[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 129 (Wednesday, September 18, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H10548-H10550]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION NATIONAL AIR AND SPACE MUSEUM DULLES CENTER
Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
Senate bill (S. 1995) to authorize construction of the Smithsonian
Institution National Air and Space Museum Dulles Center at Washington
Dulles International Airport, and for other purposes.
The Clerk read as follows:
S. 1995
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. CONSTRUCTION OF MUSEUM CENTER.
The Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution is
authorized to construct the Smithsonian Institution National
Air and Space Museum Dulles Center at Washington Dulles
International Airport.
SEC. 2. LIMITATION ON USE OF FUNDS.
No appropriated funds may be used to pay any expense of the
construction authorized by section 1.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Pennsylvania [Mr. Shuster] and the gentleman from Ohio [Mr. Traficant]
each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. Shuster].
Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, this legislation authorizes the construction of the
Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum extension at Dulles Airport.
To date, $8 million had been authorized in appropriations for planning
and design of this project. The construction of this facility will
allow airplane, spacecraft, and aviation-related equipment currently
stored outdoors to be safely housed in structures which meet museum
standards, as well as create a restoration facility capable of handling
the largest artifacts in the collection.
Mr. Speaker, these include such aircraft as the B-29 Enola Gay, the
space shuttle Enterprise, and the SR-71 Blackbird. A request for $5
million is included in the fiscally year 1997 budget to continue
funding through the design development phase and begin the construction
documents phase.
The final $2 million authorized will be requested in fiscal year 1998
to complete the construction documents for the building.
Mr. Speaker, it is important to emphasize that no Federal funds will
be made available for the construction
[[Page H10549]]
phase of the project. The Smithsonian Institution will be responsible
for privately raising funds to pay for the construction. Also, the
Commonwealth of Virginia has pledged to provide infrastructure support,
which includes a $3 million interest-free loan, a $6 million
construction appropriation, and authority for a $100 million bond
issue.
It is a good bill, Mr. Speaker, and I urge its adoption.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. TRAFICANT. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to
the gentleman from Minnesota [Mr. Oberstar], our ranking Democrat
member of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
Mr. OBERSTAR. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.
Mr. Speaker, this is a really exciting initiative, the National Air
and Space Museum to be developed at Dulles Airport. It is under the
leadership of a truly great leader in aviation, former Adm. Don Engen,
former administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration and former
Member of the National Transportation Safety Board.
He is in charge of the fund-raising and of the organization and
development of this project and has already launched a very significant
nationwide effort, working very hard to raise the private sector funds
which, as the gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. Shuster] indicated, will
be entirely constructed with private sector funds.
It is going to be a true monument to aviation, to aviation
technology, and I am very pleased that the committee has moved this
legislation to make the extension facility possible. It is really an
extension of the Smithsonian, but at a place that makes sense: Out at
one of the Nation's premier airports, and an international airport; one
of advanced design at that, where we can put on display this leadership
that the United States has demonstrated throughout decades in the field
of aviation.
Mr. Speaker, I urge the passage of this legislation.
Mr. TRAFICANT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, no Federal funds will be used for the construction of
this project. In addition, the State of Virginia will be contributing
to infrastructure construction and access roads. Finally, the board of
regents of the Smithsonian have committed to an aggressive fund-raising
program for the remainder of these necessary funds, and would make the
University of Nebraska football program look meager in its wake.
Mr. Speaker, we have no other requests for time. We support this
legislation. We commend the gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. Shuster]
here at the end of our session for all the fine work he has done, and
the gentleman from Maryland [Mr. Gilchrest] and staff as well.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure today to rise in support of
legislation to authorize the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian
Institution to construct the National Air and Space Museum extension at
Washington Dulles International Airport, and I want to thank all those
members and individuals who have been so helpful in moving this
legislation to the House floor. I especially want to thank Chairman
Shuster of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee for
his help.
S. 1995, introduced in the Senate by my Virginia colleague Senator
John Warner, authorizes the Smithsonian to build a much-needed
extension of the Air and Space Museum. The existing Air and Space
Museum on the Mall is simply too small and inadequate to meet existing
needs. Currently there is no storage space for large artifacts, making
the safe preservation of these large artifacts quite impracticable.
Furthermore, due to current space limitations at the Mall museum, only
about 20 percent of the Nation's air and space collection is on public
display.
Clearly, the extension of the Air and Space Museum at Washington
Dulles International Airport will help to correct this problem. It will
allow the Smithsonian to place on display historic and magnificent
artifacts such as the Enola Gay, the SR-7 Blackbird spy plane, the
space shuttle Enterprise, and many others. These planes and spaceships
currently sit in warehouses away from public view and are improperly
maintained because there is no room for these large artifacts at the
Mall museum. This deprives the public of the opportunity to experience
some of the most fascinating testaments to our Nation's creative genius
in civil, military, and space flight.
The Air and Space extension will provide the space and facilities
needed to display these artifacts and allow them to be enjoyed by
people from all around the world. The Air and Space Museum is the most
popular of the Smithsonian's museums and the extension is expected to
draw over 3 million visitors per year.
In 1993 the Smithsonian Institution was first authorized to plan and
design an Air and Space Museum extension at Washington Dulles
International Airport and I was pleased to support this effort. In
fiscal year 1996, Congress and the Commonwealth of Virginia in
partnership provided funding for planning and design work on the
extension. It is important to note that Congress has made it clear that
no Federal funds are to be made available for the construction portion
of the project. Instead, the Smithsonian Institution is responsible for
raising private funds for the construction of the extension.
S. 1995 furthers the efforts already underway by authorizing the
Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution to construct the museum
extension while also making clear that no appropriated funds are to be
used to pay any expense of the construction of this facility. Retired
Adm. Donald Engen is the new director of the Air and Space Museum and I
am pleased that the museum is headed by such an enthusiastic and able
director. Admiral Engen has stated that his No. 1 priority is to wage a
national campaign to raise adequate funding for construction and this
goal will be accomplished more effectively once Congress has clearly
authorized this construction.
Mr. Speaker, the museum extension will significantly increase the
amount of our air and space collection on public display, provide safe
and climate-controlled storage facilities, and establish a restoration
facility capable of handling the largest artifacts in the collection in
full view of visitors. All of this will be accomplished with no Federal
funds being used for the construction of the extension. I urge passage
of S. 1995 and yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. GILCHREST. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of S. 1995, a bill to
authorize construction of the Smithsonian Institution National Air and
Space Museum Dulles Center at Washington Dulles International Airport.
This bill authorizes the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian
Institution to construct an extension to the Air and Space Museum
currently located on the Washington Mall, on a 185 acre site in the
Dulles Airport complex in Virginia.
The new facility will permit airplanes, spacecraft, and aviation
related artifacts currently stored outdoors to be housed in structures
built to museum standards; and provide improved facilities to house the
aviation artifacts which are currently stored at the outdated Paul E.
Garber facility in Suitland, MD. In addition, the extension will
provide a restoration facility capable of handling the largest
artifacts in the collection, such as the space shuttle Enterprise and
the historic Enola Gay B-29 bomber, for public viewing.
The measure ensures that no appropriated funds will be used to pay
any expense of the construction. The Smithsonian Institution is
responsible for privately raising funds for the project and the
Commonwealth of Virginia has pledged to provide infrastructure support
in the amount of $40 million, a $3 million interest free loan, a $6
million construction appropriation, and authority for a $100 million
bond issue.
The bill has bipartisan support and I wish to thank my colleagues on
both sides of the aisle for their assistance in bringing this measure
to the floor.
I urge my colleagues to support this bill.
Mr. DAVIS. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of S. 1995 which authorizes
construction of the Smithsonian Institute's Air and Space Museum
Extension at Washington Dulles International Airport.
Since 1983 the Smithsonian has been looking to build an Air and Space
extension large enough to properly display many aviation artifacts that
there is no room for at the museum on the Mall. Few people realize that
only 20 percent of the museum's collection is on display at the Air and
Space Museum. Right now, the Space Shuttle Enterprise, a B-17 Flying
Fortress, and an SR-71 Blackbird among others, are collecting dust in
hangers at Dulles Airport, because there is no room at the Air and
Space Museum. Only the nose section of the Enola Gay could be displayed
at the Smithsonian's commemoration of the dropping of the atomic bomb,
because the museum does not have room to display the entire refurbished
aircraft. There are a number of historically important aircraft, such
as a Lockeed Constellation, sitting outside exposed to the weather,
because there is no space to store or display them. This new extension
will accommodate these historic air and spacecraft.
[[Page H10550]]
S. 1995 authorizes the board of regents of the Smithsonian
Institution to construct a museum extension at Dulles Airport. This
legislation makes it clear that no Federal funds will be appropriated
to pay for any expense associated with construction of this facility.
The Air and Space Museum has already begun the process of raising
private funds for construction, and I understand that new Air and Space
Museum Director Donald Engen has set raising funds to build the
extension as a top priority. The Commonwealth of Virginia also stands
firmly behind its commitment to bringing this national educational
facility to reality with a $3 million interest free loan, a $6 million
design and construction grant, and authority for up to $100 million in
bonds.
It has been 13 years since the Air and Space Museum Extension was
proposed, in that time the Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum has
become the most visited museum in the world. This bill is
noncontroversial. It requires no expenditure of Federal funds, in fact,
the bill explicitly states that no Federal funds will be used. It
passed the Senate by voice vote. Lets pass this bill and get on with
expanding this enormously popular museum that celebrates America's love
of aviation.
In closing, I want to thank Chairman Gilchrest for his tremendous
efforts in bringing this legislation to the floor so quickly.
Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I
yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. Shuster] that the House suspend the
rules and pass the Senate bill, S. 1995.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor
thereof) the rules were suspended and the Senate bill was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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