[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 8]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 10975]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




    INTRODUCTION OF THE OPEN AND TRANSPARENT SMITHSONIAN ACT OF 2013

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                       HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON

                      of the district of columbia

                    in the house of representatives

                          Monday, July 8, 2013

  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, today I introduce the Open and Transparent 
Smithsonian Act of 2013 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 shall be 
considered a federal agency.
  The bill complements my Smithsonian Modernization Act and my 
Smithsonian Free Admission Act. I introduce these three bills today to 
make the Smithsonian accountable 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. 
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 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 six 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.

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