[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 56 (Thursday, March 30, 2017)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E417]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 SMITHSONIAN WOMEN'S HISTORY MUSEUM ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. CAROLYN B. MALONEY

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 30, 2017

  Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, as we conclude 
Women's History Month, I am pleased to introduce the Smithsonian 
Women's History Museum Act along with Rep. Ed Royce and 128 bipartisan 
cosponsors.
  In November 2016, a bipartisan commission that was created through a 
bill I authored submitted its recommendations to Congress about 
establishing a women's history museum in our nation's capital. The 
Commission unanimously said in its report that the U.S. needs and 
deserves such a museum to properly tell our whole history. In fact, in 
the entire country, there is no comprehensive museum solely devoted to 
women's history. Women make up half the population, but are only 
depicted in about 10 percent of history book material, about 5 percent 
of national monuments and a fraction of the hundreds of statues on 
Capitol grounds. By not telling or preserving the stories of women who 
shaped our country, we are in danger of losing them completely. And 
that would be a great loss to us all.
  This bill has been decades in the making and it is based on the 
excellent American Museum of Women's History Congressional Commission 
final report, which was the result of 18 months of thorough study. The 
bill would establish a Smithsonian museum dedicated to women's history 
prominently located on the National Mall. It calls for the Smithsonian 
Board of Regents to designate a site for the museum within six months 
of enactment, and the cost of construction would be raised privately. 
The museum will be governed by a 25-member Advisory Council appointed 
by the Board of Regents.
  I am honored that so many of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle 
have joined me in this historic effort because honoring women's history 
should not be a partisan issue. All Americans--men and women of all 
ages--deserve to learn and be inspired by the stories of the women who 
contributed to our country's history.
  I am always struck by the story of Sybil Ludington. Everyone has 
heard of Paul Revere's ride, but few know that Ludington, the daughter 
of a colonel in the Continental Army, was just a 16 year old girl when 
she rode through the night an even greater distance than Revere to warn 
her father's troops about the approaching British forces.
  I have worked on this issue for many years and believe that 
establishing a women's history museum on the National Mall is long 
overdue. I hope that all of my colleagues will join me in this 
important effort to create an enduring tribute to women's history for 
generations to come.

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