[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 60 (Thursday, May 5, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E831]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  OPEN AND TRANSPARENT SMITHSONIAN ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON

                      of the district of columbia

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 5, 2011

  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, today, I introduce the Open and Transparent 
Smithsonian Act to further ensure that the Smithsonian Institution is 
accountable to the public for the taxpayer funds it receives. This bill 
provides that, for the purposes of the Freedom of Information Act 
(FOIA) and the Privacy Act, the Smithsonian shall be considered a 
Federal agency.
  The bill complements my Smithsonian Modernization Act and my 
Smithsonian Free Admission Act. I introduce these bills today, to make 
the Smithsonian accountable for the 70 percent of its funding that 
comes from annual Federal appropriations. Although the Smithsonian was 
created by Congress as a Federal trust, it receives the great majority 
of its funding from the Federal Government, much like Federal agencies, 
and had always been treated as a Federal agency. However, in the 1990s, 
the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit found 
that the Smithsonian is not a Federal agency for purposes of FOIA and 
the Privacy Act. Indeed, the Smithsonian's website clearly states that 
it is ``not an Executive Branch agency, and FOIA does not apply to the 
Smithsonian.''
  This lack of transparency is of great concern, particularly in light 
of the Smithsonian's recent history of secrecy and corruption. In 2007, 
an independent review committee found that the Smithsonian Board of 
Regents had violated many principles of good management during the 
tenure of Lawrence Small as Secretary of the Smithsonian. The report 
indicated that the Board had failed to provide desperately needed 
oversight, had overcompensated the Secretary, and had allowed the 
creation of an ``insular culture.'' The report further found that the 
Smithsonian's deputy secretary and chief operating officer, Sheila 
Burke, had frequent absences from her duties because of outside 
activities, including service on corporate boards, for which she earned 
more than $1.2 million over 6 years. Importantly, the report indicated 
that Smithsonian leaders took great measures to keep secret these 
missteps and mismanagement.
  While the Smithsonian now has new leaders who are moving away from 
the mistakes of the past, its transparency should not depend on who is 
in charge. An entity supported primarily by the Federal Government must 
be accountable to the American people. The American people have a right 
to know that their interests are being served.
  I urge my colleagues to support this measure.

                          ____________________