After Decades of Lobbying, Congress Has Approved the Creation of New Smithsonian Museums for American Latinos and Women’s History
Legislation for the new Smithsonian museums was included in the 5,500-page omnibus spending bill passed last night.
December 22, 2020
Representative Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) appears on SiriusXM Presents: Women In Congress. Photo by Larry French/Getty Images for SiriusXM.
After decades of stops and starts, Congress has finally approved the creation of two new Smithsonian museums, one dedicated to American Latinos and the other to women’s history.
Legislation calling for the building of the National Museum of the American Latino and an American Women’s History Museum on or near the National Mall in Washington, DC, was included in the 5,500-page year-end omnibus spending bill passed last night by both the House of Representatives and the Senate.
Congress backs Sen. Collins’ measure for women’s history museum
Two new Smithsonian museums for the nation s capital included in year-end funding bill, including one Collins has sought since 2003.
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A new Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum on the National Mall that U.S. Sen. Susan Collins has supported for years was part of a year-end omnibus funding bill that sailed through Congress.
“Telling the history of American women matters, it inspires girls to know that there are no boundaries to their potential,” Collins told a Senate panel last month. “A museum recognizing the achievements and experiences of American women is long overdue.”
The Smithsonian Institution can start the process of building two new museums in Washington honoring the history of women and American Latinos after Congress cleared a massive year-end omnibus bill.
Separate bills authorizing both museums passed the House this year as stand-alone measures but were unable to get through the Senate, so they were added to the omnibus to provide for easier passage.
The omnibus measure, passed by Congress on Monday, is a 5,593-page collection of bills, including fiscal 2021 appropriations, coronavirus relief and extraneous measures. The latter included the two bills authorizing the Smithsonian to build a Women’s History Museum and a National Museum of the American Latino.
Congress backs Sen. Collins’ measure for women’s history museum
Two new Smithsonian museums for the nation s capital included in year-end funding bill, including one Collins has sought since 2003.
Share
A new Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum on the National Mall that U.S. Sen. Susan Collins has supported for years was part of a year-end omnibus funding bill that sailed through Congress.
“Telling the history of American women matters, it inspires girls to know that there are no boundaries to their potential,” Collins told a Senate panel last month. “A museum recognizing the achievements and experiences of American women is long overdue.”