new museum's mandate,
facility size, funding mechanisms, and other factors.
Some potential guidance on costs, however, may be drawn
from the costs of building and operational expenditures of the
American Indian and African American History and Culture
Museums.
For the first 15 years those museums were in operation, and
including the funding for the Federal components of museum
planning, design, construction, and exhibit development,
appropriations for the American Indian Museum were at least
$564.9 million, and for the African American History and
Culture Museum at least $644 million. These figures reflect
adjustment for inflation to 2019 dollars.
Finally, I want to acknowledge the assistance of some very
good CRS colleagues, Dr. Jacob Straus, who is behind me today,
and some wonderful librarians who helped me pull together this
testimony.
That is all I have for now. I appreciate your inviting me
to testify. And I look forward to any questions you might have.
[The statement of Mr. Petersen follows:]
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
The Chairperson. Thank you very much. And thanks to all the
witnesses.
I will turn now to the Ranking Member, Mr. Davis, for any
questions he may have.
Mr. Davis of Illinois. Thank you, Madam Chair.
And thank you to all the witnesses. Great to hear your
opening testimony, and look forward to working with you as
these projects move forward.
My first question is for Mr. Munoz.
The Commission considered several sites as possible
locations. One is the Capitol site on the Senate side of the
Capitol, which is under the jurisdiction of the architect of
the Capitol. Was the architect consulted on the location? And
what input may they have provided?
Mr. Munoz. Yes, they were consulted on the potential
location of the museum on that site. It is the one site on the
Mall that is not under the jurisdiction of the National Park
Service.
So, during the time of consideration of all nine sites, we
worked through the various organizations that have jurisdiction
over The National Mall. For example, the National Capital
Planning Commission. Everyone weighed in on that process.
In fact, at the end of the day, through all of the planning
processes that have considered and continued to evolve what
should happen on The National Mall as far back as Pierre
L'Enfant's plan for the city of Washington, D.C., it has always
been thought that there would be a significant civic building
on that side. It is currently a parking lot.
And so, at the end of the day, the National Capital
Planning Commission said: We believe that some consideration of
the rethinking of the entire site, including the Reflecting
Pool, could be enhanced by the location of a building such as a
museum, like the National Latino Museum, on that side.
Mr. Davis of Illinois. Okay. You mentioned the
collaboration. The Park Service obviously was included in this.
Did they express any concerns about that location at all?
Mr. Munoz. There is always--I think there are lots of
concerns about the complexity of The Mall. So in every single
site that was considered, there were pros and there were cons.
The Secretary spoke to one earlier. I might disagree with him
on that one, but there are always pros and cons.
Mr. Davis of Illinois. Okay. Thank you very much. Thanks
for your testimony.
Mr. Petersen, thank you for being here as one of our
witnesses. I forgot to look at your bio again beforehand and
realize you didn't go to the University of Illinois. You went
to some institution in Ohio that many people haven't heard of.
Mr. Petersen. Actually, I teach there.
Mr. Davis of Illinois. We will still consider you somewhat
of an expert today on CRS.
Mr. Petersen. Well, thank you.
Mr. Davis of Illinois. What are the elements that needed to
be considered in order to have a holistic estimate of the
financial commitment any new Smithsonian museum would require?
Mr. Petersen. Well, as Dr. Bunch has suggested, there are a
number of pieces that we need to think about, from the initial
idea through the expenses for a commission of consideration, to
the unknowable--fully unknowable when we begin costs of
construction and then operations.
It is very difficult to tie down a specific number ahead of
time. I know that some entities have tried, and, inevitably,
they wind up lower than what the actual costs are. But,
fundamentally, you are looking at paying for the idea stage,
paying for the site planning and construction stage, and then
paying for the ongoing operations.
Mr. Davis of Illinois. We have had previous museums come in
at certain estimates and then end up substantially higher,
sometimes upwards of 50-percent increases.
Is there something that stands out as a part of those
projects that you can't plan for a 50-percent increase? What is
it that we ought to, as a Committee, come together and be
concerned about to ensure that the estimates reflect the actual
costs? And what can we do to help ensure that on the front end?
Mr. Petersen. Arguably, there is a degree of uncertainty
that you are not going to overcome at the front end.
Mr. Davis of Illinois. Should that be at a 50-percent
degree of uncertainty, or do you think we can minimize that?
Mr. Petersen. I think that is a question for analyzing past
estimates and then finding out final costs. So, for example, in
the case of the African American Museum, nobody really
anticipated the challenges the creek running under The Mall
would pose and the cost increases of having to build a vastly
more reinforced foundation.
In the case of the American Indian Museum, it was a strange
circumstance in that you had a substantial renovation of a
museum space in New York, a new building in Suitland for
collection storage, and The Mall flagship facility.
How do you get there? Again, I would prefer to look at the
models of expenditures and then perhaps suggest an idea of what
the potential overage could be.
Mr. Davis of Illinois. Great.
Thank you, to each of you. I look forward to working with
you as this process moves forward.
I yield back, Madam Chair.
The Chairperson. Thank you.
The gentleman from California, Mr. Aguilar.
Mr. Aguilar. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Mr. Munoz, the Latino population in the United States is
projected to grow to reach over 100 million people in less than
50 years. H.R. 2420, the National Museum of the American Latino
Act, has strong bipartisan support. The previous panel of
Members, Mr. Serrano and Mr. Hurd, also another south Texan--we
don't hold that against him.
But can you explain to the public and to us how
establishing this national museum will expand the Smithsonian's
representation for Latino voices throughout our country and
community?
Mr. Munoz. Well, I would look at it from three
perspectives.
First of all, the wisdom of the Congress many years ago to
establish Latino pool funds has seeded the development of this
museum over the course of the last three decades. So there are
currently curators that are established in each of these
museums who are making sure that the American story that is
told in those museums is more complete.
That was the first step in establishing the scholarship
that the Secretary talked about to ultimately build let's call
it a major portal on The Mall in Washington, D.C.
As that work progressed, everybody agreed that if you have
the fastest-growing demographic group in the country, as you
said, expected to be 100 million people, then it is in the best
interests of the country for them to understand who they are as
Americans.
And that can't really be told without--let's call it a
building--a building and a digital architecture and all of the
scholarship that is associated with that.
You know, I had an interesting experience a few years ago
when I was vice chairman of the Smithsonian National Board. I
was asked to represent the Smithsonian at a meeting of the
Ministries of Culture. Of all of the countries in the Americas,
we are the only country that doesn't have one.
And so, when you think about the Smithsonian and all of its
organic glory as a place of scientific research and culture and
art, it is really important for this community to see itself as
a part of that American story, and it is important for other
people to see it, too.
You know, last night I was watching, and there was a lot of
discussion of pilgrims, but not of the true founding of the
country, of the intersection that had happened between the
indigenous people and the Spaniards, which predates that.
And so, until that story is told, maybe because the country
has this notion of purity, it won't really understand itself as
a mixture, a great mixture, melting pot of people. So I think
that the time is now to do this.
I don't think there is a better team to do it than when
Lonnie Bunch is the Secretary of the Smithsonian, because he
has actually done it. And I am sitting here in this room
thinking: How wonderful would it be to have a Secretary who
really understands the process to watch over this, and this,
and the women's museum?
Mr. Aguilar. Yes, I appreciate it.
And can you talk to us a little bit about how your
analysis, how the study reviewed the site locations as well--
Mr. Davis talked a little bit about that--but the importance of
it being on The Mall, but also some of the concerns associated
with some of the other sites as well and why this might be the
most appropriate use, this Mall site that was identified?
Mr. Munoz. So there were nine, and not all of them were on
The Mall in the purest possible thinking. But there has been an
evolution in the thinking of The Mall. Development never stops,
right? The city is evolving. And so there was discussion about
what might constitute The Mall if you weren't being traditional
thinkers. There were very few.
I mean, there are many people, Save Our Mall thinks that
there are too many buildings on The Mall already. The National
Park Service was completing a study about what the use of The
Mall should be in the future. This was on the heels of, like I
said, L'Enfant's plan, and all of the pertinent organizations
with jurisdiction met with us and weighed in on the cost, on
issues such as security, on what unforeseen conditions--there
is a creek running under The Mall--of those things. And the
commission attempted to balance all of those.
There were two overriding considerations. One was location.
What had the possibility of fitting into the ecosystem of
institutions on The Mall so that it had the broadest exposure
possible to the American people?
If you were going to choose that, then you might choose
what came in second, let's call it, which was the Arts and
Industries Building. But the Arts and Industries Building is a
historic building, it has been around for a long time, and it
probably isn't suitable for a 21st century collecting museum,
but it has a great location next to the Castle.
The second site, which became the preferred site, and,
quite honestly, the site that had a great deal of consideration
given to it through these various plans and the National
Capital Planning Commission, was the Capitol site. And it,
because of where it is, because it has always been anticipated
that there would be a major civic building there, because it is
currently a parking lot, because it would complete, if you are
staring at the Capitol and you looked at the Botanical Garden
here and you looked on this side, if you built a building,
maybe it wouldn't be a 500,000-square-foot building, but it
would be a building that was in harmony with the Botanical
Gardens, well, that was a wonderful thing and the place where
the Inaugural parade starts.
But there were considerations there, too, which is
security. It is very close to the Capitol. We thought that was
a plus.
So at the end of the day what I want the members of the
Committee to understand was that there is no perfect site.
Everybody was unanimous about the need for this to be on The
Mall proper. It was a very careful consideration. And at least
at that time, knowing that there would have to be further site
selection considerations, the site that made the most sense was
the Capitol site.
Mr. Aguilar. Thank you, Mr. Munoz. Thanks for your service
as well.
Thank you, Madam Chair.
The Chairperson. Thank you very much.
I will just close out by saying how helpful this hearing
has been to me to identify issues.
Dr. Petersen, certainly we want to go into this with our
eyes wide open, what the issues are, how to cope with them,
because those are challenges, but not impediments if we plan
for them properly.
In terms of the timing, I am hoping we can move forward on
this. Certainly the idea that we wait 100 years for this is
completely unacceptable. And two of our three congressional
witnesses are retiring at the end of this Congress. They both
said they hoped we could act before they do. That seems like a
reasonable request, and I am hoping that we can proceed.
Certainly the Latino Museum has already done its
commission. We are in a position to move forward. And, as
Secretary Bunch has said, you never get to the end if you don't
take the first step, and that is really where we are.
In terms of siting, as I was listening to you, I was
remembering back to the building of the World War II Memorial,
and there was a lot of dissension and fighting about that, and
there was a strong sense that we should move forward.
And I am a huge environmentalist, but there was going to be
environmental delays that went on and on and on. And Senator
Bob Dole and I--an unlikely couple--decided to go after this.
And I remember a press conference that Senator Dole and I had
about this, and he said that if we wait until all the World War
II vets are gone, that will not be acceptable.
Now, obviously the Latino Americans and Asian Americans are
not going anywhere, but we have a moment in time here with
Secretary Bunch, who knows how to do this, the excitement in
the country and of the Congress to proceed. We should take
advantage of this moment to move forward.
I was thinking about going to New Mexico years ago and
meeting with various legislators whose families have been in
New Mexico for like 300 years. My grandfather came here right
just before World War I. Their families extend centuries, and,
yet, their story is not fully told. What a great opportunity it
is to build the full story of America for all of us to have
pride in.
So I am hoping to move that forward.
I do have a question really for the Asian Pacific Islander
Museum, because this is a commission: How we are going to
structure this to fully capture the great diversity of the
Asian Pacific Islander Museum.
And I am not critical, because it is the pattern, the
members of the commission is two members from the Majority
Leader of the Senate, two from the Speaker, two from the
Minority leaders of the House and the Senate. It is a small
commission.
And yet we have Japanese Americans, Chinese Americans. We
have Indo Americans, who are also very diverse, Sikhs, Hindus,
Baha'is, Muslims. We have Tongans, Nepalese. I mean, it just
goes on and on, such a diverse--Vietnamese Americans--such a
diverse Asian community.
How will we approach capturing the diversity that has so
blessed our country?
Ms. Sasaki. Would you like to go? Go first.
Ms. Lew-Williams. I would say that the diversity of the
community is one of the reasons that we need a standalone
museum to try to capture what is an incredibly diverse and
distinct many histories, many stories of many people.
I would say that, as a historian, as an academic, that
academics have been working on this project for a long time. As
a field, Asian American studies is about 50 years old, and the
study of Asian immigrants and Asian and Pacific Islanders goes
back before that.
So I think that we have the academic resources to think
about this community as a community together, perhaps, and Ms.
Sasaki can talk about the community and how the community can
come together.
I think that the fact that it is so many stories means that
just the building, just having a commission and then imagining
such a bringing together of these many histories, would be a
productive thing for the Asian Pacific American community to
imagine how we tell this story that is so often overlooked.
The Chairperson. Do you have anything to add?
Ms. Sasaki. Yes. Thank you so much for bringing this up,
because I think that this is an opportunity for us to recognize
that the commission, should it go forward, has a very important
job to do, which is call together as many experts, scholars,
and community members from across all of these different
communities in order to be able to talk about the impacts of
their history, their stories, the opportunities that we have to
share about this larger American story that we all contribute
to.
And I think that with the recognition of that from the very
beginning about how complex this endeavor will be, given the
diversity of all of the communities that fall underneath the
umbrella of Asian Pacific America, that we have a great
opportunity to bring together amazing scholars, like my
colleague here, who can help us better unpack and talk about
how we are going to be able to represent those stories in what
will ultimately never be enough space.
The Chairperson. Well, I am going to thank each of you for
being here today as witnesses. It was very important to hear
from you. The Committee may have additional questions, which we
will send to you. If so, and if we do that, we would ask that
you respond in writing as quickly as you can.
I am just thinking we are really the only country in the
world that is completely made up of people from someplace else,
other than our Native Americans. And it is the kind of country,
it is not where you are from, it is where you are going that
matters. But you always have to remember where you are from as
well.
Such a rich opportunity we have here to further strengthen
America through understanding all of the people who are here
and what makes us great.
Thank you very much, and we are now adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 11:59 a.m., the Committee was adjourned.]
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