[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 2]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 2168]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     SMITHSONIAN FREE ADMISSION ACT

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                       HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON

                      of the district of columbia

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 13, 2008

  Ms. NORTON. Madam Speaker, today, I introduce the Smithsonian Free 
Admission Act to reinforce 160 years of consistent Smithsonian policy, 
admitting the public to all permanent exhibits without charge. That 
policy is embodied in the original intent of the founder's gift to the 
Federal Government that the Smithsonian be established to increase the 
knowledge of the public. The first bill establishing the Smithsonian, 
introduced by Senator William C. Preston on February 17, 1841, stated 
explicitly that the Smithsonian would ``preserve and exhibit with no 
fee all'' works of art and science. This intent and tradition was 
interrupted by the Board of Regents with the casual comment that this 
would be the first time admission fees would be charged and was done 
without notice to anyone when the Regents voted, on January 29. 2007, 
to institute the first fees in the history of the Smithsonian. The 
Congress and not the Regents should decide so basic a policy, 
especially when it departs from longstanding public policy. The 
admission fee sets a precedent for future permanent exhibits and makes 
it impossible to deny the other Smithsonian entities the same privilege 
and may encourage other Smithsonian entities to structure their 
exhibits to fit the Butterfly Pavilion model.
  Legislation, therefore, has become necessary and urgent as the 
Butterfly Pavilion is set to open on February 14, 2008. Although the 
Smithsonian has previously charged fees for films and shows, such as 
IMAX films, the National Air and Space Museum's Planetarium, and the 
National Zoo's Christmas Light special, the Butterfly Pavilion marks 
the first time admission fees are charged for a permanent exhibit.
  The Smithsonian Institution had an estimated 24.2 million visitors in 
2007. The huge number of visitors who come to the Smithsonian's 17 
museums and art galleries shows that there are untapped sources of 
revenue from appreciative Americans and others if the Smithsonian had a 
first-rate private fundraising effort similar to that of the great 
museums in this country and worldwide. Our previously introduced bill, 
H.R. 4098, The Smithsonian Modernization Act of 2007, addresses the 
Smithsonian's shallow fundraising capacity by restructuring and 
expanding the Smithsonian Board of Regents from a board almost half of 
whom are public officials to a board consisting solely of private 
sector citizens with greater fundraising capacity and experience.
  Today the Smithsonian's traditional free access to exhibits is under 
attack, chiefly because of the $2 billion dollar infrastructure 
backlog. However, the fundraising capability of the Smithsonian 
infrastructure is clear in the recent opening of the National Portrait 
Gallery, according to Congressional Research Service (CRS) RL 33560, 
donors contributed funds for the new auditorium and roof over the 
courtyard.
  The Smithsonian Modernization Act, not admission fees, provides the 
most realistic vehicle to raise funds for the Smithsonian without cost 
to the government or to the public. The Smithsonian has long prided 
itself on ``free access'' according to the CRS. Admission fees can 
bring only a token amount. Admission fees are not the answer for 
American taxpayers, who have already paid through the 70 percent that 
the Federal Government already contributes to this public institution. 
Federal taxpayers don't expect to pay again through a admission fee to 
a federally financed institution.

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