[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 59 (Friday, May 13, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: May 13, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
H.R. 4315, THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF HEALTH AND MEDICINE SITE DESIGNATION 
                                  ACT

                                 ______


                       HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON

                      of the district of columbia

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 12, 1994

  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, there is a health communication crisis in 
this country. Too many Americans are not being reached and motivated 
with informative messages about how to stay healthy and avoid disease. 
Many lack the most basic understanding of how the human body works and 
how to take care of it.
  On April 28, 1994, I offered legislation which will ensure our 
national commitment to effective health education. The National Museum 
of Health and Medicine Site Designation Act, H.R. 4315, designates a 
site adjacent to the Hubert Humphrey Building, located just off the 
National Mall, for construction of a new public facility for the 
National Museum of Health and Medicine. This public facility will be 
dedicated to: First, communicating information about how to stay 
healthy and avoid disease, and second, showing the advances and lessons 
which make up America's impressive history in health and medicine.
  I would like to make clear what this legislation does and does not 
do. While H.R. 4315 sets aside a site for construction of a new public 
facility for the museum, it does not authorize or fund construction. 
The bill will also not infringe upon the authority of either the 
National Capital Planning Commission or the Commission of Fine Arts, 
both of which will still be responsible for approving the type of 
structure to be built. The legislation simply acknowledges the 
importance of serious, committed health education and establishes that 
Congress agrees with the need for a central resource for this purpose.
  As many of my colleagues know, this museum was on the Mall, from 1888 
to 1968, during which time it was known as the Army Medical Museum. 
When located on the Mall, alongside the Smithsonian Castle, it was one 
of the most popular museums in the country. Then in 1968, the building 
in which the Museum was housed, the Old Red Brick, a National Historic 
Landmark, was torn down to make way for the Hirshorn Museum of Modern 
Art. The Museum's collections were moved to a new facility at the 
Walter Reed Army Medical Center where visitorship fell off dramatically 
to less than 25,000 a year.
  In 1986, with the museum in serious decline, a new director was 
appointed who created an ad-hoc, blue-ribbon panel to consider the 
future of the facility. The panel found that there was a great need for 
a revitalized and relocated National Museum of Health and Medicine. A 
private organization, the National Museum of Health and Medicine 
Foundation, chaired by the former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. C. Everett 
Koop, was formed to develop the necessary support for the Museum's 
return to the Mall.
  We need the museum back on the Mall, Mr. Speaker. This country needs 
it and my constituents--particularly children--in the District of 
Columbia need it. They need the exposure to useful information about 
their bodies and how they work, which will allow them to make good 
decisions about how to stay healthy and avoid disease. Earlier this 
week, a report was issued entitled ``Every Kid Counts in the District 
of Columbia: A Starting Point.'' This report provides some 
extraordinary statistics regarding the state of well-being of children 
in the District. And one of the areas the report addresses--health--is 
among the most disturbing. According to the report: ``One D.C. child in 
55 dies before his or her first birthday, a rate which is twice the 
national average. Even among those who survive one year, a higher 
percentage will die before the age of 15 than in any of the 50 
states.''

  Many things contribute to these alarming statistics--poverty, 
inadequate housing, violence--but we cannot overlook the impact that 
the lack of accurate information plays in the lives of unhealthy 
people. Informed, wise decisionmaking is virtually impossible without 
education. Health education alone will not improve the health of 
Americans or eradicate such devastating, pervasive problems as infant 
mortality. But a commitment to education is an intelligent, realistic 
place to start. Twenty-five million people visit the Mall every year. 
They come to the Mall to learn. When the museum is back by the Mall, it 
will be available and interesting to these people, but it will actually 
reach even more than their numbers. The National Museum of Health and 
Medicine will continue to serve as the centerpiece of a national 
outreach effort, bringing together science museums and schools in every 
State, to share health-related exhibits and programs providing 
innovative, effective health education.
  When the museum is back by the Mall, it will be seen as the best 
example of a public-private partnership. For many years, the museum has 
had a relationship with the Department of Defense, which supported the 
facility from its earliest days and continues to do so today through 
the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology. The museum looks forward to 
continuing and expanding upon this relationship when it is back near 
the Mall.
  The museum also looks forward to the development of a relationship 
with the Department of Health and Human Services, a future neighbor 
which shares missions similar to that of the museum. Dr. Koop has met 
with Secretary Shalala about the project and, while many details remain 
to be worked out, she is enthusiastic about a revitalized and relocated 
National Museum of Health and Medicine. The museum has already received 
Public Health Service support for planning for the new facility and 
programs.
  The museum does not expect, however, the Federal Government to serve 
as the sole, or even major, source of support for its move back to the 
Mall. Dr. Koop's Foundation is waging a major campaign to develop 
private support for exhibits and programs in the new facility. They 
have secured a pledge of $1 million from the Kellogg Company for a 
state of the art exhibit and related educational programs on diet and 
nutrition. They are working diligently to find additional private 
founders for both construction of the new facility and its exhibits.
  H.R. 4315 deserves support because there is nothing more valuable 
than our commitment to the health and education of the American people. 
A revitalized and relocated National Museum of Health and Medicine will 
be a significant step toward ensuring commitment stands and grows.

                               H.R. 4315

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

       (a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
       (1) the United States faces critical health care problems, 
     solutions for which will arise from an attentive and educated 
     citizenry;
       (2) there is a great need for an increased emphasis to be 
     placed on public health education and the development of 
     scientific literacy concerning health care issues;
       (3) when the National Museum of Health and Medicine, 
     formerly the Army Medical Museum, was located on the Mall in 
     Washington, District of Columbia, from 1888 to 1968, it was 
     one of the most popular and well-visited museums in the 
     Nation's capital;
       (4) with the removal of the Museum from the Mall to the 
     grounds of the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in 1968, there 
     was no longer a national education facility devoted to this 
     purpose located within the District of Columbia within easy 
     access to the up to 25,000,000 individuals who visit the Mall 
     each year; and
       (5) the American taxpayer, through the United States 
     Government, pays approximately 30 percent of the costs of all 
     health care services, costs which could be dramatically 
     reduced with the advent of better educated, informed 
     Americans.
       (b) Purpose.--It is the purpose of this Act to designate a 
     site for the relocation of the public facility of the 
     National Museum of Health and Medicine so that it may serve 
     as a central resource of instruction about, and be involved 
     in, the critical health issues which confront all American 
     citizens.

     SEC. 2. SITE OF FACILITY.

       The public facility of the National Museum of Health and 
     Medicine shall be located on the following adjacent areas of 
     land owned by the Federal Government in the District of 
     Columbia:
       (1) The east plaza of the Hubert Humphrey Building, 
     presently occupied by the Department of Health and Human 
     Services.
       (2) The entire portion of 2nd Street, Southwest, that is 
     located between C Street and Washington Avenue, Southwest.
       (3) A triangular park, known as ``Square N--580'', which 
     lies immediately to the east of 2nd Street, Southwest.

     SEC. 3. GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION AUTHORIZATION.

       In accordance with procedures of the District of Columbia, 
     the Administrator of General Services is authorized to apply 
     for the closing and transfer of jurisdiction over the entire 
     portion of 2nd Street, Southwest, located between C Street 
     and Washington Avenue, Southwest, and the transfer of 
     jurisdiction over Square N-580, from the District of Columbia 
     to the General Services Administration for the purpose of 
     locating the National Museum of Health and Medicine.

     SEC. 4. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.

       Nothing in this Act shall be construed as limiting the 
     authority or responsibilities of the National Capital 
     Planning Commission or the Commission of Fine Arts.

     SEC. 5. DEFINITION.

       As used in this Act, the term ``Mall'' means--
       (1) the land designated as ``Union Square'', District of 
     Columbia Reservation 6A;
       (2) the land designated as the ``Mall'', District of 
     Columbia Reservations 3, 4, 5, and 6;
       (3) the land designated as the ``Monument Grounds'', 
     District of Columbia Reservation 2; and
       (4) the land designated as ``West Potomac Park'', District 
     of Columbia Reservations 3, 3, and 2.

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