[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 121 (Wednesday, July 29, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1177]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  THE INTRODUCTION OF THE OPEN AND TRANSPARENT SMITHSONIAN ACT OF 2015

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                       HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON

                      of the district of columbia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 29, 2015

  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, today, I introduce the Open and Transparent 
Smithsonian Act of 2015 to further ensure that the Smithsonian 
Institution is accountable to the public for the taxpayer funds it 
receives. The bill provides that, for the purposes of the Freedom of 
Information Act (FOIA) and the Privacy Act, the Smithsonian should be 
considered a federal agency. This bill is necessary because there is no 
reason why the Smithsonian should not be accountable to the public for 
the annual federal appropriations it receives, which account for 70 
percent of its budget. 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 has always been 
treated as a federal agency except for FOIA and other open government 
laws. In the 1990s, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of 
Columbia Circuit found under the current act that the Smithsonian is 
not a federal agency for purposes of FOIA and the Privacy Act. The 
Smithsonian's website states that it is ``not an Executive Branch 
agency, and FOIA does not apply to the Smithsonian.''
  This bill would amend FOIA and the Privacy Act to apply to the 
Smithsonian, which would require the institution to make administrative 
staff manuals, interpretations of law or regulations, final opinions, 
policies, and other records available to the public. The bill would 
also require the Smithsonian's Board of Regents and other boards to 
hold meetings to the public.
  The current absence of transparency at the Smithsonian should be of 
concern, particularly in light of its recent history of secrecy and 
corruption. In 2007, an independent review found that the Smithsonian 
Board of Regents had violated many principles of good management 
Regents during the tenure of Lawrence Small as Secretary of the 
Smithsonian. The report indicated that the Board had failed to provide 
the needed oversight, had over-compensated 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, was frequently absent from her duties because of 
outside activities, including service on corporate boards, for which 
she earned more than $1.2 million over six years. Importantly, the 
report indicated that Smithsonian leaders took great measures to keep 
secret these missteps and mismanagement.
  While the Smithsonian has since had new leaders, who are moving away 
from the mistakes of the past, Congress has not ensured that the 
Smithsonian is a transparent entity, which should not depend on who is 
in charge. An entity supported primarily by federal funds must be 
accountable to the American people.
  I urge my colleagues to support this measure.

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