Norton Bill Seeks 21st Century Structure to Cure Smithsonian (11/06/07)
Norton Bill Seeks 21st Century Structure to Cure Smithsonian's 19th Century and Governance and Funding Ills
November 6, 2007
Washington, DC-Responding to serious controversies and damaging news reports on questionable spending and management practices at the Smithsonian Institution, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), chair of the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management, today introduced a bill to reform the governance structure.
The Norton bill seeks to bring more intense supervision by its Board of Regents and to open the door for greater private fundraising that "the nation's most unique and complex national treasure urgently requires attention to crippling budget problems and serious infrastructure needs," Norton said. Currently 70% of the Smithsonian's $1 billion budget comes from federal appropriations, but there is no prospect for desperately needed funds from Congress. Norton's Smithsonian Modernization Act of 2007 requires that the Board of Regents consist of private citizens, who would be free to give new and unprecedented attention to governance and would help raise substantially more funds from private sources. Norton said that the current Board of Regents is dominated by dedicated but overextended members of the House and Senate, the Vice President of the United States and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, who now make up half of the board, and who must perform "their fiduciary duties as board members while giving first priority to their sworn responsibilities as important federal officials." The Smithsonian, which includes world class museums, galleries, educational showplaces and unique research centers, the National Zoo, and a National Museum of the American Indian, has no counterpart in its span or complexity. The institution needs $2.5 billion to meet mounting infrastructure demands and continuing deterioration that threatens exhibits and restricts access. The new structure envisioned by the bill will improve oversight and capacity for fundraising from private sources following the most serious financial and management crisis in the Smithsonian's 160 year history.
Norton wrote this bill following hearings that revealed mounting deterioration of the physical facilities, and following review of two studies that probed the cause of the recent controversies. An Independent Review Committee (IRC) formed by the Regents and chaired by former U.S. Comptroller General, Charles A. Bowsher, concluded that the root cause of the failures in governance and management was the antiquated governance structure. According to the IRC, the Board of Regents for the Smithsonian must recognize a fiduciary responsibility that carries a "major commitment of time and effort, a reputational risk and potentially, financial liability." The IRC further found that the Smithsonian, must have Regents who "act as true fiduciaries and who have both the time and the experience to assume the responsibilities of setting strategy and providing oversight. Time is a major factor." Norton's bill would align the board with modern public and private boards today and facilitate close and critical internal oversight demanded for a uniquely complex institution today. Norton's bill would also increase the size of the Regents Board from 17 to 21. However, the bill preserves and strengthens the traditional role of the Speaker of the House and of the Senate Majority Leader in selecting regents as provided in the Smithsonian charter. Each would send twelve appointees to the President of the United States, who would select the 21 board members. As a result, the bill eliminates the current self-perpetuating role of the Board of Regents in selecting its citizen members.
In her statement introducing the bill, Norton said, "In the face of an unprecedented public controversy, Congress would be remiss if it left the Smithsonian to its own oversight and devices for improvement. Congress must help the Smithsonian Institution strengthen its ability to build resources beyond what taxpayers are able to provide to preserve this irreplaceable cultural, historical, educational and artistic complex unlike any public or private counterpart in the world." In addition to an official role as chair of the Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management subcommittee, the Congresswoman's concern and interest in the Smithsonian runs deep. She is a third generation Washingtonian who grew up with the Smithsonian and has painfully watched the deterioration and neglect of "the capital's one-of-a-kind, truly magnificent, irreplaceable treasures." As Congresswoman, she has received many complaints about the condition of the Smithsonian, an important feature of the District's tourist economy.
Last week, Norton introduced the Mall Revitalization and Designation Act to define and enlarge the Mall and to bring attractive enclaves and tables for eating and free entertainment.