Norton Introduces Bills to Modernize Smithsonian Governance and Financial Structure and Eliminate Potential Conflicts of Interest

WASHINGTON, DC – As the House goes on the Fourth of July recess, and with the District of Columbia at the peak of tourist season, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) will introduce three bills tomorrow to make the first significant changes to the Smithsonian Institution in nearly a century. The Smithsonian Modernization Act makes changes to the Smithsonian's governance structure by expanding its Board of Regents from 17 members, which today includes six Members of Congress, the Vice President of the United States, and the Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, to 21 members, comprised exclusively of private citizens appointed by the President, with recommendations from the Speaker of the House and the President of the Senate. This bill takes important steps to rescue the Smithsonian from the antiquated 19th-century governance structure that makes this unique science, art, history and cultural conglomerate overly dependent on scarce federal funds, prevents it from accessing private resources, and limits transparent oversight. Its current board, led by public officials, poses serious issues of potential conflicts of interest. The Smithsonian scandal a few years ago showed that a governing board consisting entirely of preoccupied public officials does not have the time or the type of expertise needed to lead such a unique and complex institution. The bill would, however, preserve and strengthen the traditional role of the Speaker of the House, President of the Senate, and President of the United States in selecting members of the Board.

Norton also introduced a companion bill, the Open and Transparent Smithsonian Act, to further ensure that the Smithsonian is accountable to the public for the taxpayer funds it receives by providing that, for the purposes of the Freedom of Information Act and the Privacy Act, the Smithsonian is considered a federal agency. The third bill introduced today, the Smithsonian Free Admission Act, would reinforce a 170-year-old Smithsonian policy to make certain that the permanent exhibits at the Smithsonian's 17 museums and art galleries remain free to the public, considering that it receives 70% of its funds from the federal government.

"Congress has continued to add new museums to the Smithsonian, but has failed in its responsibility to give the Smithsonian access to the private-sector funding that today is central to the functioning of such institutions throughout the world," Norton said. "My bills would compel the first top-to-bottom evaluation of the needs of the Smithsonian in many decades – from its 19th-century governance structure that closes it off from many philanthropists, knowledgeable scientists and art patrons to its outdated financial structure. We must not continue to let this one-of-a-kind institution simply exist rather than reach the 21st-century potential that awaits it."

Published: June 27, 2013