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Wednesday, April 14, 2010. SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION WITNESS

dr. g. wayne clough, secretary

Testimony of Secretary Wayne Clough

Mr. Clough. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate it very much. We are pleased to be here, and we are thankful for the support that Congress has given to the Smithsonian and to its future.

We would like to think we have begun a new era at the Smithsonian. We have put a lot of the past behind us and are moving forward with our new strategic plan.

As you know, our new plan calls for us to shape the future by preserving our heritage, discovering new knowledge and sharing our resources with the world. And Mr. Chairman, you very nicely described the four grand challenges which are intended really to take this institution with its many moving parts and focus it in these challenging areas. Also, they allow us to do cross-disciplinary things, in other words, to take the resources of the Smithsonian and use them, in a way, more creatively, to cross the disciplines and cross the different museums and different ways to address the major topics of the day.

Added to this, as Congressman Simpson has indicated, we want broadened access to the Smithsonian. We want to actually take the museum to the people through partnerships and using digital technology as well as traveling exhibits.

So this is an ambitious plan, we think, but we think we can do it because we have 6,000 very talented people, passionate people, who work at the Smithsonian. And in addition, we have 6,500 volunteers who love it just as much. I gave a 50-year pin to a volunteer the other day. That is a long time for volunteer work.

We are, we believe, making progress on many fronts: exhibitions, visits, collections, digitization, outreach, education, and more, and I will give you a few examples.

exhibitions

Last year through the help that we received from Congress, our Collections Care and Preservation Fund directly improved the care of 1.5 million items, and we opened a state-of-the-art facility on Pennsy Drive which offers us much more capacity to protect the assets that we have for the American people. Last month we celebrated the 100th anniversary of the opening of the National Museum of Natural History, the most visited museum in the United States. It has an exciting new, permanent exhibit called What Does It Mean To Be Human? I hope you all have a chance to visit that. If you would like to and you have not, we would love to give you a tour.

But this is one of only 10 brand-new exhibits that we have, and you mentioned one, Framing the West, which is a very good one, across the Smithsonian for the visitors who are starting to come in droves in the spring and the .summer.

This month also we are celebrating the truly original American art form, jazz. We have our own jazz group, and others are invited to participate with us. All of these are free events and live performances. This week marks the 40th anniversary of Apollo 13, and Commander James Lovell is joining us at the Air and Space Museum to help relive that mission and that dramatic space flight which we will remember for all time because of his words, Houston, we have had a problem.

VISITS

From kites on the mall, the Smithsonian sponsors the National Kite Festival, to curators on YouTube, we are reaching out locally, globally, in person and on-line. If you cannot come to us, our motto is, we will come to you. We had 30 million visitors last year, 6 million more than the year before but nearly 190 million visitors to our websites. We reached another 5 million visitors in person through our traveling exhibits program. We now have nearly 200 social media accounts across the institution, and on our central social media accounts alone, we have 50,000 Facebook fans, 62,000 Twitter followers and our YouTube videos are being viewed at very high rates, particularly the First Lady's gown exhibit, and that indeed is the leave behind for you today. You have four of our new YouTube videos. I hope you will have a chance to take a look at them.

People have told us the most popular one of these four is the First Lady's gown event which was marvelous, and the First Lady was delightful. But my favorite is the one that you will see shown on the CD cover with a gorilla eating.

It is about the chef at the zoo. The chef at the zoo prepares daily meals for 2,200 animals with completely different appetites and different nutritional requirements. I found it fascinating. The idea is to bring out from behind the walls more of what is happening at this institution.

DIGITIZATION

We are hiring a new director of digitization and will issue a digitization strategic plan this month. We are making steady progress on creating the digital Smithsonian. For example, our Encyclopedia of Life Project, which has the objective to have one web page for every species of life on earth already provides access to 400,000 species pages, and that is up by 200,000, or doubling the number that we had last year. We have 20 milhon pages of literature devoted to biological diversity through the Biodiversity Heritage Library which we share with others.

Mr. Chairman, good to see you.

Mr. MORAN [presiding]. Good to see you. This is embarrassing. The 20-minute trip took nearly an hour and a half. But that is not your responsibility.

Excuse me very much for interrupting you.

Mr. Clough. Not a problem.

Mr. MoRAN. Doctor, please proceed. It is very nice to see you.

Mr. Clough. Good to see you. So we were just going over our efforts in digitization and global outreach, and you have this in front

of you. That is YouTube videos which you can see at your own time when you have a chance to do it.

So we are trying to share our resources with others around the country and indeed around the world. In fact, we would like to begin to use these resources to revitalize K through 12 education in the country. So we have been having discussions with the Department of Education and with many others who do just that. And we just hired our new Director of Education, Claudine Brown, who actually worked with the Smithsonian in her past life, to coordinate our efforts in education.

EDUCATION

We have much to offer students, teachers and parents, and indeed learners of all ages. For example, today actually is Day 2 of a four-day Smithsonian on-line education conference sponsored by Microsoft Partners in Learning. Microsoft Partners in Learning reaches 2 million students in this country and some around the world. The conference addresses our four grand challenges that we have in our strategic plan, and it allows participants not only to hear from our experts but to ask them questions. It reaches all 50 states, six continents and the Microsoft network of 2 million teachers and students. It will be archived for continued access, and we have plans for more such on-line seminars in the future.

COLLABORATION WITH FEDERAL AGENCIES

We are also proud of our collaborations with other government agencies. We indeed want to make sure we do not overlap too much, that in fact we are working consistently with them.

For example, we are working with the State Department on a number of fronts. Last month with the State Department we hosted the President and First Lady of the Republic of Senegal at our African Art Museum for a lunch, and Saturday we hosted the President of Argentina to help launch our 26-event schedule that will celebrate the bicentennial of Argentina this year. And in Haiti, we are working closely with the State Department, the President's Committee for Arts and Humanities, the Defense Department, the NEA, the NEH, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services and many American cultural institutions who want to help Haiti recover its cultural assets, many of which lie today in the rubble of the buildings there that need to be rescued and restored.

The Smithsonian has always been an international institution explaining what it means to be an American to both our citizens and to those of the world. Our fiscal 2011 budget totals $797.6 million. This is the proposal to you from 0MB. I want to assure the Committee we are determined to use every penny as wisely as we can. We just received an unqualified audit opinion of the whole institution from KPMG with no significant deficiencies and no material weaknesses, and on Friday we will complete a big study we have been doing called the Best Practices Study so that we will become a better institution, use our resources more clearly and carefully and communicate with our people about how we do that. We want to run a tight ship and maximize every dollar because we know those dollars are hard to come by today.

So thank you for your continued support, and I am very optimistic about the future of the Smithsonian. [The statement of Mr. Clough follows:]

STATEMENT OF DR. G. WAYNE CLOUGH

SECRETARY OF THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION

BEFORE THE

SUBCOMMITTEE ON INTERIOR, ENVIRONMENT, AND RELATED AGENCIES

COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS

U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

ON THE FISCAL YEAR 2011 REQUEST

April 14, 2010

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee -

It is my privilege to appear before the Subcommittee to testify on behalf of the Institution's FY 2011 budget request, and share with you the future direction of the Smithsonian Institution as outlined in our Fiscal Year 2010-2015 Strategic Plan. I would like to express my appreciation for your continued support of the Smithsonian and its activities.

Over the next decade, the Smithsonian is committed to becoming more engaged than ever before with the great issues of our day. The Institution completed an unprecedented, year-long, planning activity resulting in a Strategic Plan that is interdisciplinary and entrepreneurial, and which has been embraced by both internal and external stakeholders. It calls for us to broaden access and reach new audiences by bringing the resources of our museums and research centers to people where they learn and live. It was approved enthusiastically by the Smithsonian's Board of Regents.

The plan identifies four "Grand Challenges" that bring focus to what we do, and allow for cross-cutting activities to flourish within the Institution and with external partners. These challenges are; Unlocking the Mysteries of the Universe; Understanding and Sustaining a Biodiverse Planet, Valuing World Cultures: and Understanding the American Experience. Our aspiration is to shape the future by preserving our heritage, discovering new knowledge and sharing our resources with the world.

We have structured our FY 2011 budget request around these themes and we have re-positioned our organizational structure so that we can achieve our ambitious goals.

As the largest museum and research complex in the world, the Smithsonian is uniquely positioned to meet the challenges and goals spelled out in the plan. The Institution is supported by authoritative scholarship that connects Americans to their cultural heritage and also acts as an international leader in scientific research and exploration. The Smithsonian consists of 19 museums and gallenes, a system of 20 libraries, numerous research centers, and the National Zoological Park. All but two of the museums are located in the Washington, DC metropolitan area; Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum and the George Gustav Heye Center of the National Museum of the American Indian are located in New York City In addition, the Smithsonian has research

facilities in eight states and the District of Columbia, and has activities in nearly 100 countries, at sites ranging from the equator to both poles

The Institution's collections include a remarkable 137 million artifacts, works of art, and scientific specimens. The Smitf»sonian preserves and displays many of our nation's greatest artistic, scientrfic, and cultural treasures, including objects that speak to our country's inquisitiveness, bold vision, creativity, and courage: Edison's light bulb, the Whght flyer, Lewis and Clark's compass, the only national collection of presidential portraits outside the White House, the world's largest meteonte collection, the only Neanderthal skeleton in this hemisphere, and Mark Twain's self-portrait.

To experience our unique collections, nearly 30 million individuals from across the country and around the world came to the Smithsonian during the past fiscal year (six million more than in 2008), and more than 188 million visited our various websites This is our highest visitation level since FY 2000, and offers an indication that the Smithsonian plays a key role in the lives of Americans during difficult economic times. High visitation levels continue in 2010. The millions who make the effort and travel long distances to visit our museums speak to the quality and relevance of the 90 new exhibitions the Smithsonian launched in 2009, and the hard work of everyone — staff, carpenters, curators, security officers, scholars, scientists, and historians — to make the Smithsonian an exciting, inspiring place.

The Smithsonian has more than 6,000 employees, including approximately 650 scientists and scholars, and more than 6,600 dedicated volunteers Additionally, the Institution has built a network of 167 affiliate museums in 41 states, the Distnct of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and Panama so we can share our collections and expertise with others. The Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, the largest traveling exhibition service in the world, reaches roughly five million people throughout the country each year. This combination of volunteer support, philanthropic support, and our national and international reach makes the Smithsonian s activities a very good value for the appropriations invested by the federal Government each year. The support of the Administration, the Congress, and the American people is vital to all Smithsonian activities and the success of our mission.

I believe that our FY 2011 request is a strong budget that, when combined with our fund raising, business activities, and increased grant activity, will allow us to make great strides toward fulfilling of our Strategic Plan. If we are able to do this, we will make strong inroads towards our intention to significantly increase the audiences we reach and the people who look to us as a trusted source of information.

The Smithsonian's total request for FY 2011 is $797 6 million After addressing most of our non-discretionary needs with an increase of $13 8 million for items such as legislated pay raises and inflation-related increases in rent and utilities, the requested Salaries and Expenses increase for programs and support activities amounts to $14 6 million These increases are partially offset by savings from an Institution-wide buyout and a small maintenance reduction that, together, total $4.4 million. We also seek $136.75 million to continue our Facilities Capital program.

Salaries and Expenses

For FY 2011. the Institution's Salaries and Expenses request includes four new line items that are tied directly to research and program activities embodied within the Grand Challenges of the Strategic Plan. The Four Grand Challenges articulated in the plan are intended to allow integration of the work of many disciplines. To make the most of our intellectual capital, we are creating centers, or consortia, to advance each of the Grand Challenges. These consortia are not new programmatic units, but leanly staffed offices that will focus and coordinate the work of existing museums and research centers to facilitate innovative scholarship and outreach. We set the expectation for them to attract additional funds in the form of grants, contracts, private contributions, and build partnerships with other research entities so we can leverage the federal funding we hope to receive.

Focusing on Grand Challenges

Unlocking the Mysteries of the Universe

Since the late 1800's the Smithsonian has played a lead role in developing the understanding of the fundamental nature of the universe, dark matter and galaxy formation The Smithsonian, particularly the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, will focus on applying the integrative research of its scientists to today's big questions regarding the ongin and evolution of the Earth, planets, stars, galaxies, and the universe, thereby harnessing the collaborative energy of scientists, scholars, and cultural experts.

For FY 2011, we are seeking an increase of $500,000 to conduct research through the "Universe theme" interdisciplinary consortium, using the Smithsonian's world-class collections and scholarly resources. Areas of specific focus will be the study of the origin and evolution of the Earth and solar system; the effects of geologic and meteoric phenomena on Earth's atmosphere and biosphere; research into the discovery and characterization of exo-planets in the habitable zone; research using our rich collections, including the national meteorite collection; and research into the next generation of ground- and space-based astronomical telescope mirrors and instrumentation that will enable the next generation of research.

Understanding and Sustaining a Biodiverse Planet

The FY 2011 request includes an increase of $2 million for research that will be conducted through the "Biodiversity theme" interdisciplinary consortium, using the Smithsonian's world-class collections, field stations, and scholarly resources. Research will focus on such questions as; how to sustain a biologically diverse Earth; how does this diversity change across geography and through time; and how do we better understand the life-sustaining services of ecosystems and best sustain their contributions to human well-being locally and globally?

The Smithsonian's request also includes $4 million to address global climate change issues that support many strands of the US Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) by providing baseline data, measurements, and monitonng of change to the biosphere and atmosphere These funds will support observation and monitoring capabilities to ensure a long-term, high-quality, and high-resolution record of the state of the natural variability and change in climate: improve our understanding of the natural and human-induced forces of change; and increase the accuracy of environmental models and projections of future conditions Within this S4 million request for Global Change Research. $2 million will be focused on forests through the expansion and sustainment of the Smithsonian Institution Global Earth Observatories (SIGEO) network SIGEO is a leader in the world in forming international partnerships involving twenty countries that have joined together to promote large-scale environmental monitoring and maintain banks of data allowing for sophisticated analyses The request also would allow $1 million to develop an important manne analog to SIGEO, with a global array of assessment sites focusing on coastal marine environments, and $1 million for additional USGCRP priorities. SIGEO is also supported by about $20 million in in-kind and financial support from government, private and international partners.

The FY 2011 request includes a $1 million increase to maintain the Smithsonian's leadership in DNA barcoding. The Smithsonian is a leader in this international initiative devoted to developing DNA barcoding as a global standard for the identification of biological species. The new technique uses a short DNA sequence from a standardized position in the genome as a molecular diagnostic for species identification. As the recognized U.S. leader in DNA barcoding. the Smithsonian seeks to increase its capacity in research and training. The funds requested are part of a larger funding strategy that includes private support and collaboration with other Government agencies and international science funding agencies. The requested funds will allow us to make ongoing commitments to core infrastructure, which will also leverage external funding for more research activities These activities directly support the biodiversity theme of our Strategic Plan, and also link to access initiatives, such as the Encyclopedia of Life and SIGEO

This request includes a $1 million increase to support the Encyclopedia of Life. (EOL at wwweoi org ), an ambitious project at the National Museum of Natural History (NMNH), which will become a key repository of scientific information about virtually every form of life on Earth. The EOL is a Web-based, online database, which has financial, logistical and research support from numerous partners including private foundations It is expected to encompass the 19 million known species of animals, plants, and other life forms in about 10 years. The database will be configurable for all types of audiences, from students and scientists, to policy makers and the general public, and is intended to allow free access to all. The NMNH is uniquely positioned to contribute to this global effort of documenting every known species currently living on Earth, through its extensive and broad collections as well as through the scientific staff who provide the context for these specimens. The specimens require scientific expertise to provide related ecological and evolutionary information

This unprecedented research initiative is designed to broaden access to Smithsonian collections and knowledge, and share these resources with America and the

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world. It includes collaboration with other parts of the Smithsonian and leading institutions across the country and abroad. The first phase of this initiative was developed with support from the MacArthur and Sloan Foundations, and currently provides access to 180,000 species pages, as well as 20 million pages of literature related to biological diversity, through the Biodiversity Heritage Library. The next phase of this project will expand information to 500,000 species pages and some 50 million pages of literature, as well as develop resources for students and teachers across the nation over the next three years.

Valuing World Cultures

Globalization has brought peoples and cultures of different backgrounds around the world closer together, heightening the need and the desire for greater mutual understanding, appreciation, and communication. The United States is increasingly engaging people around the world through cultural exchange and partnerships in an effort to promote human rights and democratic values, a major cornerstone of which is respect for a diversity of people and cultures. Leaders of museums and cultural institutions around the world look to the United States, and particularly the Smithsonian, for expertise and aid in preserving their own cultural heritage — from preserving the manuscripts of Timbuktu, the treasures of ancient Mesopotamia in the Baghdad Museum, and Indus Valley archaeological sites in Pakistan, to documenting dying languages and the knowledge systems they carry among indigenous peoples of Africa, the Pacific, and the Americas. The Smithsonian, with its position of respect, its unparalleled collections of cultural artifacts from around the globe, its breadth and depth of cultural expertise, and its capacities as cultural convener and instructor, can help our Government help others safeguard world cultural treasures, document and preserve priceless knowledge, and participate in forums for intercultural dialogue. Currently, for example, we are taking a lead role and working closely with the U.S. Department of State, the President's Committee for Arts and Humanities, and numerous American and international cultural organizations to help rescue and preserve Haiti's cultural heritage — the artwork, artifacts and archives severely endangered in the aftermath of the earthquake.

Our FY 2011 request includes an increase of $500,000 that will allow the Smithsonian to focus more attention on manuscript preservation, materials science, site preservation, and knowledge systems, with expertise in Asian, African, and Latin American cultures at the National Museum of African Art, the Freer and Sackler Gallery, the National Museum of Natural History Department of Anthropology, the National Museum of the Amencan Indian Latin American Research unit, the Center for Folklife and Cultural Hentage, and the Museum Conservation Institute. Specialists will work on the preservation of Smithsonian collections, energize their colleagues, and provide support for international exchange and engagement by expanding preservation knowledge through training and professional activities with cultural institutions around the world, particularly with those in Asia. Africa and the Americas

Understanding the American Experience

The United States continues to evolve into a more diverse society, where no single racial, ethnic, or religious group will constitute a majority, and where the impact of global

movements of people and ideas is felt across the country Understanding how diverse peoples have become one nation; how that nation has been shaped by vanous communities, individuals, leaders, inventors, heroes, and artists; how it has changed over time; and how our history, art, and culture connect to the world are of vital concern today. Exploring these issues helps us assess current challenges and opportunities and become responsible members of society.

As holder of the national collections — invaluable American art works; historical and technological artifacts and images; and extensive photographic, sound, and documentary archives — the Smithsonian is at the forefront of research institutions interpreting the American experience. The fourth Grand Challenge of the Smithsonian's Strategic Plan is to better document, interpret, and publicly present the rich and diverse cultures that have forged a national heritage that is uniquely American.

The FY 2011 request includes an increase of $1 million to expand the Smithsonian's research activities in history, art, and culture in areas that have not kept pace with the demographic changes in the United States, and the increasing knowledge of the varied accomplishments, achievements, and stories of diverse communities which both historically and today form the fabric of America. The resources will provide curators and scholars greater opportunity to conduct the research and acquire the collections, where they presently lack artifacts and artworks photographs and documentary records that represent varied communities. Additionally, the development of an Institution-wide center for Understanding the American Experience will enable the Smithsonian to support and coordinate efforts across Smithsonian museums and research centers; encourage interdisciplinary teams; foster partnerships with other scholarly organizations develop new strategies for disseminating research results; and develop new sources of research funding. With these enhanced capabilities, the Smithsonian can develop a comprehensive approach to major research questions, creating exhibitions, symposia, publications, and on-line offerings on such topics as the Civil War and Civil Rights, Immigration and Migration, American Landscapes, American Democracy, and US. Aerospace History

In addition to the increases for research in our Four Grand Challenges, the FY 2011 request includes increases in three other broad areas that support our plan. Broadening Access to all of our activities, collections, and technology, Strengthening Collections, and Mission Enabling activities that support the Institution's overall mission.

Broadening Access

The Smithsonian has the potential to become one of the most trusted and referenced sources of information on the World Wide Web by taking advantage of new technologies to share its vast collections and extensive research, along with the expertise of Its scholars, scientists, researchers, museum specialists, and curators. Key to achieving this potential is developing enterprise systems, common processes, and shared resources and services to create and deliver digital assets We have already tested pilot activities that have demonstrated the considerable value of online learning techniques. The FY 2011 request includes $1.5 million to build the underlying systems and processes to create

a framework for future content delivery that will enable users everywhere to experience the national collections at the Smithsonian through technology.

The requested funding will allow us to continue building the infrastructure needed to digitize our resources, and to make existing digital assets more open and available; and will help guarantee that all digitization efforts move in concert toward the ideal of a unified, digital Smithsonian. As the Institution embraces the potential of sharing our knowledge and collections virtually, our Digitization Strategic Plan will ensure that digital assets are created and managed to maximize access and use, both internally and externally.

Also in the area of Broadening Access, our request provides an increase of $100,000 for Latino programs. This increase will allow the Smithsonian to increase support for research, collections, public and educational programs, and exhibitions that will generate and advance knowledge and understanding of the contributions of Latinas and Latinos to US. history, culture, arts, music, and science at a national level.

There is an increasing awareness at the Smithsonian of the need to ensure diversity and equity by including Latino perspectives, and of the opportunities inherent in such diversity. Latinos are the nation's fastest-growing minority and, consequently, the Smithsonian's potentially largest new constituency. Latino scholars, writers, scientists, and artists are making extraordinary contributions to our common fund of knowledge and culture. The increase will be applied to projects that are currently underfunded, and also initiate additional projects that reach a national audience. The requested increase will also allow the production of more virtual and traveling exhibitions and public programs, and offer more opportunities for participants in fellowship programs throughout the United States.

Strengthening Collections

This request includes a $2.5 million increase for Collections care funding needed to improve the quality of preservation, storage, documentation, and accessibility of collections across the Smithsonian. Collections play a central role in carrying out the research and program activities in each of the Grand Challenges. Collections serve as the intellectual base for our scholarship, exhibition, education, and public programming activities. It is, therefore, imperative that we ensure that collections are properiy preserved, stored, documented, and made accessible for researchers around the globe, federal agencies, and the general public.

Thousands of works of art, historical artifacts, and natural science specimens have been stabilized and catalogued with funds provided in previous years. Examples of progress made include the archival rehousing of the Apollo and Lunar Orbiter photographic collection, major improvement in the storage of spacesuit collections at the National Air and Space Museum, and inventory and preservation of the U.S. Armed Forces uniform collection at the National Museum of American History. In 2009. the Institution piloted the first survey of collections conditions across units. This request provides essential resources to address some of the identified needs. The request allows the Institution to meet professional standards of collections care and reduce the percentage of collections at risk of deterioration. The request includes funds for the National Museum of Natural

History to replace substandard storage that is currently detrimental and hazardous to collections and staff, and to digitize original handwritten collection ledgers, thereby increasing their accessibility for scholarly use. In addition, the request includes resources to improve animal welfare and safety for the living collections at the National Zoo. which is critical to maintaining the Zoos' accreditation by the Association of Zoos and Aquanums and compliance with the Animal Welfare Act. Our collections care initiative and FY 2011 request reinforce the Institution's commitment to the stewardship of federal scientific collections in support of the Smithsonian's strategic goal of Strengthening Collections and maintaining America's excellence and leadership in science and technology.

Mission Enabling

The Institution's request for FY 2011 includes an increase of $700,000 to complete implementation of a revised, comprehensive security staffing plan that began in FY 2010 The new plan increases overall security staffing by creating positions for lower level gallery attendants and also addresses attntion problems by creating mid-level positions that help to provide a clear career ladder for the security force. It provides for an increase in security staffing without a permanent increase in cost The plan will also allow us to attract candidates with skills better aligned for security officer positions The request also provides $620,000 to strengthen the Institution's governance and financial internal controls, as recommended by the Board of Regents.

Buyouts

The Smithsonian implemented an Institution-wide Buyout program as part of our effort to restructure our workforce in accordance with the Institution's Strategic Plan, and to help fill the anticipated gap in funding for salanes and benefits and other fixed expenses. Savings of $3.7 million realized from the buyout in FY 2011 are included in the request as a partial offset to total increases.

Facilities Capital Program

The FY 2011 budget request of $136.75 million for the Facilities Capital Program will improve the detenorating condition of some of the Institution's oldest buildings and maintain the current condition of other facilities through systematic renewal and repair. The FY 2011 request includes baseline revitalization requirements of $106 2 million as well as $10.6 million for facilities planning and design, and $20 million for design of the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Major projects in our request for Facilities Revitalization include $11 45 million to upgrade the utilities infrastructure and Sea Lion support systems at the National Zoological Park, and $17.6 million to continue long-term renovation of the National Museum of Natural History building on the Mall. The request includes $5 million to complete the alteration of the Museum Support Center Pod 3 in Suitland, Maryland, to provide appropriate storage for art and anthropological collections.

The request also includes $16 million to begin renovation through replacement of an outdated facility and trailers with a reconfigured laboratory facility at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center in Edgewater, Maryland, and $7 million to continue the conversion of an uninhabitable school house at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama into urgently needed research and laboratory facilities. Together, these projects will provide more than 120,000 square feet of code-compliant laboratory and support space. The improved facilities will incorporate sustainable technologies and building methods that will reduce energy and maintenance costs

For FY 2011, the Institution requests $18 million to continue revitalization of the National Museum of American History building on the Mall by replacing components of the HVAC and power-distribution systems, and concluding the conversion of existing garage space to office and swing space for future revitalization projects. The request also includes $8 9 million for the 64-room Carnegie Mansion, of the Cooper-Hewitt. National Design Museum in New York. The building was built between 1899 and 1902 and requires interior and exterior renovation work. Requested funds will upgrade the Museum's electrical distribution and emergency systems. The planned renovation and improvement of this facility is estimated to cost $54 million, of which $33 million is to be provided by private donations and the City and State of New York.

The Institution also requests $22.3 million for critical revitalization projects which each cost under $5 million.

In conclusion, this budget provides a strong impetus to our Strategic Plan so that we can better serve the American people and people around the world. It contains the first significant increase the Smithsonian has received for research in many years. We will use it wisely The FY 2011 budget request supports our great exhibitions, museums, and research centers, and our passionate professionals who care so much about their work. The requested program increases will enable us to make even greater research contributions, and to enhance our reievance and expand our service to the country and the world.

We are grateful for the past support we have received and understand the need to use federal funding in the most effective way possible. To this end, we are in the process of conducting a study with McKinsey & Company to evaluate the need to improve our service delivery and to insure we are organized appropriately to meet the expectations of our new strategic plan. With your continued support, the Smithsonian can become a stronger resource for the American people and serve the millions who look to us for education and discovery. I am optimistic about the future of the Smithsonian. It is exciting to be part of that future and an honor for me to serve with so many people who are making a difference

f% Smithsonian Institution NPW

February 2010

Wayne Clough Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution

Wayne Clough is the 12lh Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, leading the world's largest museum and research complex with 19 museums, nine research centers, the National Zoo and research activities in more than 90 countries.

Clough envisions a new era for the 164-year-old Institution, expanding the Smithsonian's global relevance and helping the nation shape its future through research, education and scientific discovery on major topics of the day. One of his first initiatives led to a new strategic plan that speaks to four grand challenges that will bring together the diverse resources of the Smithsonian's museums and science centers through interdisciplinary approaches.

Ensuring that the Institution's vast collection is accessible and available to everyone is a priority for Clough and the new strategic plan. Efforts are underway to digitize much of the Smithsonian's 137 million objects in the collection and use the World Wide Web and Smithsonian experts and scholars to reach out to new audiences in the United States and around the world.

Since Clough began as Secretary in July 2008, he has overseen several major openings at the Smithsonian, including the Sant Ocean Hall at the National Museum of Natural History and the reopening of the National Museum of American History.

Before his appointment to the Smithsonian, Clough served as president of the Georgia Institute of Technology for 14 years. He received his bachelor's and master's degrees in civil engineering from Georgia Tech in 1964 and 1965 and a doctorate in 1969 in civil engineering from the University of California. Berkeley.

Clough has been a professor at Duke University, Stanford University and Virginia Tech. He served as head of the department of civil engineering and dean of the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech, and as provost at the University of Washington.

The Georgia Tech campus served as the Olympic Village for the 1996 Centennial Olympics while Clough was president. Research expenditures increased from S2I2 million to $425 million and student enrollments from 13,000 to 18,000. VIore than 1.5 billion dollars was raised in private gifts, and campus operations were opened in Savannah, Ga.. Ireland, Singapore and Shanghai.

Ciough completed a building program of more than $1 billion that incorporated sustainable design. Georgia Tech was also ranked among the lop 10 public universities by U.S. News and World Report during Clough's tenure. The publication Diverse Issues in Higher Education cited Georgia Tech as the top producer of African American engineers, and Hispanic Business magazine named the school among the top institutions for stud\ b\ Hispanic students.

In March 2009, Ciough was inducted into the Technology Hall of Fame of Georgia, and in February 2009, he received the Joseph M. Pettil .Mumni Distinguished Service Award that recognizes a lifetime of leadership, achievement and serv ice to Georgia Tech. In 2012, Georgia Tech is scheduled to open the G. Wayne Ciough Undergraduate Learning Commons building to honor his commitment to undergraduate students.

Ciough received nine national awards from the American Society of Civil Engineers, including the 2004 OPAL lifetime award for contributions to education. He is one of 14 civil engineers to have been twice awarded civil engineering's oldest recognition, the Norman Medal, in 1982 and in 1996. He received the George Westinghouse Award from the American Society of Engineering Education in 1986 for outstanding teaching and research. In 1990, he was elected to the National Academy of Engineering ("NAE), and in 2008 was recognized vvith the NAE Bueche Award for his efforts in public policy. He was awarded the 2002 National Engineering Award by the American Association of Engineering Societies and in 2004 was named as a Distinguished Alumnus from the College of Engineering at U.C. Berkeley. Ciough is a recipient of honorary doctorates from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Florida Southern College and the University of South Carolina.

Ciough chaired of the National Research Council Committee on New Orleans Regional Hurricane Protection Projects and serves as a member of the National Science Board. He served on the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (2001-08) and as co-chair of the 2004 National Innovation Initiative and University vice chair of the U.S. Council on Competitiveness; he chaired the Engineer of 2020 Project for the NAE and served as a member of the National Governors Association Innovate America Task Force (2006-07).

He served on the boards of Noro-Moseley Partners and TSYS Corp. as well as the International Advisory Board of King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals.

Clough's interests include science, technology and higher-education policy, sustainability, international programs, museums and history. His civil engineering specialty is in geotechnical and earthquake engineering. He has published more than 130 papers and reports and six book chapters and has co-written numerous committee reports. Ciough was bom in Douglas, Ga., Sept. 24, 1941.

EDUCATION

Mr. MORAN. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Let me inquire into two or three areas and then give an opportunity to my friends and colleagues here.

You talked about education, and yet there is no additional money to pursue that educational initiative. How are you going to get the resources to accomplish that?

Mr. Clough. Well, the good news is that my colleagues at the Smithsonian recognized this as an important issue a long time ago. And so they have basically built that into their budget since, so almost all of our museums and research centers have educational outreach programs already built into their budgets. But what we are doing at this point in time before we actually look for places to actually get the funding from the federal side is that we have brought in private money. We are paying, for example, the salary of our new Director of Education with a grant from Bob Kogod, one of our regents, who is very interested in education. We think there will be a lot of private interest in this, and there will be grant processes that we can go through with the Department of Education and other institutions. We will be opening two learning labs at the Smithsonian working with the Pearson Foundation. They will pay entirely for the software and hardware, and those two labs will be run by existing organizations at the Smithsonian for which we already have the funding in our budget.

REGENTS ROLE

Mr. MoRAN. Good answer. You mentioned Mr. Kogod, and it brings up the role of the regents. The GAO did a pretty intensive investigation because we have had some problems in the past, some questions have been raised, particularly with regard to the role of the regents. Could you give us a brief description of how the regents now provide that oversight and guidance as was intended when it was set up?

Mr. Clough. After they had the problems, I think to the regents' credit, they brought in folks who could really speak to the idea of best practices for governance. And those best practice reviews showed that the Smithsonian really was lacking in some areas. And I would say after having looked at those myself and having been at a public institution which was a non-profit, that the Smithsonian was behind the times. Many of the things that they were recommending were things that universities had already done, needed to do. But it amounted to 25 new policies and procedures which were fairly extensive, some of which really went deep into the institution. So an effort was undertaken to implement all 25 of those procedures and policies. Now the GAO sort of parsed those in a different way, and their version of it was that it was the same set of parameters, but they identified 46 different ways to look at it as opposed to 25.

The Smithsonian has completed all of those activities. When the GAO did their latest review which was fairly recently, they found the Smithsonian had completed 38 of the 46. Three of those sort of lay on the institutional side, and we have completed all three of those. Three of those lay on the Regents side. An example of that

would be advisory boards. The Smithsonian is a big place with a lot of moving parts. And so to its credit it has many advisory boards. Every museum has an advisory board, and the question as raised by GAO and others is how do those boards communicate with the Board of Regents, which is the governing board. And so the regents have taken this very seriously. Many of the regents sei've on some of these boards as well. And then the chair of the boards, for example, and I meet annually or since we have been active with the strategic planning and other processes, we are meeting twice a year with all the chairs of all the committees. And when I say that, there are about 30 of them. So there are lots of those boards. So that was one of the findings is find a way to integrate the planning and the board activities for all of the advisory boards. Now, all the boards that I mentioned are just advisory boards. The fiduciary board is the Board of Regents. And so they are working themselves to satisfy all the GAO recommendations. We think we will be done with all those very soon.

Mr. MORAN. Very good. It seems as though you were almost prepped on these. I guess they are obvious questions to ask.

Mr. Clough. I have had to live with this

INTERNATIONAL ASSISTANCE

Mr. MoRAN. They are not particularly original questions, I guess. Let me ask you one for which I am sure you are not fully prepared, but I know we will get a good answer.

Mr. Dreier, Dave Dreier and I were on a CODEL a few years ago, and we went to Mali which not a whole lot of CODELs go there because it is something of a God-forsaken country, very poverty stricken. We went to one of the oldest mosques in the world, and they had manuscripts written down by original, some they say were at the time of Mohammed. I do not know that that is true, but clearly well over 1,000 years old. But there was no temperature control, and in fact, we saw insects eating away at the paper.

You mentioned that you are an international institution. Do you ever, for example, have people go there, give them instructions and maybe in return for whatever cost might be, they might lend us some of those manuscripts once they are restored? We wouldn't want to take them from the country, obviously. But there could be some benefit to the United States, but more importantly, you are an international institution, and it is an international resource.

Mr. Clough. Right.

Mr. MoRAN. Do you do that kind of thing?

Mr. Clough. Well, on any given day, there are people from countries like that who are here seeking our help, seeking our advice. And we provide that readily to them. We have something called Museum Conservation Institute which deals specifically with issues like that because we have issues like that ourselves. We have documents, w(; have artifacts that can be attacked by insects and things of that sort. We have expertise. And I recognize after having been there a little while that this is an expertise that most museums cannot have. They just cannot afford the kind of talent that is necessary or the equipment because there is equipment involved to make sure you understand the (juality of the artifact and so forth.

We make this kind of information readily available to people. We have thought, however, because it seems if we are getting more of those requests than we did in the past that we should create a structure. And so our regents recently approved something called a Museum Professional Studies Program for us so that we will have a central resource. So rather than having someone from Mali, for example, come to three of our museums or not know which one to go to, we will have a central entity that will be a gateway for people who have requests like that so we can refer them to different places.

In addition, we have thought about the fact that we should recover costs because this does take time away from people who are in demand here to do the things we have to do here. So we are putting it on the basis of a cost structure, if you will, to recover our cost for these kind of activities. It only makes sense when we do these kind of things.

Now, there are cases where people simply do not have the money, and that would be Haiti as an example. We have worked with the First Lady and others on how do we help Haiti because their whole cultural heritage is at risk there. And somehow they will have to have an international coalition come together, donors, and we have already had a donor gift, for example, to provide art materials to many of the artists in Haiti, and we will help sell the materials for them and the monies will go back to a fund that will be controlled by a non-profit agency to see that it gets back to the right people.

So we are trying to think about how we do this in a more structured way as opposed to highly unstructured.

Mr. MORAN. Thank you, Mr. Secretary. Mr. Ranking Member Simpson.

OUTREACH

Mr. Simpson. Thanks, Mr. Chairman. I mentioned during my opening statement and you mentioned during yours getting the Smithsonian out to rural America. Most people from Idaho that come here, after the White House, the next thing they want to see is the Smithsonian when they call our office and ask, you know, what should we do, where can we go. They do not realize the Smithsonian is big. They are thinking of a building, you know.

You mentioned you had a new education director, I guess it was. But what are we doing to get the Smithsonian out to the rest of the country because while it is nice that while I am here, I have the opportunity to go to the Smithsonian. Most people in Idaho are never going to be in Washington.

Mr. Clough. And that is a subject that is very sensitive with me personally because I grew up in a rural part of the State of Georgia. My parents did not have a lot of money, and so we never came to Washington until later in life. And I thought about that. My parents actually helped pay for the Smithsonian, and they never had the benefit of it in a way. So to me, I think we need to reach out to these communities. We need to let them know what we have. Fundamentally, if you think about it, although I think our demographic is fairly broad because we get 30 million visits a year but still, it tends to be more college-educated, more higher income

bracket, fewer young people. We really have to find a way to connect to the young people. That is why we are getting into YouTube. Fewer folks from rural areas really get to see us. Now, we have traditionally done traveling exhibits which is a very effective way to travel exhibits, and we may have an exhibit that we stai't here at the Smithsonian, but it will end up in 30 cities over a period of 3 years. And we do that and that is provided by free access, and upwards of 5 million people see those traveling exhibits. But digitally we can reach everybody.

And so we are in the process, and you have been very generous to support us in our efforts to digitize our collections, and we want to do that in a very dynamic way. We do not want to just show somebody a picture or something. It should be, for example, if you are interested in air and space and Amelia Earhart that you see not only her beautiful plane that she flew but you could turn it over and see the struts and how the wheels work and look on the inside of the cockpit. And some day, it will take off and you will be able to watch that happen.

So we want to make that experience as engaging as we can make it for those folks and encourage them to come to see the real thing when we do it. With the Director of Education, we want to get more focused as opposed to just making it available for free on the web which these are, and we have had tremendous response to the things that we are putting on the web. But in that case, we want to say to a particular school district, for example, what do you need? Because we have all these collections, 137 million objects that can be used for science lessons, used for history lessons, used for culture lessons. And so what we want to do is to try to find out how far down the road we can go to sort of customizing the delivery of what we do to some of the K through 12 districts that need the help.

As you know, the K through 12 system is run by the states anyway, and so we are working hard. One of the most effective connections for us is the Council of Chief State School Officers, CCSSO, and their headquarters is not far from here. We are working closely with them. We, for example, honor the teachers of the year from all 50 states, and we do not just let them go. Once we honor them, they become part of a network for us. And so over a period of years, we built a network of teachers of the year all over the different states. We are trying every way we can to reach and get more structure about delivery.

NATIONAL MALL

Mr. Simpson. One of the other things you do is the Folk Life Festival that has been going on at the mall for a number of years. As you know, we are trying to restore the mall with the National Park Service, and have talked about this, I do not want to say, conflict, but sometimes competing needs, trying to restore the mall so that it is—I guess probably the biggest disappointment that most people have when they come and when they see the pictures of the mall and how green and beautiful it is in the pictures and then they go down there and go wow, that is not anything like the pictures. And so this committee is trying to restore this mall to the prominence that it should have. Sometimes that creates competing needs and

overuse. And you recently received a letter from the Parks Service allowing you to do the permit for this year

Mr. Clough. Yes.

Mr. Simpson I continuing]. For the Folk Life Festival. Are you going to be able to work with the Park Service and try to work out a plan where you can still do the Folk Life Festival understanding the needs that the mall is going to have?

Mr. Clough. Absolutely, and I am meeting with Mr. Jarvis tomorrow, I think it is. So we are going to have that discussion. And they have been very good in allowing us to comment on their process. We have tried to be responsible in our responses back, and I have helped draft them personally myself because I have a strong interest in this. If you really want to see the condition of the mall, go up to the top of the tower of the Castle Building and you can see how poorly maintained it is presently and you know, how much traffic it gets on it and that kind of thing. So it really impacts us and the impression people have of the Smithsonian. We are very anxious to work to improve this. We did ask that they undertake a scientific study to try to look at this balance of public use versus the look of the mall, and they are doing that. We will be very supportive of them in that activity.

ARTS AND INDUSTRY BUILDING

Mr. Simpson. Okay. I appreciate that. Arts and Industry Building. The committee went down and took a look at it last year. I think the committee is very interested in seeing that building reopened for use. Where are we on that, and what is it going to take in the way of funding to do that? How much of it is going to be raised privately, how much by the committee?

Mr. Clough. Bear with me for a moment and I will tell you where we are because you did provide us with $25 million of stimulus funding which was very helpful to us. And because of the stipulations about being shovel-ready, we can only use about $5 million on the building. But we did apply that and I think very effectively. That contract is just being completed today. We did repoint the outside. That was a very important thing to do, and on the inside, over time that building has been built up with many, many offices which should not have been there. And as a result, the original concept for the building which was to kind of see through it was lost. And so we really—you know, I indicated to the contractor, go in and take those walls out. And so they have done a lot of that, have not quite completed, and to work on the hazardous materials. This is an old building with hazardous materials. Get that stuff out of there.

And so you can go there today, and we would invite you again if you want to come back and take a look. I was just there with our regents because the regents wanted to see it on Monday. And you can actually begin to see what it used to look like back in the days when it was the only museum or the only exhibition hall on the mall.

So that has been done. And we have $12.6 million in fiscal year 2010 which we are applying to design and really to try to get at the core issue which you raised and that is how much really will it cost to bring this building back? And there are some basic ele-

ments that have to be undertaken for this building no matter what its ultimate use. For example, it has to be brought up to code. It is not up to code. And it has issues. You have to blast proof it. The roof is a very complicated roof. It has 137 different angles on top of it if you ever look at it. So it has leaked over time. It has no insulation. It took a heavy snow load during the snow. I came in during the snow. I can walk to work fortunately, do not have to go on the GW parkway, and you know, when you are standing there you can see water coming through in certain places where they have the valleys and so forth. So the roof is a big problem. We do not know quite what the cost will be. It will not be inexpensive. Now, simultaneously, some time back, our regents had tasked me with figuring out what would we do with it if we could open it, and there were various proposals that were there in place. And we have had gi'oups in the Smithsonian and other advisory groups who have given us pro bono advice on what to do with it. And the notion is that we could create what we call a gateway center. Because the Smithsonian is such a diverse institution, very few people know as you said about all these museums. They do not know we have this magnificent Reynolds Center up on 7th and G where the Portrait Gallery and the Smithsonian American Art Museum are. And so the idea would be that this would be an entryway where people could come in and understand the history and the entirety of the Smithsonian and understand something about the history of the mall as well which is a fascinating story in itself. And we have had an architect engage with us who specializes in taking old buildings and doing fairly dramatic things inside them that are engaging for folks. And so we just had a presentation on that. It is an exciting possibility. We think it would be very reasonable in terms of the cost of that part of it, but the basic part will be relatively expensive. We just do not have a number on that yet. But we are moving down that road.

In addition, so you should be aware, the Latino Commission which is considering the possibility of a Latino museum and considering who should run it—we are not necessarily designated or will not be necessarily chosen to do that—have indicated and sent me a letter that the A&I building is one possibility they are considering among a number. And they have a group that is looking just at siting as we speak, and we should hear from them in the fall. But regardless of what purpose, we need to do a lot of things to that building that have to be done to bring it up to code.

Mr. Simpson. It is truly an iconic building for the mall and for the Smithsonian, and it would be nice to have it as an entry structure for the rest of the Smithsonian to see what was going on with the rest of the museums, and it would be nice to be able to do it at the time we refurbish the mall also

Mr. CujUCiH. Yes.

Mr. Simpson (continuing!. To have all that done.

Mr. Clouoh. It would be wonderful. It is exciting to think about the prospects, and this new plan is a very exciting plan. And you know, I am out on the mall a lot on the weekend because I live nearby, probably every fifth group that comes by tries to get in the building. And it is a shame for the building not to be open, and it is an iconic building built in 1881, one of the most spectacular

buildings in Washington. It can be used as an exhibition hall, not as a museum. You would never get the temperature and light controls as you would like.

But we have done the studies on sustainability. We could probably make it what we call a Gold LEEDS building. The roof does capture water, and we can put that in cisterns. And it does have beautiful, now that you open it up, natural lighting. You do not need artificial light in that.

Mr. Simpson. Really?

Mr. Clough. The architect was a genius when you think about it.

Mr. Simpson. Go ahead. I have got a couple other questions.

Mr. MoRAN. Good. Thank you, Mr. Simpson, Mr. Hinchey, and thanks again for enabling us to start a little closer to the scheduled time.

Mr. Hinchey. Thank you.

Mr. MORAN. Thank you for your time.

Mr. Hinchey. It was a great pleasure. Thank you very much.

Mr. Secretary, thank you. It was great listening to you, and it is great listening to your response to these questions. They are very important and intriguing. I was deeply interested in what you were talking about in the initiation of your remarks. All of the things that you are involved in from gorilla behavior, to jazz to the expansion of space travel, and a whole host of other things are deeply intriguing and very important for our country. They are particularly important in helping people understand it and see what is going on, and I think this is one of the wonderful things that you do. I am deeply gi'ateful for everything that you do.

Mr. Clough. Thank you.

FOUR KEY challenges

Mr. Hinchey. The four key challenges of the new strategic plan are also very intriguing and very interesting and are going to produce a great deal of interesting new developments. So I would appreciate it if you might talk to us about that and tell us exactly what that situation is going to be and how it is going to develop and how the Smithsonian is going to operate in the context of those new four operations.

Mr. Clough. Well, thank you for that. We are excited about it, and this was a plan that was developed that was very inclusive. It has never been done before at the Smithsonian, but we do have a lot of moving parts at the Smithsonian and we have people who are around the world. We brought everybody together to talk about this. And so I think it is a very focused vision. It captures our current efforts by and large, the core efforts that we want to focus on and then allows us to do cross-cutting things across.

A good example of that I think is the American Experience. What does it mean to be an American? And I find that a very compelling topic. And when I start to talk to people about it at first there is not a connection, but the more you talk to people about it, the more they realize how important that is. What is the glue that holds a country together that is made up of peoples who have come from so many different places, some of whom were here in the beginning, many of whom came here to seek opportunity, some who

came here under bondage. And so there are many different stories to be told.

And the Smithsonian is unique because it has different aspects of this topic within it and also in addition, we hope to collaborate with other institutions. We could work with the National Gallery, we can certainly work with the Library of Congress and others to help tell these stories. But if you take the Smithsonian alone, we have the National Portrait Gallery, we have the Smithsonian American Art Museum, we have the National Museum of American History, we have the National Museum of the American Indian, we have the National Museum of African-American History and Culture, we have the Air and Space Museum which tells another side of the great story of America as creating in essence the aerospace industry and both the airplanes as well as the space part of that.

And so the idea is to bring all of these resources together to speak to these common issues and we have to organize ourselves to do that because the museums by themselves do not have the capacity to do that.

So we are going to create what we call a consortium or a center that will speak to this issue. And we are going to make it so that it will be very lightly administered, that is, we do not want to build up another silo or another organization. This is an organization designed to facilitate the working together of different groups within the Smithsonian, as well as reaching out, for example, to the Park Service, because if you are going to tell the story of the American experience, well, there is a monument right there that is next to us that is part of that story, there is the Lincoln Memorial, there is the Jefferson Memorial. And so reaching out to the Park Service, reaching out to the National Gallery, reaching out to others who have resources we do not have will help tell that story.

So organizationally we are creating this consortium. We believe shortly we will have a nice announcement to make about a foundation that is very keen on this idea that will give us a significant amount of funds to get this rolling and get it started and get our folks going. We had our first what we call idea fair. We are going to have four idea fairs, and so what we are doing is the idea fair will address each one of these topics. And so the first one was on this very subject, and we had 200 proposals that were sent in from across the Smithsonian about ideas of ways they thought they could fulfill this destiny or this story. We ended up discussing 70 of them—we could not do them all—at the idea fair, and 250 people came to the idea fair, and it was interesting. It was not just the arts and the history museum but the scientists were there because the story of American science is also the story of America.

We had some fascinating topics that were brought to the table. We are in the process of recruiting directors for each of the centers. We are going to situate them in the Castle building, and then we will all have one common source of administrative support so we do not have to duplicate that. But we are very excited about this prospect. We think we can do it. We think it is a great way for us also to reach (jut to our fellow cullnral and scientific institutions and universities as well to help us tell the story. But it is a powerful thing because this country is getting ever more diverse and

needs to think about how it is going to stick together in the future. So we think it is historic but it is all about the future as well.

education/outreach

Mr. HiNCHEY. Yes, I agree. I think it is a wonderful thing to do. One of the most important things that you deal with is the expansion of education around this country and how significant it is for some local educational institutions, particularly for high schools that can actually come here. Not very many of them are able to do that, but nevertheless, it is a great experience. And I know that the educational aspect of what you do is something that is critically important to you and something that you are expanding on. Could you mention a couple of things about that as well?

Mr. Clough. Well, we try to build on this idea from several points of view, one is the conventional museum visit, to enrich that visit because we call it the Learning Journey. And this is a place where we try to tie together the digital outreach with the conventional visit. So if a high school group from New York is coming down and they are doing a civics lesson on what does it mean to be an American, they would have been able to access our website, access our digital material on that kind of information beforehand and would have been able to virtually talk to a decent or possibly one of our experts on this very topic or reach into our archived sources and get that material.

So when they come here, they are prepared for their visit. They are not just wandering around hoping to see something, they really know—because the Smithsonian can be overwhelming. There are so many different places to go. And while they are here, they would hopefully have a very meaningful visit. And then when they go back home, they can still continue to interact with our docents using the Internet. So the idea is to build up the essence and the engagement activities regarding a visit. Now, in addition, we will be developing educational modules in and around topics. For example, we did an on-line seminar on Lincoln earlier this year, his 200th birthday, and six of our curators had six different exhibitions on Lincoln, spoke to their exhibitions, why they chose the objects, how Lincoln had—you know, each thing we have, Lincoln touched in some way. So how was it Lincoln touched these objects. It made it very real, and the students could blog in and talk to the curators and talk to the docents, and we got to Douglas, Georgia, my hometown. So there were about 150 kids in Douglas, Georgia, who participated in that. So we want to get more formal about this, we want to work with the school districts and really make sure that we are not doing something they do not want. We give them something they need, and they can build it into their curriculum because they are losing the arts, they are losing the civics and they are losing the sciences, and we can fill that gap with that.

I should say incidentally some great credit to our Smithsonian American Art Museum. They already have a contract with the Department of Defense which operates the largest K through 12 system in the world, and we are providing arts education to youngsters on military bases all over the world.

Mr. HiNCHEY. Mr. Secretary, thank you. Thank you very much.

Mr. Clough. Thank you.

Mr. HiNCHEY. Thank you particularly for everything that you are doing.

Mr. Clough. Thank you.

Mr. HiNCHEY. And how fortunate it is for this country.

Mr. Clough. I have a great group of people who are working with me, let me tell you.

PROLIFERATION OF MONUMENTS AND MUSEUMS

Mr. MORAN. Thanks very much, Mr. Hinchey. Let me just register an obsei'vation because it is probably only—it may be unique to me but since I happen to be in this position, I want to take advantage of the opportunity to share it and then I want to give Mr. Simpson the opportunity to ask the rest of his questions.

You have more money for, a substantial request actually, for the design of the African-American Museum as part of the Smithsonian. There is a request to turn the Arts and Industries Building into a Hispanic-American Museum. We have the Indian Museum, the new one. I am concerned about the proliferation of museums, and as we do that, we do not integrate as well. What is told in the African-American Museum should also be reflected in the Museum of American History fully. We just had a little spat over the proclamation on the Confederacy leaving out slavery which was an inexcusable omission. Unfortunately, it was only after the fact that it has been corrected. I had occasion to talk to the Park Service. They were almost doing the same thing in their commemoration, 150th anniversary. I think they are going to make sure that that is corrected and that the true cause of the Civil War is fully expressed in their depiction of it. Part of the proliferation of buildings is not your responsibility at all. The World War II History Museum, for example, had nothing to do with 50 states but had everything to do with one Nation. I find it inappropriate, frankly, and taking up an awful lot of space. The Indian Museum does not tell the story of Native Americans. It is kind of a glorified arts and crafts museum, frankly. I wish it was more evocative like the Holocaust Museum. It has told a story and left people emotionally affected.

But as we proliferate, it is almost as though our generation, as large as my generation is, the baby boomers, it is almost as though our heroes and icons are the only ones that matter to history. There are going to be subsequent generations that will have their own heroes and ought to and ought to be able to have some space on the mall to express what inspired them to greatness, if you will. And there is going to be no room left. We are going to build an Eisenhower Memorial now on a little grassy plot in front of the education building. I think Eisenhower was a terrific president, but it is not so much a reflection on the individuals as where we are going with this. And particularly with the African-American and Hispanic museum, it almost gives an excuse not to fully reflect the true history of the country if you have a separate museum that reflects that. I find that objectionable.

So this is kind of a personal statement, although I really would like to elicit from you a reaction from you, if you have given any thought to this because I do have great respect for your insight and reflection.

Mr. CU)i'(.\\. Thank you.

Mr. MoRAN. Mr. Secretary, do you have any thoughts on that?

Mr. Clough. Sure, and I think we all share some concerns in this process, and I would say the Smithsonian shares some of the blame, if you want to take it that way, that we do have this proliferation of museums. I think if the Smithsonian had been doing its job, if it had been a more inclusive institution in the beginning and it had taken its job seriously to tell the story of the American experience at large, that you would have been able to do it within a larger context as opposed to sort of a smaller context. But this has already happened, and so I think our job is to say this is what it is. What can we do to bring coherence to this story? Because obviously we now know the melting pot idea is probably not the true way life works. All of us have roots somewhere, and all of us like to think about those roots and that is a fine thing. But there is a commonality. There is this glue that holds us all together. And I think we learned a little bit from the experience at the American Indian museum which I think is a fine museum and—its future still needs to be shaped for us. And fortunately we have a great director there, Kevin Gover, who is outstanding and who understands some of what might be considered shortcomings of that museum, and he is working hard on that. He is working hard to bring that more current, to bring more artifacts into that museum so people can really understand it better and more programs that are meaningful. And some of them are whimsical, and I like that. He just had one on skateboards, Indians and skateboards, you know, and why not because actually the kids on reservations or wherever they are love the same culture that other kids do. The Brian Jungen Exhibit is about the Northwestern Indian artifacts as you have behind you here, but it is done in a remarkable way where he talks about deep time but he uses artifacts that are very contemporary and very temporal and we lose them. And I think he has done a great job of trying to bring more people in so then you can tell your story.

To the Smithsonian's great credit, enduring credit, they hired Lonnie Bunch to be the Director of the National Museum of African-American History and Culture, and Lonnie is a remarkable individual. He had many years at the Smithsonian, but then he went on to a distinguished career outside of the Smithsonian and getting him back was important. He understands the point you just made. And having worked in the Museum of American History, if we had done our job there well, we would have been able to I think address these issues more holistically than we are doing them today. But Lonnie clearly understands this museum has many missions, if you will, one of which is to tell the American story. You know, the African-American story is an American story, to tell it in the context of America and what it means to be an American. But also to tell the dimensions of that story that were unique to the African-American community and the horrors of slavery and how those slaves were brought here. But he does not want this to be a museum where that is the only story that is told because there is a story of redemption, there is a story of greatness, and the African-American story of people making their way through this country, fighting for their rights, and finding fortunately some allies along the way and making a difference in the country.

And so you wall find celebration of African-American contributions to music, to sports, to science, to all these other areas and to arts and so forth in this museum. I think they have done a gi'eat job of thinking this through about balancing the parts of the story that need to be told. And he has been all over this country in an attempt to make sure that all of the African-American smaller museums are a part of this, to see us as their national partner. And so he has done a gi'eat job of doing that. So he has listened a lot. I was with him at the Atlanta History Center just about 2 months ago with John Lewis who made an absolutely compelling case for this museum from his point of view.

So I think that Lonnie understands it, I think Kevin understands, and I think we learned some lessons in the American Indian museum. Kevin is working I think to make that a broader approach to the issues that that museum represents. For example, in education, we note that an awful lot of American Indian youngsters live on resei'vations, go to Bureau of Indian Affairs schools and we need to reach them. And so you know, we are working with the Department of Education lastly on a plan to literally deliver education using the information backgi^ound we have in that museum to these youngsters about what does it mean to be an American from their point of view and realizing they have a special set of issues that they deal with, an unfinished project with the American Indian in this country, and it is a tragic story, clearly.

Mr. MoR.\N. Thank you, Mr. Secretary. Mr. Simpson?

COLLECTIONS CARE INITIATIVE

Mr. Simpson. A couple quick questions. One of the most important things you do is obviously preserve over 100 million items. You got a $2.5 million increase in the Collections Care initiative. What exactly are we going to do with that, and where are we on the emphasis that the committee put on the military uniforms collection last year?

Mr. Clough. a full assessment has been made of where we are with the military uniforms and what needs to be done, and they are in the process of implementing that. So I think that project is well under way to take care of that. Those uniforms are in American History. And so it is a fairly targeted issue that we can deal with and address. But overall we have continued the need to add to our capacity to take care of 137 million artifacts. We are not intentionally trying to grow that collection, but there are times when it grows. For example, if we are going to have a Museum of African-American History and Culture, and right now that mu.seum started out initially with no collection, they are up to 10,000 items now that they have been able to add to their collection. We have to preserve those. And so there is a component that addresses the growing collecti(jns. We are trying to work with other museums. For example, in our bird collection, we have 650.000 birds that we use that are used to help people for example with bird strikes. When the United flight went down on the Hudson River, the first place they came to was the Smithsonian, and we were able to tell them exactly what birds were, as they say, ingested into the engines, where they came from and where they had been ri-siding. It is a remarkable story. But we work with the VkAd Museum and the

American Museum of Natural History in New York to say let's do not duplicate our collections. If you have a collection that covers a different set of species than we do, that is fine. We will work with you. So we use the Field Museum collections in that process.

Mr. Simpson. Are you able to keep up with the $2.5 million increase in this initiative? Are you able to keep up with the needs of preserving what we have got?

Mr. Clough. We think so. We think we made a lot of progress, as I mentioned in my statement, particularly with the new Pennsy facility. It gives us much better facilities than we had before. We do suffer that we still have some old facilities, the old Garber facilities out at Suitland, and you may remember we had a little collapse out there, one of our buildings. It was a very old building. Classical story that you see with a big institution. Somebody built that in 1967, said it was going to be temporary and it stayed. Now, we are going to tear it down, and our goal is to get all those torn down and get all those objects out into good places for them to be cared for.

REVITALIZATION, CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE

Mr. Simpson. That leads to the other question and that is that in 2005 and 2007 the Smithsonian needed an investment of $2.5 billion for revitalization, construction and maintenance over a 10-year period. We have got $137 million for facilities capital program to make major repairs to current building. What specific projects are we going to undertake with that funding and how do you prioritize those projects?

Mr. Clough. Yeah, and those are kind of two different things because the $2.5 billion was really $250 million a year, and that was made up of two parts, one was the facilities revitalization and the second part was maintenance. And so we are fortunate in this budget, for example, to have $137 million targeted toward revitalization and another $73 million which covers the salaries and expenses category for maintenance. Ideally you would like to have $150 million in revitalization each year and $100 million in maintenance. So what we have is $137 million for revitalization and $73 million. So we are not quite there, but there has been a lot of progress, and we are very proud of that.

So we are making steady progress against the challenges, but when you are open every day of the year and you get 30 million visitors a year, that is a lot of boots on the ground in your buildings.

Mr. Simpson. Well, thank you. It is obvious that you have a passion for your job. There are a lot of things we could talk about. I am interested in the Encyclopedia of Life and what is being planned there, but we will have an opportunity to talk about that in the future. And I want to reemphasize again, you have got great employees there. Whenever people talk about you know, those lums that work for the Federal Government and federal employees or state employees and all that kind of stuff, all you have to do is point to some of your own employees who are doing a fantastic job, and we really enjoy working with them. So thank you, and do not lose those employees. And congratulations to the Rambling Wreck. They had a great year.

Mr. Clough. They did. Thanks. Well, I will certainly pass on your high regards to our people because they would appreciate it, especially during the snowstorm. You know, we kept a museum open every day during that snowstorm, and you know, I was up here and I pushed a few snow shovels around and things. But I did not do anything really. There were a lot of people out there who were working 12-hour days, and quite a few of them stayed and slept over in their buildings to try to keep something going for the American people. So they will be very appreciative of those words.

Mr. Simpson. Thank them for us.

Mr. MORAN. Thank you, Mr. Simpson. Excellent testimony.

Mr. Clough. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

[The information follows:]

FY 11 Smithsonian QFR

House Committee on Appropriations

Subcommittee on Interior. Environment and Related Agencies

Questions for the Record

Smithsonian Institution

Hearing Date; April 14.2010

Questions for the Record from Chairman Moran

Strategic Plan

MoranQI. 1 am interested in hearing more about how the four key challenges in your new strategic plan affect your budget request, and how the\ will alter how the Smithsonian operates. Mow important is it for the numerous and varied museums and research institutions to work across the Institution and with outside parties?

MoranQ2. Your budget request includes separate funds for a new center for each of these challenges. Exactly what is being proposed? To what extent will this create a new layer of bureaucracy? How will these centers benefit the public and the Smithsonian mission?

MoranQ3. I think your strategic plan also suggests that the Smithsonian will take on a larger role as an educational institution, including more etTorts at the Museums, with the traveling exhibitions, and through remote access. Your budget request doesn't seem to be asking for additional funding for education. How will you revitalize education at the Smithsonian?

Governaoce issues and Regents

MoranQ4. Last December this Subcommittee held an oversight hearing on the Smithsonian's past governance problems, and its ongoing deferred maintenance backlog. At that hearing the GAO was generally complimentary, but they still had concerns about the role of the Regents in governance. I know you had a Regents meeting earlier this week. Can you explain what the relationship is between you as Secretary and the Regents? Are you implementing the recommendations of the GAO concerning activities of the Regents and their relationship with the various museum advisory committees?

Deferred maintenance

MoranQS. Our last oversight hearing also included discussion of the huge backlog in

deferred maintenance and major revitalization that the Smithsonian has. I see that this request has $18 million for a large project at the American History Museum and Si 7.6 million for a large project at Natural History. Can you please explain a bit more about how you see the overall backlog, and how this budget request will begin to deal with this burden?

FY 11 Smithsonian QFR

MoranQ6. 1 understand that a sizable number of the Air and Space Museum's artifacts are in storage in inadequate facilities at the Garber facility in Maryland. Many of these items are supposed to be mo\ed soon to the Hazy Museum, phase II. near Dulles Airport. I also heard that a building with artifacts collapsed during the recent blizzard. What damage occurred with this building collapse? What is the outlook for getting the new storage facility at the Hazy Center done soon? How will this help with your collections care, and with your facihties backlog?

MoranQ?. Your budget request actually reduces funds for facilities maintenance by $750,000. Why? Isn't your maintenance backlog a large problem for the Smithsonian?

Science and collections

MoranQS. Dr. Clough. you commented that this budget also has an increase for science and research activities at the Smithsonian, something \\hich has not occurred for a while. Please explain wh> you think these increases are needed, such as for the $1 million increase for both the Encyclopedia of Life and the DNA Bar-coding project.

.MoranQ9. I see that the request also has an increase of $2 million for strengthening the collections. Since the collections are the life blood of the Smithsonian, how will you select projects if this increase is provided? Will a S2 million increase make much of a difference given how large the collections care backlog is?

MoranQlO. Your discussion of the National Museum of Natural History discusses how important it is for Federal funding to support the maintenance and preservation of priceless collections for future generations. To what extent is there a cohesive Federal policy concerning which institutions should have particular expertise and collections in various scientific fields, such as botany, geology, anthropology, entomology, zoology, etc?

MoranQlI. What is the Smithsonian involvement with the NSF-funded National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON)? To what extent can such Federal funds supplant or complement funds from the Interior and Environincnt bill?

Climate Change Research

.MoranQ12. I see that your scientific research includes a substantial portfolio that relates to global warming research. Can you tell us some more about the Smithsonian's role on this issue? How is some of the Smith.sonian's research into ancient climate-change related biodiversity collapses relevant to today?

.VloranQ13. How does the Smithsonian coordinate its climate change research eflbrts with other l-ederal agencies and programs?

MoranQl-*. Please explain the SIGLO program and why it is important for your role in

climate change research? Your budget indicates that you want to increase your efforts in the temperate zone and in the US. To what extent are you collaborating with other Federal

FY 11 Smithsonian QFR

agencies on ihis effort? For instance, what are you doing with the Forest Sen ice International Program, and with their Forest Inventor) and Analysis program and with the USGS climate change science effort?

Digitization

MoranQlS. In your statement you mentioned that you expect the Smithsonian will be able to broaden access to the research and collections of the Smithsonian by increasing use of digitization. What is in the budget for digitization, and to what extent are you making progress at getting more images and data from your collections on-line.'

MoranQ16. Your budget discusses digitization of sound recordings of endangered languages in the National Anthropological Archives and Human Studies Film Archives. What does this work involve, and which other agencies or institutions are partners in these efforts?

African American Museum of History and Culture

MoranQl?. 1 see that the budget request has a hefty $20 million for design of the new African .American Museum of History and Culture, which will be built near the Washington Monument. Can you please explain a bit more about how you see this building project will unfold and who will pay for it? To what extent is the museum beginning to accumulate an important collection to aid its mission?

Natural History Museum Centennial last month

MoranQlS. I see that the National Museum of Natural History celebrated the centennial of its opening on the national mall. That is quite an achievement. Can you tell us how the public is responding to the new exhibits, such as the Oceans hall and the Human Origins exhibit which opened on the centennial?

MoranQ19. I understand that a lot of the dangerous specimens in alcohol have been moved out of the Natural History museum and are now in safer, more accessible storage in Suitland. To what extent does the Natural History Museum still have problems with the condition and accessibility of the various collections it holds? To what extent will this budget request help take care of some of these priceless collections?

Arts and Industries Building and the legacy fund

MoranO20. The Arts and Industries building has been closed for several years. Last year the Congress changed the restrictions governing the Legacy Fund and targeted the fund for revitalizing Arts and Industries. To what extent do you think the Smithsonian will be able to promptly use the $30 million in the Legacy Fund under its existing legislation? Are you experiencing problems at being able to cost-share that amount for this building?

FY 11 Smithsonian QFR

.MoranQ21. I ha\e heard you taJk about using the Arts and Industries building as an

educational center for the Smithsonian. Can you tell us some more about the potential uses of this building in the future, and how you see this being realized?

Folk Life Festival on National Mall

MoranQ22. I understand that the National Park Ser\'ice, the stewards of the National Mall, has just recently agreed to issue the permit for this year's Folklife Festival. In their March 3P' letter to the Smithsonian, the Park Service requested that you join in a scientific, peer reviewed study on the long-term impact of special events under the American elm trees on the Mall. They also asked you to work with them lightened the impact of the Festival on the Mall.

I know that you will work with the Park Service on these important endeavors and ask that you think creatively about ways to less the impact of the Festival on the Mall.

Who at the Smithsonian will be charged with working with the Park Service on this?

Please pro\ ide for the record your ideas on how to best to lighten the impact of the Festival on the Mall.

National Zoological Park conditions and animal care at Front Royal

.VloranQ23. In recent years the American people have been investing a lot of resources to revitalize the National Zoo, including some of the Recovery bill funding the Smithsonian received. What is the overall condition of the Zoo and how is it able to meet standards required for proper animal care? How does this request deal with the Zoo?

MoranQ24. The recent audit of the zoo revealed that the National Zoo has a shortfall of animal keepers, and your budget includes $155,000 to add two animal keepers. How bad is the situation? Will the addition of just two keepers make a substantial impact on this shortfall? Isn't this basic zoo support more important than some of your new initiatives?

MoranQZS. tarlicr this year there was a news story about the death of Virginia bats at the Front Royal conservation biology center. Does this center have the proper personnel and equipment to be doing such captive breeding of endangered species? What happened in this case where so many rare bats died?

Business ventures

MoninQ26. During the previous Secretary's administration, the Congress and the American people had some real problems with how the Smithsonian business ventures were operating. Can you explain how your lastitution is now engaging the business community and to what extent partnerships generate funds for your use. while remaining true to your mission and your role as a Federal agency'.'

FYll Smithsonian QFR

MoranQ27. We understand that you are entering new partnerships with the QVC brand and with the floral FTF) brand, ("an you please explain each of these partnerships? How do they relate to the Smithsonian Institution mission'.'

i\loranQ28. 1 he Smithsonian TV HD channel has been operative for awhile. Pleas summarize the activities of this partnership, including the extent of public outreach it accomplishes, as well as the financial benefits.

National Campaign for fund raising

Moran029. I have heard rumors that you will start a capital fund raising campaign for the Smithsonian. What can we here in Congress expect to sec, and when? What is the focus of your fund raising'^

Financial .Management

MoranQ30. Among the more important and fundamental governance problems the GAO and your 0V.T1 Inspector General found in the past were problems with the Institution's ability to do financial management. I heard that you recently received a clean audit with no material weaknesses, for which I commend you. I see that this budget has a $600,000 increase for internal management controls. To what extent has the Smithsonian been able to modernize its financial systems and how much more do you have to do to get this right?

Security' and anti-terrorism

MoranQ31. I understand that your visitation topped 30 million in 2009. a large increase over the past few years. This must also require serious investments in security. Please explain the security initiative in your budget and how you hope to expand career ladders for your guards.

Fixed costs

MoranQ32. Overall you have a pretty generous budget request compared to most agencies in our bill. I am still not clear what portion of your fixed costs for pay. rent, utilities and the like are covered by this request. Please explain the fixed costs you have, and to what degree this request covers them or not, as the C£ise may be.

Buy-out Savings

Moran033. The budget assumes savings of $3.7 million through buy-outs. Can you please

explain how you arrived at that sum. and how the savings were split out by museum? Do you have recent experience with buy-outs? What were the savings realized in past efforts?

National Air and Space Museum external science

MoranQ34. The budget justification indicates on page 45 that the National Air and Space Museum mav lead a $400 million Mars Radar Mission research effort. Does the NIASM have

1 Yll Smithsonian QFR

experience with such large scientific missions? To what extent is the NASM budget aimed at basic scientific research?

Major Scientific Instrumentation

MoranQ35. Your request includes $1.922,000 for the multiple mirror telescope. This project is a multi-funded effort. If future external support is realized. v\hat uill be the appropriate mix of funds from the Interior and Environment bill and from other sources? What is the commitment of the NSF or other Federal science providers?

General Trust Support to Museums

MoranQ36. We appreciate the helpful summary tables in your budget justification provided for each museum and program. Please discuss how the Smithsonian Institution has determined the allocation of the General Trust funds to each museum? Docs this var\ for each museum? Will you be addressing the allocation criteria soon?

Questions for the Record from Mr. Simpson

Climate Change research funding

Your budget request includes $4 million to address a variety of climate change issues. While 1 don't question the need for study and research relating to climate change, I continue to have concerns about redundancy of effort as well as the level of coordination within government when it comes to having so many different entities receiving climate change funding. This subcommittee approved almost S364 million for climate change funding last year and the budget for the coming year includes close to $437 million in climate funding.

SimpsonQI. What is unique about the type of climate change research conducted by the Smithsonian? lo what extent do your scientists collaborate with and share information with other government agencies conducting related research?

Digitization of Assets

Your written testimony explained that more than 188 million people in the United Slates and around the world visited the Smithsonian's various websites last year. It's pretty clear that the Smithsonian has not only become a source of information on the Worid Wide Web but is also becoming a valuable educational and research tool accessible by anyone \vith a computer.

FY II Smithsonian QFR

SirapsonQZ. Can you describe your efforts to digitize the Smithsonian's many assets and why this is important to the pubhc?

SimpsonQ3. What is your vision for making the Smithsonian's digital assets not only available but also an integral part of our educational system?

Encyclopedia of Life

I understand that the National Museum of Natural History has undertaken an ambitious web-based, online project known as the "Encyclopedia of Life" (EOl.) which will become a repository of scientific information about every form of life on Farth. WTicn completed in about 10 years, the EOL is expected to contain information about the 1.9 million known species of plants, animals, and other life forms.

SiropsonQ4. What is the projected cost of this initiative and to what degree will nonfederal sources of funding be utilized?

SimpsonQ5. Has an initiative of this nature ever been undertaken before? How do you envision the Encyclopedia of Life being used and by whom?

Latino Museum

Last September, the President appointed several people to a commission studying the feasibility of creating a National .Museum of the American Latino in Washington, DC. I understand that the two-year study will address steps necessary to plan for a potential museum dedicated to exhibiting the art, history, and culture of the Li.S. Latino population.

SimpsonQ6. Are there any estimates at this point of the total anticipated cost of this museum? When arc we likely to see funding requests related to this project?

FY 11 Smithsonian QFR

SimpsonQT. Can you describe the process undertaken to determine the potential location of this new museum? Who ultimately makes the decision about the location of this and other potential future museums?

Wednesday, April 14, 2010. NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART WITNESS

earl a. powell, ih, director

Opening Statement of Chairman Moran

Mr. Moran. Next we will hear from Earl Powell, the Director of the National Gallery of Art. We got a little show and tell here. We are going to have to talk about this because this is a big issue. But let us first go through the formality of welcoming you, Mr. Powell, as the Director of the National Gallery of Art. It has been a couple of years since you were last before this subcommittee. The Gallery of Art was established in 1937, by a joint resolution of Congress which pledged the United States to provide the necessary funds for the upkeep of the gallery, its administration, costs of operations, and the protection and care of the art.

The gallery we enjoy today is considered one of the world's premiere art museums. It has a renowned collection of American and European masterworks. There is actually even some Eastern works that are terrific. But we owe a debt of gratitude particularly to the Mellon family, who provided the museum's original collection and financed the buildings that house these great masterpieces.

This year's budget request totals $163 million. It is a little bit less than last year's appropriation. Of that almost $150 million is for the care of the art. No new collections or anything, just the maintenance, operation, and protection of the buildings and grounds. The remaining $48 million dollars funds repair, restoration, and renovation of the buildings.

Your request includes funds needed to complete the repair of the East Building's exterior marble veneer. Last year we provided $40 million to begin this urgent work on repairing the facade of the East Building. This year you have asked for a second installment of another $42,250 million to hopefully complete this work.

What really started this, Mr. Simpson, was that this arrowhead fell off the top, came down, had somebody been standing underneath it, it would have killed them. It stuck right into the ground. Mr. Powell wants to share that with us.

Mr. Powell. That is all that has fallen, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Moran. Yes. Well, that is the concern, and we have met on this before. It is troubling at least to me and I know others that there was not a tough contract that would have enabled you to go back to the contractor and really make them liable for what would appear to be a construction defect. Now the taxpayers have to spend over $80 million to fix this.

Now, you are going to tell us that it is a lot older than it appears to be, it is a beautiful building. But that is what we want to talk about particularly because I know we would much rather see this go into expansion of the collection and the presentation of the collections instead of the nitty-gritty work of taking down panels and putting them back up again and so on. That is really not what the taxpayers think they are funding when they fund the National Gallery of Art.

But that is what we will want to ask you about, of course, and I want to give Mr. Simpson an opportunity to say something if he would like to make an introductory comment.

Opening Statement of Mr. Simpson

Mr. Simpson. Thanks, Mr. Chairman. I thought the same thing when I had to replace the front steps at my house two years after they built the house because they sank. That kind of stuff happens, and while we can complain about it all, the fact is we need to fix it, and that is just the reality.

But, Director Powell, I will be very brief, and I want to join Chairman Moran in welcoming you to the subcommittee this morning. As an aspiring artist myself I marvel at the incredible collections contained within your gallery walls as I walk through the gallery and take in room after room of magnificent paintings. I think to myself, what if these walls could talk, but then I realize that these gallery walls really do talk, and the incredible masterpieces say something quite different to each and every one of us. That is the beauty and magic of art. I enjoy my work in Congress, but I must confess that you have one of the greatest jobs in Washington, DC, and quite possibly in the entire world.

Lastly, I want to thank you. Director Powell, for surrounding yourself with dedicated professionals who are committed to their work and are truly a pleasure to work with. Pam Jenkinson and Bill McClure and your entire team serve you and the gallery well and the American people well.

So thank you for being here today.

Mr. Powell. Thank you, Mr. Simpson. I appreciate that, and I know the staff does.

Mr. Moran. Nice comments, Mr. Simpson. Thank you. Mr. Powell, you may proceed.

Testimony of Director Earl Powell

Mr. Powell. That would be the central point I would like to discuss also, I know, but there are an enormous number of very positive things that have happened. This is an unanticipated, unwanted problem, but we certainly appreciate Congress's support in helping resolve it. And that will be done in another two to three years, and the building will be restored to the pristine beauty that it was when it opened in 1978.

The gallery we are very proud of I know Congress is and the Nation is, and we appreciate your incredible support in the operations and maintenance of the building. It is not only an art museum. I was reminded of Secretary CMough's comments about the Smithsonian, but it is an institution of higher learning. It was created and sustained by the Federal (jrovernment and the private sector, and in fiscal 2009, we welcomed 4.8 million visitors from throughout the country and abroad. That is the highest attendance of any art museum in this country, and I think the third highest in the world. We are very proud of that, and that is a trend that has been sustained and is growing. So we are excited about that.

Mr. Moran. I hate to interrupt, but it would be the Louvre and then London?

i