[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 140 (Thursday, October 9, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10792-S10794]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. AKAKA (for himself, Ms. Moseley-Braun, and Mrs. Murray):
  S. 1282. A bill to provide for the establishment of the National 
Museum for the Peopling of America within the Smithsonian Institution, 
and for other purposes; to the Committee on Rules and Administration.


                   the peopling of america museum act

  Mr. AKAKA. Mr. President, last year marked the 150th anniversary of 
the Smithsonian Institution, an establishment dedicated to the 
``increase and diffusion of knowledge among men.'' Since its founding, 
the Smithsonian has promoted excellence in research and public 
education in all fields of human and scientific interest. To continue 
this great tradition of excellence, and to ensure its relevance to its 
patrons and beneficiaries, the American people, today I am introducing 
legislation, cosponsored by Senator Carol Moseley-Braun and Senator 
Patty Murray, to establish a new Smithsonian entity, the National 
Museum for the Peopling of America.
  The Peopling of America Museum would be dedicated to presenting one 
of the most significant experiences in American history, the complex 
movement of people, ideas, and cultures across boundaries--both 
internal or external--that resulted in the peopling of the Nation and 
the development of our unique, pluralist society. This movement 
transformed us from strangers from different shores into neighbors 
unified in our inimitable diversity--Americans all.
  Under our bill, the Museum would have a number of different 
functions. These include serving as: A location for exhibits and 
programs depicting the history of America's diverse peoples and their 
interactions with each other. The exhibits would collectively form a 
unified narrative of the historical processes by which the United 
States was developed; A center for research and scholarship to ensure 
that future generations of scholars will have access to resources 
necessary for telling the story of American pluralism; A repository for 
the collection of relevant artifacts, artworks, and documents to be 
preserved, studied, and interpreted; A venue for integrated public 
education programs, including lectures, films, and seminars, based on 
the Center's collections and research; and A location for a 
standardized index of resources within the Smithsonian dealing with the 
heritages of all Americans. The Smithsonian's holdings contain millions 
of artifacts which have not been identified or classified for this 
purpose.
  A clearinghouse for information on ethnic documents, artifacts, and 
artworks that may be available through non-Smithsonian sources, such as 
other federal agencies, museums, academic institutions, individuals, or 
foreign entities.
  A folklife center highlighting the cultural expressions of the 
peoples of the United States. The existing Smithsonian Center for 
Folklife Programs and Cultural Studies, which already performs this 
function, could be integrated with the museum.
  A center to promote mutual understanding and tolerance. The Museum 
would facilitate programs designed to encourage greater understanding 
of, and respect for, each of America's diverse ethnic and cultural 
heritages. The Museum would also disseminate techniques of conflict 
resolution currently being developed by social scientists.
  An oral history center developed through interviews with volunteers 
and visitors. The museum would also serve as an oral history repository 
and a clearinghouse for oral histories held by other institutions.
  A visitor center providing individually tailored orientation guides 
to Smithsonian visitors. Visitors could use the museum as an initial 
orientation phase for ethnically or culturally related artifacts, 
artworks, or information that can be found in each of the Smithsonian's 
many facilities.
  A location for training museum professionals in museum practices 
relating to the life, history, art, and culture of the peoples of the 
United States. The museum would sponsor training programs for 
professionals or students involved in teaching, researching, and 
interpreting the heritage of America's peoples.
  A location for testing and evaluating new museum-related technologies 
that could facilitate the operation of the museum. The facility could 
serve as a test bed for cutting-edge technologies that could later be 
used by other private or public museums.
  Our legislation also stipulates that the museum would be located in 
new or existing Smithsonian facilities on or near the National Mall. 
Additionally, the measure establishes an Advisory Committee on American 
Cultural Heritage to provide guidance on the operation and direction of 
the proposed museum.
   Mr. President, aside from the first Americans, whose precedence must 
be acknowledged, we Americans were travelers from other lands. From the 
first Europeans who came as explorers and conquerors to the African 
slaves who endured the middle passage and labored in the fields of our 
early plantations, from the people of Nuevo Mexico to the French of the 
Louisiana Territory who became Americans through annexation, from the 
Irish who fled poverty and famine at home to the Chinese who came in 
search of Gold Mountain--all were once visitors to this great country.
  America is defined by the grand, entangled progress of its individual 
peoples to and across the American landscape--through exploration, the 
slave trade, immigration, or internal migration--that gave rise to the 
rich interactions that make the American experience unique. We embody 
the cultures and traditions that our forebears brought from other 
shores, as well as the new traditions and cultures that we adopted on 
arrival.
  Whether we settled in the agrarian West, the industrialized North, 
the small towns of the Midwest, or the genteel cities of the South, our 
forebears inevitably formed relationships with peoples of other 
backgrounds and cultures. Our rich heritage as Americans is 
comprehensible only through the histories of our various constituent 
cultures, carried with us from other lands and transformed by 
encounters with other cultures. As one eminent cultural scholar has 
noted:

       How can one learn about slavery, holocausts, immigration, 
     ecological adaptation or ways of seeing the world without 
     some type of comparative perspective, without some type of 
     relationship between cultures and peoples. How can we 
     understand the history of any one cultural group--for 
     example, the Irish--without reference to other groups--for 
     example, the British. How can we understand African American 
     culture without placing it in some relationship to its 
     diverse African cultural roots, the creolized cultures of the 
     Caribbean, the Native American bases of Maroon and Black 
     Seminole cultures, the religious, economic and linguistic 
     cultures of the colonial Spanish in Columbia, the French in 
     Haiti, the Dutch in Suriname, and the English in the United 
     States?

  Unfortunately, Mr. President, the Smithsonian, perhaps our most 
prestigious educational institution, has never attempted to explore 
this comparative perspective of how our Nation came to be peopled. For 
whatever reason, the institution has failed to examine the college of 
relationships that shaped the values, attitudes, and behaviors of our 
various constituencies. Aside from occasional, temporary exhibits on a 
specific immigration or migration topic, such as the Museum of American 
History's recent exhibit on the northern migration of African-
Americans, none of the Smithsonian's many museums and facilities has 
tasked itself to examine any aspect of

[[Page S10793]]

this phenomenon, the peopling of America experience, much less offered 
a global review of the subject.
  This shortcoming derives, in part, from the fact that the 
Smithsonian, for all its reputation as a world-class research and 
educational organization, remains an institution rooted in 19th century 
intellectual taxonomy. For example, during the early years of the 
Smithsonian, the cultures of Northern and Western European Americans 
were originally represented at the Museum of Science and Industry, 
which eventually became the Museum of American History. However, 
African Americans, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and others were 
treated ethnographically as part of the Museum of Natural History. This 
artificial bifurcation of our cultural patrimonies is still in place 
today. Consequently, the collections of various ethnic and cultural 
groups have been fragmented among various Smithsonian entities, making 
it difficult to view these groups in relation to each other or as part 
of a larger whole.

  The establishment of the Peopling of America Museum would address 
this glaring deficiency. The museum would instantly create a national 
venue where all Americans, regardless of ethnic origin, could visit in 
order to discover and celebrate their diverse historical roots. More 
important, the museum would facilitate an exploration of our 
commonalities, the historical and cultural experiences that created the 
unique American identity and sensibility.
  Mr. President, in May 1995, the Commission on the Future of the 
Smithsonian Institution, a blue ribbon panel charged with pondering the 
future of the 150-year-old institution, issued its final report. In its 
preface, the Commission noted:

       The Smithsonian Institution is the principal repository of 
     the nation's collective memory and the nation's largest 
     public cultural space. It is dedicated to preserving, 
     understanding, and displaying the land we inhabit and the 
     diversity and depth of American civilization in all its 
     timbres and color. It holds in common for all Americans that 
     set of beliefs--in the form of artifacts--about our past 
     that, taken together, comprise our collective history and 
     symbolize the ideals to which we aspire as a polity. The 
     Smithsonian--with its 140 million objects, 16 museums and 
     galleries, the national Zoo, and 29 million annual visits--
     has been, for a century and a half, a place of wonder, a 
     magical place where Americans are reminded of how much we 
     have in common.
       The story of America is the story of a plural nation. As 
     epitomized by our nation's motto, America is a composite of 
     peoples. Our vast country was inhabited by various cultures 
     long before the Pilgrims arrived. Slaves and immigrants built 
     a new nation from ``sea to shining sea,'' across mountains, 
     plains, deserts and great rivers, all rich in diverse 
     climates, animals, and plants. One of the Smithsonian's 
     essential tasks is to make the history of our country come 
     alive for each new generation of American children.
       We cannot even imagine an ``American'' culture that is not 
     multiple in its roots and in its branches. In a world 
     fissured by differences of ethnicity and religion, we must 
     all learn to live without the age-old dream of purity--
     whether of bloodlines or cultural inheritance--and learn to 
     find comfort, solace, and even fulfillment in the rough magic 
     of the cultural mix. And it is the challenge to preserve and 
     embody that marvelous mix--the multi-various mosaic that is 
     our history, culture, land, and the people who have made it--
     that the Smithsonian Institution, on the eve of the twenty-
     first century, must rededicate itself.

  Mr. President, what more compelling argument in favor of the Peopling 
of America Museum can be found than in these words? What initiative 
other than the Peopling of America Museum would more directly address 
the Smithsonian's role in presenting the diversity and depth of 
American civilization in all its timbres and color, or making the 
history of our country come alive for each new generation of American 
children, or preserving the multivarious mosaic that is our history, 
culture, land, and the people who have made it?
  In conclusion, Mr. President, I believe that this initiative will 
foster a much-needed understanding of our diversity, of the rich 
cultural and historical differences that constitute our uniqueness as 
individuals. Conversely, and more important, I believe that the 
Peopling of America Museum will promote an appreciation of the common 
values, relationships, and experiences that bind our citizens together. 
A museum dedicated to the celebration of our unity in diversity will 
sustain and invigorate our sense of national purpose; surely this is a 
mission worthy of the Smithsonian to undertake.
  Thank you, Mr. President. I hope that this legislation will initiate 
a national dialog about the central role that the Smithsonian should 
play in preserving, researching, and exhibiting America's cultural and 
historical patrimony. I look forward to beginning this conversation 
with my colleagues, the academic community, and the interested public.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                S. 1282

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,
     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
       This Act may be cited as the ``Peopling of America Museum 
     Act''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

       Congress finds the following:
       (1) The history of the United States is in large measure 
     the history of how the United States was populated.
       (2) The evolution of the American population is broadly 
     termed the ``peopling of America'' and is characterized by 
     the movement of groups of people across external and internal 
     boundaries of the United States as well as by the 
     interactions of the groups with each other.
       (3) Each of the groups has made unique, important 
     contributions to American history, culture, art, and life.
       (4) The spiritual, intellectual, cultural, political, and 
     economic vitality of the United States is a result of the 
     pluralism and diversity of the population.
       (5) The Smithsonian Institution operates 16 museums and 
     galleries, a zoological park, and 5 major research 
     facilities. None of these public entities is a national 
     institution dedicated to presenting the history of the 
     peopling of the United States, as described in paragraph (2).
       (6) The respective missions of the National Museum of 
     American History of the Smithsonian Institution and the Ellis 
     Island Immigration Museum of the National Park Service limit 
     the ability of those museums to present fully and adequately 
     the history of the diverse population and rich cultures of 
     the United States.
       (7) The absence of a national facility dedicated solely to 
     presenting the history of the peopling of the United States 
     restricts the ability of the citizens of the United States to 
     fully understand the rich and varied heritage of the United 
     States derived from the unique histories of many peoples from 
     many lands.
       (8) The establishment of a Peopling of America Museum to 
     conduct educational and interpretive programs on the 
     multiethnic and multiracial character of the history of the 
     United States will assist in inspiring and better informing 
     the citizens of the United States concerning the rich and 
     diverse cultural heritage of the citizens.

     SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

       In this Act:
       (1) Chairperson.--The term ``Chairperson'' means the 
     Chairperson of the Committee.
       (2) Committee.--The term ``Committee'' means the Advisory 
     Committee on American Cultural Heritage established under 
     section 7(a).
       (3) Director.--The term ``Director'' means the Director of 
     the Museum.
       (4) Museum.--The term ``Museum'' means the National Museum 
     for the Peopling of America established under section 4(a).

     SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM FOR THE PEOPLING 
                   OF AMERICA.

       (a) Establishment.--There is established within the 
     Smithsonian Institution a facility that shall be known as the 
     ``National Museum for the Peopling of America''.
       (b) Purposes of the Museum.--The purposes of the Museum 
     are--
       (1) to promote knowledge of the life, art, culture, and 
     history of the many groups of people who comprise the 
     citizens of the United States;
       (2) to illustrate how such groups cooperated, competed, or 
     otherwise interacted with each other; and
       (3) to explain how the diverse, individual experiences of 
     each group collectively helped forge a unified national 
     experience.
       (c) Components of the Museum.--The Museum shall include--
       (1) a location for permanent and temporary exhibits 
     depicting the historical process by which the United States 
     was populated;
       (2) a center for research and scholarship relating to the 
     life, art, culture, and history of the groups of people of 
     the United States;
       (3) a repository for the collection, study, and 
     preservation of artifacts, artworks, and documents relating 
     to the diverse population of the United States;
       (4) a venue for public education programs designed to 
     explicate the multicultural past and present of the United 
     States;
       (5) a location for the development of a standardized index 
     of documents, artifacts, and artworks in collections that are 
     held by the Smithsonian Institution, classified in a manner 
     consistent with the purposes of the Museum;

[[Page S10794]]

       (6) a clearinghouse for information on documents, 
     artifacts, and artworks relating to the groups of people of 
     the United States that may be available to researchers, 
     scholars, or the general public through non-Smithsonian 
     collections, such as documents, artifacts, and artworks 
     relating to the groups that are held by--
       (A) other Federal agencies;
       (B) other museums;
       (C) universities;
       (D) individuals; and
       (E) foreign institutions;
       (7) a folklife center committed to highlighting the 
     cultural expressions of various groups of people within the 
     United States;
       (8) a center to promote mutual understanding and tolerance 
     among the groups of people of the United States through 
     exhibits, films, brochures, and other appropriate means;
       (9) an oral history library developed through interviews 
     with volunteers, including visitors;
       (10) a location for a visitor center that shall provide 
     individually tailored orientation guides for visitors to all 
     Smithsonian Institution facilities;
       (11) a location for the training of museum professionals 
     and others in the arts, humanities, and sciences with respect 
     to museum practices relating to the life, art, history, and 
     culture of the various groups of people of the United States; 
     and
       (12) a location for developing, testing, demonstrating, 
     evaluating, and implementing new museum-related technologies 
     that assist in fulfilling the purposes of the Museum, enhance 
     the operation of the Museum, and improve the accessibility of 
     the Museum.

     SEC. 5. LOCATION AND CONSTRUCTION.

       (a) Location.--The Museum shall be located--
       (1) in a facility of the Smithsonian Institution that is, 
     or is not, in existence on the date of enactment of this Act; 
     and
       (2) on or near the National Mall located in the District of 
     Columbia.
       (b) Construction.--The Board of Regents of the Smithsonian 
     Institution may plan, design, reconstruct, or construct 
     appropriate facilities to house the Museum.

     SEC. 6. DIRECTOR AND STAFF.

       (a) In General.--
       (1) Appointments.--The Secretary of the Smithsonian 
     Institution shall appoint and fix the compensation and duties 
     of--
       (A) a Director, Assistant Director, Secretary, and Chief 
     Curator of the Museum; and
       (B) any other officers and employees that are necessary for 
     the operation of the Museum.
       (2) Qualifications.--Each individual appointed under 
     paragraph (1) shall be an individual who is qualified through 
     experience and training to perform the duties of the office 
     to which that individual is appointed.
       (b) Applicability of Certain Civil Service Laws.--The 
     Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution may--
       (1) appoint the Director and 5 employees under subsection 
     (a), without regard to the provisions of title 5, United 
     States Code, governing appointments in the competitive 
     service; and
       (2) fix the pay of the Director and the 5 employees, 
     without regard to the provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter 
     III of chapter 53 of such title, relating to classification 
     of positions and General Schedule pay rates.

     SEC. 7. ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON AMERICAN CULTURAL HERITAGE.

       (a) Establishment of Advisory Committee.--
       (1) Establishment.--There is established an advisory 
     committee to be known as the ``Advisory Committee on American 
     Cultural Heritage''.
       (2) Membership.--
       (A) Composition.--The Committee shall be composed of 15 
     members, who shall--
       (i) be appointed by the Secretary of the Smithsonian 
     Institution;
       (ii) have expertise in immigration history, ethnic studies, 
     museum science, or any other academic or professional field 
     that involves matters relating to the cultural heritage of 
     the citizens of the United States; and
       (iii) reflect the diversity of the citizens of the United 
     States.
       (B) Initial appointments.--The initial appointments of the 
     members of the Committee shall be made not later than 6 
     months after the date of enactment of this Act.
       (3) Period of appointment; vacancies.--Members shall be 
     appointed for the life of the Committee. Any vacancy in the 
     Committee shall not affect its powers, but shall be filled in 
     the same manner as the original appointment.
       (4)  Initial meeting.--Not later than 30 days after the 
     date on which all members of the Committee have been 
     appointed, the Committee shall hold its first meeting.
       (5)  Meetings.--The Committee shall meet at the call of the 
     Chairperson, but shall meet not less frequently than 2 times 
     each fiscal year.
       (6)  Quorum.--A majority of the members of the Committee 
     shall constitute a quorum, but a lesser number of members may 
     hold hearings.
       (7) Chairperson and vice chairperson.--The Committee shall 
     select a Chairperson and Vice Chairperson from among its 
     members.
       (b) Duties of the Committee.--The Committee shall advise 
     the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution and the Director 
     concerning policies and programs affecting the Museum.
       (c) Committee Personnel Matters.--
       (1) Compensation of members.--
       (A) Non-federal members.--Each member of the Committee who 
     is not an officer or employee of the Federal Government shall 
     be compensated at a rate equal to the daily equivalent of the 
     annual rate of basic pay prescribed for level IV of the 
     Executive Schedule under section 5315 of title 5, United 
     States Code, for each day (including travel time) during 
     which such member is engaged in the performance of the duties 
     of the Committee.
       (B) Federal members.--Members of the Committee who are 
     officers or employees of the United States shall serve 
     without compensation in addition to that received for their 
     services as officers or employees of the United States.
       (2) Travel expenses.--The members of the Committee shall be 
     allowed travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of 
     subsistence, at rates authorized for employees of agencies 
     under subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, United States 
     Code, while away from their homes or regular places of 
     business in the performance of services for the Committee.
       (3) Staff.--
       (A) In general.--The Chairperson may, without regard to the 
     civil service laws and regulations, appoint and terminate an 
     executive director and such other additional personnel as may 
     be necessary to enable the Committee to perform its duties. 
     The employment of an executive director shall be subject to 
     confirmation by the Committee.
       (B) Compensation.--The Chairperson may fix the compensation 
     of the executive director and other personnel without regard 
     to the provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 
     53 of title 5, United States Code, relating to classification 
     of positions and General Schedule pay rates, except that the 
     rate of pay for the executive director and other personnel 
     may not exceed the rate payable for level V of the Executive 
     Schedule under section 5316 of such title.
       (4) Detail of government employees.--Any Federal Government 
     employee may be detailed to the Committee without 
     reimbursement, and such detail shall be without interruption 
     or loss of civil service status or privilege.
       (5) Procurement of temporary and intermittent services.--
     The Chairperson may procure temporary and intermittent 
     services under section 3109(b) of title 5, United States 
     Code, at rates for individuals which do not exceed the daily 
     equivalent of the annual rate of basic pay prescribed for 
     level V of the Executive Schedule under section 5316 of such 
     title.
                                 ______