We appreciate your staff bringing you in. Before i make my opening statement, we all have had an opportunity to look at some of the coolest things here. It is a bit unusual for a Committee Hearing to have a smithsonian artifact here. Everybody will have a chance to take a look at the mall. They are really unbelievable. You have some meteorites here. Sort of makes you think dress part. Think of jurassic park. We have the first artificial heart. A picture of harriet tubman. Somebody took a lot of pride in keeping that picture. Everyone will have a chance to take a look at these artifact. We thought it would be a way to set the stage for what goes on. When i leave here im going to try to get a job at the smithsonian, it is difficult to you today we are holding this hearing to discuss the current priorities of the Smithsonian Institution, as well as challenges and opportunities on the horizon. Congress established the Smithsonian Institution in 18 46 to carry out the will of anger scientis
Hard hit during the painful economic transition, our kids could hardly get on a bus to take a field trip anywhere. One of the things we tried to do during that time, many of us, in these areas, was to make sure here is this fantastic wealth of knowledge and all of these things happening, whether library of congress, smithsonian, et cetera, how we can have resources for the teachers to make that part of the curriculum. Kids are so used now to accessing everything electronically. As you mentioned about 3d printers, they really are amazing what they are doing in the schools. Could you talk a little about, that is part of your revitalizing education portion of your Strategic Plan and how you can help with education throughout the entire country here really making sure that kids have access to all of these fantastic avenues of knowledge. Certainly. The smithsonian at its core is an educational institution. We have these wonderful objects. We do tremendous research. But one of our main objec
Hard hit during the painful economic transition, our kids could hardly get on a bus to take a field trip anywhere. One of the things we tried to do during that time, many of us, in these areas, was to make sure here is this fantastic wealth of knowledge and all of these things happening, whether library of congress, smithsonian, et cetera, how we can have resources for the teachers to make that part of the curriculum. Kids are so used now to accessing everything electronically. As you mentioned about 3d printers, they really are amazing what they are doing in the schools. Could you talk a little about, that is part of your revitalizing education portion of your Strategic Plan and how you can help with education throughout the entire country here really making sure that kids have access to all of these fantastic avenues of knowledge. Certainly. The smithsonian at its core is an educational institution. We have these wonderful objects. We do tremendous research. But one of our main objec
Hard hit during the painful economic transition, our kids could hardly get on a bus to take a field trip anywhere. One of the things we tried to do during that time, many of us, in these areas, was to make sure here is this fantastic wealth of knowledge and all of these things happening, whether library of congress, smithsonian, et cetera, how we can have resources for the teachers to make that part of the curriculum. Kids are so used now to accessing everything electronically. As you mentioned about 3d printers, they really are amazing what they are doing in the schools. Could you talk a little about, that is part of your revitalizing education portion of your Strategic Plan and how you can help with education throughout the entire country here really making sure that kids have access to all of these fantastic avenues of knowledge. Certainly. The smithsonian at its core is an educational institution. We have these wonderful objects. We do tremendous research. But one of our main objec
Hard hit during the painful economic transition, our kids could hardly get on a bus to take a field trip anywhere. One of the things we tried to do during that time, many of us, in these areas, was to make sure here is this fantastic wealth of knowledge and all of these things happening, whether library of congress, smithsonian, et cetera, how we can have resources for the teachers to make that part of the curriculum. Kids are so used now to accessing everything electronically. As you mentioned about 3d printers, they really are amazing what they are doing in the schools. Could you talk a little about, that is part of your revitalizing education portion of your Strategic Plan and how you can help with education throughout the entire country here really making sure that kids have access to all of these fantastic avenues of knowledge. Certainly. The smithsonian at its core is an educational institution. We have these wonderful objects. We do tremendous research. But one of our main objec