We call to order. Thank you to my colleagues for attending, and for our collection to look at. Were glad to have you and several two people, but im confident you will be able to be the man at the microphone here. This is your First Official appearance before the senate rules committee, im grateful to have you with us. It is historic and a number of ways, the first African American secretary to lead the smithsonian institution, as well as the first Museum Director who was later appointed secretary and around 74 years. Hes a historian, something i really enjoy, and he really understands, so its a great combination of things. This is the fourth position the secretary has had at the smithsonian, something i dont believe any of your predecessors could claim. In 1978, he began his smithsonian career at the national air and space museum. 11 years later, he joined the National Museum of American History, at the most recently served as the founding director of the National Museum of African American history and culture. As the founding director, he led an 11year effort in constructing that 400,000 square foot museum, and helping raise the matching public funds that mats to public funds and came up with the museum that tells and credible part of our story. Congress established the smithsonian in 1858, who never visited the United States but left his estate to the United States government to found an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge, that instead quote from mr. Smith. Now we are almost 158 years later, and it encompasses museums and galleries, numerous educational facilities, the nationals to, a growing collection of 100 and objects and specimens. His years of experience clinch truly provides a unique perspective to look at the future of the smithsonian, and as the newly invested secretary who has inherited the responsibility for this vast unique, unmatched collection, of course, the secretary also inherited the institutions challenge us, the aging facilities, the backlogs tottering 1 Million Dollars and im sure that its going to be one of the topics we talk about today. In the last two decades, the smithsonian doubled the square footage, while funding remained essentially flat. Under any circumstance, that is not going to produce any good result, and while doubling the institution, it added incredible capacity to see what americans count on the smithsonian for, it also added a burden we have not been willing to meet of maintenance, and i know that its one of the things we want to talk about today, and one of the things that he sees as one of his great responsibilities. When the secretary started his staff, we were in the middle of a fiveyear strategic plan, or in the process of creating a plan. I want to discuss the thoughts on that plan, the vision on how it needs to change as we look at the reality of many of the obligations and opportunities that are out there. So, mister secretary, im glad you are there. I want to call on my good friend for any comments. Thank you very much, and thank you for those nice words and introductions their. Its great to be with you, and we really enjoyed looking at the display there. Im very pleased to be here to discuss the smithsonian institution, and to welcome its new secretary, lonnie bunch before the committee for the First Time Since his appointment. Im also proud to have the chance to oversee the institution as both a member of the rules committee here, and as the ranking member. In both roles, ive worked to make sure that congress is an active partner with the smithsonian institution, and provides the resources it needed to meet the obligations to meet the civic, and artistic life of this nation. I can just say im here sometimes on weekends, and my wife and i go to many of your museums, and its a marvelous display for americans, and issues around the world. Im proud that the Senate Interior subcommittee has work to advance an appropriations bill that provides more than one billion dollars. This also includes new funding a crisis for security facilities, and 1. 7 million in funding. I look forward to producing a new bill that will give the strong budget for fiscal year 2020. I welcome the chance to talk about the opportunities and challenges of this and supporting the great work that the smithsonian is doing here this morning and having a discussion about that. We all know that the smithsonian requires Real Investments to keep its existing museums operating, to expand its collections to tell the story of all americans, and to discuss the reach of its research and educational problems around the country. In particular, i expect we will hear about the importance of congress committing the resources needed to meet the institutions meeting and capital needs. The requirements clearly needed to be a priority, but we will have the opportunity to talk about the importance of congress authorizing new museums to celebrate the history and latino community, museums that we recognize our diverse heritage and whose authorization enjoys broad bipartisan support. Congress should be able to do both things, and provide an exciting opportunity for the smithsonian to expand its footprint to include these new museums. I look forward to hearing from the secretary this moment, as we talk about each of these priorities. Thank you for being here, and i will yield back to the chairman. Thank you. Secretary bunch, your record statement will be a part of the statement, but i would like you the time to talk about all of that. Thank you. Members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify today. As youve mentioned my tenure is the 14th secretary at the smithsonian began the summer, but my relationship with the smithsonian spans many generations, it seems to me. Im pleased and humbled to be the secretary of this institution that i love so much. The smithsonian appreciates the ongoing support of congress, the administration of the american people, and we take seriously the role we play in advancing the civic, educational, scientific and artistic life of this nation. Our collections are vast, representative of historical and scientific achievement. We are an internationally respected scientific and Cultural Institution and several disciplines. We form one of the greatest repositories of knowledge. We have extensive array of educational material that learners of all ages can access online or in classrooms within our museums. The smithsonian the buildings hosted millions of visitors every year, our facilities provide the Foundation Upon which we build our programs, our exhibitions, our research, our scholarship. We have been successful at maintaining buildings systems, well beyond their intended life, like weve done with the air and space museum, but with the different backlog of 1 Million Dollars, as a lot of work to be done. All of our sights, the museums, the research galleries, does do, in addition to the spaces, we must care for over 13. 9 million square feet of buildings, with a backlog of maintenance and shoes we have been reacting to problems instead of proactively maintaining our assets, but since becoming secretary, i have looked at the backlog with fresh eyes, and in order to be more strategic in our approach, i have asked and directed the staff to begin analyzing progress in a new way, rather than simply seeing the totality of our backlog, i want to analyze our maintenance projects, building by building, system by system. With this approach, we are better able to communicate our existing priorities, develop a better sense of where our newly federal dollars will be built, and find opportunities to address maintenance needs, as part of our capital revalidation product. I believe that addressing our maintenance backlog is of paramount importance to the future of the United States. And there was, some congress and the United States have recognized the investment and Long Term Care of our facilities, and have supported steady increases in our maintenance budget. Many of our museums were built in the 1960s through the eighties and need violation. Funding Preventative Care will result in reduced maintenance cost, causing future breakdowns, save energy and increase unplanned closures. The planning and design requested an f why 2020 will begin to address the future of the amazonian castle on the arson industry. They represent the core components of a 20year planned for the south lawn, a series of Capital Projects required after decades of deferred maintenance. Our collection have grown to over 155 million objects. These objects need to be stored, maintained, cared for. To most of our visitors, the collections we have to find the institution. Therefore, our collections are Vital National asset, and we are always striving to improve storage conditions, striking a balance between preserving the collection and providing access to them. The spaces that house our collections are not immune from deteriorations. The maintenance of these areas have been deferred to the point of requiring capital investment. Our collection space framework outlines a strategy for improving all of our collections facilities. The smithsonian pressing infrastructure needs need and demand our immediate attention. Despite our best efforts, most of our aging infrastructure continues to be below acceptable standards. We appreciate the support of congress in addressing our most visible project, the renovation of the national air and space museum. But we are also grateful for the ongoing support of the day to day maintenance needed for this institution. Finally, let me say a few words about my plan and what i envision to do as secretary of the smithsonian. Under my leadership, our goal is to reach at least one billion people worldwide. I envision a virtual initiative, leveraging state of the art resources and innovative partnerships, allowing domestic and International Audiences to experience our scholarship, our research, our collections, in new and exciting ways. If we are fully to serve 21st century audiences, we need to be more inclusive, more accessible, and more diverse. A critical part of making the museums more diverse is to include traditionally under represented stories. Specifically highlighting the stories of Asian American, american women, latino and Asian Pacific americans its vital to fulfilling our role. Under my leadership, we will make a diversity in our collections, our archives, and our ex submissions and our workforce a higher priority. As you, know there are bills to establish a Latino American and american womens history museum, pending before congress. If deemed in the Public Interest to move forward with these proposals, it is important that any additions to the smithsonian are considered and light of our existing priorities. A new museum will need funds for both the creation and long term operation of the facilities, they care and preservation of our countries, and the ongoing success of the museum. Our work is also increased knowledge, its never ending. As we continue to make new discoveries, we plan to share them with future generations. Therefore i plan to reimagine the role and Lifelong Learning by making the institution a leader in k through 12 education. Finally, what i want is people to see the smithsonian as a resource to help them better understand their lives, their universe, their history and our shared future. It is incumbent upon us to be a more universal voice, one that earns the Americans Trust in us and leverages the great convening power to increase our relevant and research. We want to be the place that matters for all americans. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to testify before you today, and im happy to answer any questions that you might have. Thank you. As i said, before we are so delighted that you are here and we look forward to the unique set of capacity inability that you bring to the american smithsonian. You mentioned that congress had provided money for maintenance and, i think you are maybe generous and how you described that. Looking at the maintenance numbers in front of me, we dont seem to increase that very much. We are one from 75 and a half million to 76 million the next year, and then a pretty good increase to 79 million in the year we just completed. We are hoping to get to 85 and a half million in this budget. That is your request for this budget. We are not what we ought to be prosecuting that appropriations finished, but thats clearly not doing the job. Can you talk a little bit about your sense that going through every building, looking at the building systems, looking at the building by building requirements, how do you think that will help you prioritize and, in my right in believing that the number youre working with his right at a billion dollars now . Our deferred maintenance is that a billion dollars. We have several important ways to address this. One is, theres always a need to increase the amount of money we have for maintenance. We do right now about 1 of what we spend, and we really need to spend at least two to 3 to be able to not only stop the backlog but to reduce it. In the meantime, what i realized is by being more systematic, we cannot only understand where the needs are, we can anticipate future needs. Our goal is to have the knowledge and then to do several things. The first is to utilize the fact that the key to our success is to use both the maintenance budget and the Capital Budget to be able to do things like weve done with the air and space museum, by doing the renovation of the air and space museum, we were able to reduce and address 200 Million Dollars in deferred maintenance at the air and space museum. We need to look work creatively on how we put together our Capital Projects with different maintenance. One of the keys that cleared me was that we need to spend our time on preventative maintenance. We want to make sure that we can anticipate what issues we may be able to defer based on actually doing preventative maintenance on that. My hope is that we will continue to grow our budgets, were going to be much more systematic and prioritize what we need to do, and then really to make sure that we are using every opportunity we can to leverage the resources to address that backlog. Some places we are addressing one problem, and that system is not working, it can create all kinds of other problems in the building. Is that the kind of thing you are looking . At exactly. If you look at, when we think about what we need to do with the castle and arts and industries, if we can create a Central Utilities system that services all of that, its also a lot of problems. It makes it easier for us to maintain. So we are looking at how to be more creative, how to use the best technology to come up with solutions to the problems we faced. Am i right in the council. Because of the aches va system were not able to use that for what it was designed for. What we have to do especially, weve been a lot of money to stabilize that. Theres millions of dollars that need to be spent to turn that space into something that is useful for the public. We use that space for my insulation, we really need to do new systems, we need to fit at the spaces so it worked for the systems. So part of the master plan is to look at the castle, and how we use those better to serve not, just as office space, put our visitors and our public. Great. Im sure we will have time for more questions, and senator, you are the authorizing member on the committee, so you can get a couple of double strokes here today, by talking about the authorizing issues, and not just looking at those as appropriate issues. We Work Together on the appropriations committee. Hes a cardinal, im just a cardinal in waiting. But german blunt, put your permission i would ask the senator has another hearing, so i will allow her to proceed with her questioning. Thank you. I appreciate the opportunity. Obviously, i have some concerns about the maintenance backlog. I want to do whatever we can to assist and give you the resources you need to address that. I want to talk and ask a question about you talk about having 155 million objects or is it 1 million . Hundred 55 million. You talk about how the storage is necessary to have a plan for that, and you mention a collection space framework plan. Can you talk a little bit more about that, and are the challenges that you are facing than what we should be aware of . As somebody who was a curator, as a director of a museum, i realize that the only thing that is permanent in the smithsonian are its collections. Everything else is fleeting. So it is crucially important for us to preserve those collections, but you also realize that were going to have to continue to build those collections as new stories are told, new research is done. What weve looked at is creating this collection framework document in 2015, was so important, because it was the first time that it gave us an accurate sense of exactly what the conditions were, in all of those spaces, all the buildings, what kind of equipment we had and that is now giving us the strategic opportunity to move creatively to address this issue. Its clearly a long term issue and will be decades to do this, but because of the support that we have received, weve been able to do some things that were very important. Weve been able to look at the sites that were the worst, that had a great deterioration, that had a deep contaminations, keep unable to decontaminate all of those artifacts, look at a new ways to move them. With your support, weve been able to build new spaces that can hold artifacts, both at dallas and the student campus. What this allows us to do is address the most serious problems, but also allows us to have the kind of swing space that we need, as we move the air and space museum, we have to move artifacts away. Ultimately, that will give us the kind of stories that we can use down the road. I want to take advantage of viewing the founding director of the Smithsonians National history museum, because im a big supporter of the museum. My question is, what opportunities do you see in establishing sharing the National Museum, that we can start working on now to bring this to fruition. If theres one thing i know how to do is build a National Museum. The challenge for us is to recognize that we are going to have to realize that we will have to build the money to maintain it, but also make sure we are bringing resources into the smithsonian so that we can handle our deferred maintenance. I think that there are many issues to think about. Issues of if youre going to build a latino museum, how does the money get allocated . When we built the African American museum, there is no mechanism to make sure that money would, come and that made it hard to strategized and plan. Its also important to realize that if we build new museums, it has an impact on essential services of the smithsonian, so we have to realize that there has to be resources put in those areas that were going to be able to do a museum thats worthy of the smithsonian. With those right resources and the right commitment clearly we can do the museums that will make people proud. Thank you for all the good work. I really appreciate that. On that topic, are you suggesting that if we were to do another private Public Partnership, that we can do a better job raising that money, knowing what points you needed to make one public money would follow . If there was a mechanism that said it was a one to one match or that you knew that at certain points that you could count on a certain number of federal money, what we have to do is every year, obviously coming, back we did well, to move the museum as quickly as i would like. It took us 11 years at the federal system but in some ways i think that there are things that i have learned that we can shortcut that a little bit. Senator capito . Thank you for not just or service but for being here today and your long history in such a distinguished field. Along the lines as senator cortez, we are at the 100th anniversary of the amendment, and i wanted to highlight efforts we made here. You mentioned this in your statement. I am a cosponsor of the act and you talk a little bit about building a museum from the ground up. You mentioned these perspectives in terms of financing. I dont of any perspectives here on if this act were to pass, how that would come to fruition. There is some things to think about. First of, all its so important that if we do a new museum, its important to recognize that well its a story of individual women, its a lens to help us understand what it means to be an american. We are to frame it in a way that, we have this American History museum, that allows us to do important work that crosses throughout the smithsonian. It allowed us to build collections, what kind of staff do you need. So in a way, the americans women history, is regardless of what we can do in the, future to make sure that it is done in a way that is meaningful and familiar. The other thing coming from a royal state thats not too far away, the smithsonians reaches brought into all 50 states, and totally globally as well. Can you talk about what the efforts they are making to make sure you dont have to come to washington d. C. , although that would be great, to enjoy the gives that the smithsonian can give . I think you framed it in the exact right. Why the wonders of the smithsonian deserve to be something that touches every school and every american home. In order to do that, we have to build on the things you do traditionally, even better. How do you update the smithsonian so that people are not, in a way to understand science, but also broader issues like identity, and globalization and technology. What im trying to do is really look at how we can create that smithsonian that is virtual. How can we bring in partners from around the country so that we can have the reach, because i think it is important that the millions of people globally want to come to the smithsonian should have that access. The other side is that, to do even a better job with our affiliates program, do a better job with our traveling exhibition service, to make sure that we reach out. We had the librarian of congress here last week, and a lot of the direction that theyre moving is digitalization of their collection. Youre talking about a virtual museum. Are you working with the library of congress, because it has to be a lot of intersection there of all kinds of history, but documentations another. Things weve started to work more of actively with the library of congress. I partner with them when i was the director of the museum. We are sitting down to begin to look at the things we can do in common. The National Archives does have an exhibit on ratification of the 19th amendment that is very good. I know they put a lot of resources into that. Im not going to ask you a resource question, because thats the big question. You can do anything if you have enough time and resources. I appreciate what you are doing with the resources that you half, and thank you so much for being here. Senator udall . Thank you for the recognition and welcome again. Im going to focus and follow up on the question on the latino museum. Letting us have played an Important Role in the history of our nation for over 500 years. In my home state of new mexico it is celebrated, to recognize the important contributions of latinos and latinos in our country. Self identified hispanics and latinos make up one fifth of our population and represent the Largest Ethnic Group in the United States. That is why i have cosponsored senators when the nets this bill to establish the smithsonian american latino museum. I also supported another bill that would provide an additional 1. 5 million for these center. If the final bill includes that increase, what do you plan to do with the additional funding, and more broadly, what steps are you taking to ensure that the smithsonian is including the latino experience in all of its museums . One of the things that i am proud of stuff it has been the fact that during my entire career, weve created the Latino Center. The real power and the smithsonian is people who do the research, bring in the collections. What the Latino Center has allowed us to do is bad curators who have that expertise in american museums, or the art museums. We want to build on that, and my sense is that any support that we get will allow us to continue to hire people that will help the center do its, work but also, as you know, one of the things that is important for us is that the Latino Center is following the pattern we did at the american museum, to create a gallery that would allow you to do exhibitions, allow you to hire staff, allow you to build collections. Any of the resources that we have will also go into that, because its very important for us to demonstrate in very concrete ways, here is the space where that important story is told. Thank you. I hope that the work that the Latino Center is doing will allow the groundwork for the passage of the legislation to create a new latino museum. I think its critical that Congress Take action, not just to support your existing facilities and needs, but also to build this new museum. We talked about you, and Friends Group in support of the museum creation and others. Have you had the opportunity to meet with these people, and what are you hearing from them . Ive been able to talk to individuals, not collective groups. Im meeting with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus very soon what i am hearing is, one, a commitment for people to realize that the smithsonian cares about the subject and wants to do even more, and there is a great deal of interest in having me build the African American museum, what are the steps, what are the challenges. So what im hearing is great excitement. I think that what i want to do is, as we share that excitement, we also make sure that we do very concrete things that people can see today, that lay a foundation for the future. The bill funds the American History museum. What is the smithsonian doing to celebrate and deepening the families the contribution of the american woman. How would it be used to expand that and prepare for a Permanent Museum . Again, monthly like the Latino Center, being able to explore this history of american women really allows us to build collections that are key to build a new museum. It also allows us to exhibitions that cross boundaries. We are about to do an exhibition on girlhood, which will really allow people to understand the lens through adolescence and women. Its really important for us to say that i want to be sure that curators have the guidance and the resources to make sure that issues of gender are explored in all the museums. Thank you. I think there have been 12 bills filed in this congress for looking at the potential for different museums, or emphasis in museums today. You mentioned Asian Americans, Asian Pacific americans, latinos, Latino Americans, and a Womens Museum all part of this discussion. Assuming those would happen, unreasonable to think that all of what happened would be in place within a decade. Maybe we learned enough from the 11 year effort. That two months to tell those stories as effectively as you can, are you giving consideration to more prominent of those stories, and the existing facilities, which would mean telling lots of other stories . What would our plan be on all of those areas for the coming decade, no matter what we described to do in terms of those important components of what we are . My career has been about, not to just explore the particular community but who we are as americans. Im bringing that commitment to the rest of the smithsonian. I hope that we will bring this. As we create the virtuousness on, it and think about these issues at the heart, so people will be able to tap that virtual present and understand latino issues, African American issues, Asian American issues, issues of gender. We are not waiting on any museum to be built. We are committed to the smithsonian representing america and giving all of the visitors a better understanding of what we are, looking at us through different lenses. , we are getting close to the third century of the smithsonian. , and it became a huge local and individual donor effort, involving naming rights that had not been part of the park service in the past, but it really produce results that we not have been able to produce otherwise. Are you thinking about that, potential and i know there are parts of the smithsonian already that have had a sponsor. Is there any capacity for some fundraising that would allow maintenance in return for recognition and parts of some of these facilities . Theres always a great opportunity to expand on the Public Private partnership. The truth of the matter is, its very difficult for us to find philanthropic support for some of the behind the scenes. But i think that weve been able to find new partners that have brought resources to tell the difference stories and more important stories. So my goal is to build that private partner fundraising, but where there are opportunities. For example, we are looking at what can be the philanthropic support for fixing the castle and arts and industries. Maybe there is more philanthropic, you can find funds wherever you can. I was a University President for four years, and nobody wants to give money for the electrical system. On the other hand, if you get money for the electrical system, part of the understanding is that we are going to require the theater, which is currently without a patron. I think that is something we need to think about, and if you do think about that, the Public Private partnership, you have a new source of revenue, but there needs to be some collaborative discussion about what you hope to have that happen. Just something to think about, and i am confident based on your past experience, you are giving that some thought. I think you would find support for that, and encouragement of that in the congress if you go in that direction. Senator capito . Im good. Senator udall . Thank you for the recognition. I strongly support the tribes inherent right to exercise self government, which includes their ability to protect and maintain tribal, cultural patrimony, such a ceremonial and event recordings. Many museums currently hold these recordings and their collections. Under current law, its possible that those culturally sensitive subjects will be released to the public domain. I brought this up with the librarian of congress, and was told that the library is working with the smithsonian on tribal engagement. Can i get your commitment to working with the library of congress and to engaging with thrives on this issue . Weve done a lot of work on this area. One of the things that weve done is created what we called a shared stewardship policy, which allows us to look at the native holdings that we have, to make sure that native communities shape our collections policies, shape our, to make sure that we are not letting sacred music or issues that should not be in the public domain, so we are trying to maintain the heritage of our native communities. This is one of the most important things we are doing because we will now take that shared notion and i will ask that. Thank you. He covered my other question there with that answer. So i would just say, in summary that im really a stand then for the ranking member, senator klobuchar, and she is very proud of this collection in the idea that the prince qatar and item from minnesota are displayed here today. I know that the chairman is also very proud of whats happening with missouri, so i thank you for bringing those today, i really appreciate it. I had my michael as we were talking about the original bunt pan. I said i think i have that same pan. I think we all did. We decided everyone has the bond pan, weather used or not. I have a couple of questions. The Senate Appropriations bill included a provision that would prevent you to move forward with your proposal to purchase a building, that language do what you need to do to get that done . And weve talked about that, and theres a foundation involvement as well, which might circle back to the Public Partnership effort. Do you feel that this language, as you see it is adequate for you to do what you like to do their . I will ask my staff to make sure if theres anything that i dont know about. Its important to think in an innovative way, and by consolidating these leases we have, by using the federal rent support to basically help us pay down that tenth, it will allow us to save a lot of money for the federal government as we move forward. We are very excited to do that, and i really appreciate the language that you are put into helpless do that. Okay. The last thing i will ask will be in terms of the plan that secretary worked, on and you are a contributor to that, do you feel that the plan is headed in the right direction . Are there any modifications now that you had time to look at it, do you think you may want to make any modifications . What i think is so powerful is the notion of reach, relevance, and impact. Im taking those words and really making sure that they are at the heart of what i want to do. By focusing on the educational piece, by looking at the virtual smithsonian, but also realizing that we cant be hesitation for the 24 century we want if we dont fix some of the problems that we have with our processes, hr, and contrasting in the like. For me, the framework of ttc plan is something that i will build, on and i am just tweaking it to focus on education, and the virtual smithsonian. Any other comments . Thank you for joining us this hour, i look forward to your leadership at the smithsonian. You come with a unique background, and unique gifts, and i hope that we can be in communication with that. The record will be open for one week from today, the committee is adjourned. President of turkey. [inaudible conversations]