U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE

35–990 WASHINGTON : 2019

S. HRG. 116–20 

ANNUAL OVERSIGHT OF THE 

SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 

HEARING 

BEFORE THE

COMMITTEE ON RULES AND 

ADMINISTRATION 

UNITED STATES SENATE 

ONE HUNDRED SIXTEENTH CONGRESS 

FIRST SESSION 

MARCH 27, 2019 

Printed for the use of the Committee on Rules and Administration 

( 

Available on http://www.govinfo.gov 


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COMMITTEE ON RULES AND ADMINISTRATION 

FIRST SESSION 

ROY BLUNT, Missouri, Chairman 

MITCH MCCONNELL, Kentucky 

LAMAR ALEXANDER, Tennessee 

PAT ROBERTS, Kansas 

RICHARD SHELBY, Alabama 

TED CRUZ, Texas 

SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO, West Virginia 

ROGER WICKER, Mississippi 

DEB FISCHER, Nebraska 

CINDY HYDE-SMITH, Mississippi 

AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota 

DIANNE FEINSTEIN, California 

CHARLES E. SCHUMER, New York 

RICHARD J. DURBIN, Illinois 

TOM UDALL, New Mexico 

MARK R. WARNER, Virginia 

PATRICK J. LEAHY, Vermont 

ANGUS S. KING, JR., Maine 

CATHERINE CORTEZ MASTO, Nevada 

FITZHUGH ELDER IV, Staff Director 

ELIZABETH PELUSO, Democratic Staff Director 


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C O N T E N T S 

Pages 

OPENING STATEMENT OF: 

Hon. Roy Blunt, Chairman, a U.S. Senator from the State of Missouri ............. 1 

Dr. David J. Skorton, Secretary, The Smithsonian Institution, Washington 

DC .......................................................................................................................... 2 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF: 

Hon. Amy Klobuchar, a U.S. Senator from the State of Minnesota .................... 19 

Dr. David J. Skorton, Secretary, The Smithsonian Institution, Washington 

DC .......................................................................................................................... 21

QUESTIONS SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD: 

Hon. Roy Blunt, Chairman, a U.S. Senator from the State of Missouri to 

Dr. David J. Skorton, Secretary, The Smithsonian Institution, Washington 

DC .......................................................................................................................... 27

Hon. Amy Klobuchar, a U.S. Senator from the State of Minnesota to Dr. 

David J. Skorton, Secretary, The Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC . 43 


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ANNUAL OVERSIGHT OF THE 

SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27, 2019 

UNITED STATES SENATE, 

COMMITTEE ON RULES AND ADMINISTRATION, 

Washington, DC. 

The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:30 a.m., in Room 

SR–301, Russell Senate Office Building, Hon. Roy Blunt, Chairman 

of the committee, presiding. 

Present: Senators Blunt, Fischer, and Cortez Masto. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF HONORABLE ROY BLUNT, 

CHAIRMAN, A U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF MISSOURI 

Chairman BLUNT. The Committee on Rules and Administration 

will come to order. I want to thank my colleagues who will be joining us shortly and particularly thank Senator Cortez Masto who 

does a great job attending these oversight hearings, and others, 

Senator Klobuchar and others, will be here very soon. 

I want to welcome our witness today, Dr. David Skorton, the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. Thank you Dr. Skorton for 

joining us. The Congress established the Smithsonian in 1846. It 

was a bequest by British scientist James Smithson, who generally 

left his estate to a country he had never visited, the United States. 

The purpose was to found an establishment for the increase and 

diffusion of knowledge. 

So here we are almost 175 years later, the Smithsonian is now 

the world’s largest complex of 19 museums, numerous global research and educational facilities, a zoological park, and a growing 

collection of 155 million objects and specimens. Dr. Skorton, the 

13th Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution has guided the 

Smithsonian through several important milestones, including the 

2016 opening of the National Museum of African American History 

and Culture. A successful fundraising campaign that raised nearly 

$2 billion. He has also started implementation of the strategic 

plans for the institution, and of course that is one of the things we 

want to discuss this morning. 

Regretfully, after 4 years of service, Dr. Skorton will be leaving 

this post in mid-June to lead another organization, but Dr. 

Skorton, on behalf of the committee I want to thank you for your 

service. In order for the Smithsonian to carry out its charge as an 

establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge, there 

are challenges that have to be addressed, including the aging facilities and a $737 million deferred maintenance backlog that you will 


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probably want to talk about some today. Additionally, the lack of 

storage space for its continually growing collections. 

Finally, the Smithsonian like many other Federal agencies also 

needs to strengthen and secure its information technology infrastructure. I certainly look forward to discussing your accomplishments, but also the challenges that you see, and we see ahead for 

the Smithsonian. Dr. Skorton, if you want to go ahead and make 

your opening comments, this would be the time to do. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF DR. DAVID J. SKORTON, 

SECRETARY, SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, WASHINGTON, DC 

Dr. SKORTON. Thank you, Chairman Blunt, and Senator Cortez 

Masto, and Senator Fischer. It is a great honor to be here to discuss the state of the Smithsonian today and how I believe it can 

be an even more valued and effective resource for all Americans 

and the world in the years and decades to come. 

As the chairman mentioned, my time at the Smithsonian is coming to an end in June. For the past nearly 4 years I have been fortunate to head this uniquely American institution, and as the 

chairman said, the world’s largest museum, education, and research complex. I know that the Smithsonian will have many more 

opportunities to serve the American public and to capitalize on the 

strengths of the museum’s research centers, libraries, and education centers, if we avoid potential pitfalls ahead. The extent of 

the Smithsonian’s endeavor is really breathtaking. Our artistic, 

historical, cultural, scientific, and educational expertise, and programs, and collections are unparalleled. 

Throughout the world there is really nothing like the Smithsonian. It all starts of course with our people, the researchers, collections management, exhibition staff, curators, facilities’ administrative staff, and of course, our visitors. Today I would like to focus 

on our facilities. Many of these facilities are National historic landmarks that in and of themselves are actually part of our collections, and these buildings are imbued with historic and architectural value. Just as importantly, our facilities are critical to the experience of our 30 million visits. Our buildings need to provide 

safety and shelter for tourists, researchers, and employees alike. 

They need to function in order to enable our programs, exhibitions, 

research, and scholarship, and they must protect and preserve our 

collections held within. These collections in the aggregate are the 

Nation’s collective memory and the Nation’s collective identity. 

At the Smithsonian, our buildings host millions of visitors each 

year, and each of these visitors, researchers, and staff relies on the 

facilities being operational and dependable. Thanks to you and 

your colleagues, and Congress’s generosity, we have been able to 

begin, for example, a much needed revitalization of the National 

Air and Space Museum, the most visited museum in the United 

States. 

There is still however much to do beyond the Air and Space Museum given the backlog that the chairman mentioned, and our 13.9 

million square feet of leased and owned space, prioritizing the longterm care of these facilities is a sound and critical investment. Pennies spent on maintenance now can save dollars in the future. In 

their wisdom, Congress and the Administration have recognized 


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the need for that investment and have supported steady increases 

to our maintenance throughout my time as Secretary. In fiscal 

2020, the President’s budget includes $84.5 million for our facilities’ maintenance, which should be an increase of 6 percent above 

the enacted fiscal 19 level of roughly $80 million. We are committed to continuing on this path toward a more sustainable level 

of care to our physical facilities, and thankful, very thankful, that 

you all and your colleagues have stood by us in this effort. In a 

short time, as was mentioned, our leadership will change, but our 

challenges will remain. 

In the coming years it will be important not only to build on the 

progress we have made with your help, but to accelerate it. Our facilities are essential to the foundation on which our reputation was 

built and upon which our future success relies. Our growing maintenance backlog impedes that future in a number of ways. It requires us to react to maintenance problems instead of proactively 

maintaining assets. It forestalls our ability to take on ambitious 

projects proposed to Congress like new museums. It hinders our 

ability to preserve our ever-expanding collections, the source of 

wonder and inspiration for our visitors that underpins much of the 

critical research that we do. 

Finally, it limits our ability to attract and retain our most underappreciated resource which is our intellectual capital. As my time 

comes to a close, I will be passing on to my successor the humbling 

responsibilities that come with leading this incredible organization. 

I will take many Smithsonian memories with me for the rest of my 

life but perhaps the most enduring, as the chairman mentioned, 

will be the opening of the National Museum of African American 

History and Culture. It embodies so much of what is special about 

our great American institution. It is a public square for Americans 

to have needed discussions about racial divisions and social inequities rooted in our shared values and experiences. The building 

itself, rising proudly on the National Mall in the heart of our Nation, symbolizes the strength that comes from diversity. 

I thank you for your continued support. The Congress enables 

the Smithsonian to remain a dynamic institution that can and will 

adapt to the ever-changing needs of the American people. It has 

been my great honor to serve as Secretary. 

Thank you. 

[The prepared Statement of Dr. Skorton was submitted for the 

record.] 

Chairman BLUNT. Thank you, Secretary Skorton. I am glad— 

again, we are glad you are here. I am sure there will be a time for 

multiple rounds of questions and there are lots of things that you 

brought up already and that we want to talk about that would be 

included in that. What would you think, as we approach this transition, you know, obviously transition planning, leave-taking is 

probably the hardest thing to do in leadership and I know you have 

given some thought to that. 

But what would you see is the three biggest challenges for the 

next Secretary of the Smithsonian, assuming that they will serve 

in some portion of a decade or so, how would that—how would you 

see those challenges laying out for the person that I know the 

Search committee hopes to have in place before you leave but anVerDate Mar 15 2010 13:36 May 31, 2019 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 C:\USERS\EHRULES\DOCUMENTS\35990.TXT 35990

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ticipates that there will be some time without that top job being 

filled. What should that person be thinking about? 

Dr. SKORTON. Thank you, Chairman. The first thing I want to 

say before I do answer a very important question that you asked 

is that the good news is that it is the people of the Smithsonian, 

the curators, the scientist, the researchers, the senior staff, some 

of whom you see sitting behind me, and the Board of Regents that 

are the glue that keeps the Smithsonian going. I have every confidence that those folks are going to make sure that any little ripples that might occur during the transition are smoothed out, and 

I have every confidence in the people who I just mentioned. 

I do want to emphasize the Board of Regents is, to my knowledge, a unique governance system comprising nine private citizen, 

six Members of the Congress, three from the House, three from the 

Senate, the Vice President of the United States, and our Chancellor 

is the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. They have a long view 

of the Smithsonian, and they will assure that we do not miss a 

beat going forward. But having said that, three things I will mention in no particular order. 

One, because of the emphasis of my testimony, I am very concerned about the maintenance of the physical facilities. And of 

course every Federal agency has maintenance backlogs, and every 

place that I have worked in my career has had a maintenance 

backlog. I would never claim that we are unique, but I will say that 

the large press of American and international humanity that walks 

over our thresholds makes me concerned about their safety in the 

buildings. The animals at the National Zoo makes me concerned 

about their safety, and of course our staff and volunteers. We have 

that press of humanity that makes me very eager to follow the 

course that you all have set with us and that the President has recommended to continue to ratchet up the maintenance spending. So 

that is one. 

Every time a suggestion is made for a new facility, and all these 

suggestions have tremendous merit, we are faced with the idea, if 

we are already behind on maintenance, ‘how can we take on something that will eventually make us more behind?’ So, I think it is 

a very important thing for the American people that working together we can find a way to close that gap as much as humanly 

possible. That is one. The second one is the issue of diversity, and 

diversity is a great strength of the United States as I mentioned. 

There is abundant academic research that shows that organizations and teams that are diverse make better decisions, do a better 

job, than teams that are not diverse. The cultural institution, industry if you will, and museums, and yes, even the Smithsonian, 

we have a long way to go to increase diversity. 

We are making some progress. I am proud to tell you that in my 

time as Secretary, a fully 68 percent of our hires at the director 

level or above have been women or people of color, but we have a 

long way to go, and I think emphasizing diversity and diverse coverage in our public programs and exhibitions is enormously important. As our country becomes more and more and more diverse, our 

programs need to become more and more and more diverse. So that 

is the second one that I would mention. Then the third one, which 

I think is very, very important as well, has to do with the mix of 


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disciplines that we represent and operate at, if you will bear with 

me for a moment. 

I am a physician and a biomedical scientist, and I have spent my 

career in the STEM disciplines, science, technology, engineering, 

and math, but as the chairman knows, I am very, very devoted to 

the idea that the Arts and Humanities and Social Sciences are critical to our country solving our thorniest problems. Interacting with 

people understanding the sociology of our great country is a way 

of solving problems that is necessary beyond the strict benefits of 

science. One of the enormous attributes of the Smithsonian is that 

we do everything from Astrophysics to Art History. We run the 

largest astrophysics group in the country in Cambridge Massachusetts with Harvard University. Then we have an enormous pool of 

art historians and others in the Arts and Humanities. 

Focusing on the breath as well as the depth in any one area is 

a challenge. It is a challenge at the Smithsonian. My predecessors 

have shown me the way to do that, and if I have accomplished anything at all in that regard, please take this as sincere, I have done 

it by following what Dillon Ripley did, what Wayne Clough did, 

what people who came before me did. I hope that the next leadership will see that as one of the great strengths, the combination of 

diversity, intellectual diversity, ethnic diversity on the one hand, 

and diversity of what we study and show the American public on 

the other hand. 

Chairman BLUNT. Thank you. Senator Cortez Masto. 

Senator CORTEZ MASTO. Thank you, Chairman Blunt. Doctor, 

thank you. Thank you for not only your service, I want to thank 

the staff. Incredible people that work at the Smithsonian along 

with the Board. You know, I am from Nevada, a Western State. It 

is always a treat and a unique opportunity when we get to travel 

to Washington and walk into the Smithsonian, any one of the 

buildings, for free and see the incredible history. It is very exciting 

for us, so thank you for all of the good work. 

Doctor, you touched on really three issues and areas that I wanted to followup with you on, the first being the diversity. I so appreciate your comments there. I know, and I know you are familiar 

with this, I think it was in September 2018, UCLA published a report evaluating the Latino representation within the Smithsonian. 

I think right now there is what, a 5 percent of the employees are 

represented as Latinos and 6 percent Asian Americans. Have you 

put anything in place or any policies or protocols to increase that 

diversity when it comes to staffing, and particularly staffing in 

leadership positions in the Smithsonian? If you would talk a little 

bit about that, that would be great. 

Dr. SKORTON. Thank you, Senator Cortez Masto. We have a long 

way to go with the Smithsonian regarding every ethnic group, and 

beyond the ethnic groups in terms of gender diversity and every 

other way. As I mentioned, and I do not want to repeat this too 

much, we have made some progress at the director level and above. 

As I mentioned, two-thirds of our hires have been women or people of color, but that does not hide the fact that we have a long 

way to go. The UCLA report, like the report that we commissioned, 

20 years ago of this, the report that ended up having a title of willful neglect, showed us a big problem that has not been entirely 


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solved. With all respect to my colleagues at UCLA, and I am UCLA 

person, there were some very helpful things in that report and unfortunately there were some things that were inaccurate. 

For example, the amount of funds that they say we are spending, 

they say it is still $1 million. It is actually $2.5 million. In the new 

year, we hope it will be $2.7 million and a bit more, but I do not 

want to argue about the fact that we need to do better. In terms— 

so that is in terms of the people aspect. In terms of trying to diversify an organization, a non-profit that is decentralized like the 

Smithsonian, in my earlier career I have tried many different expedience to do that. Many of them failed, and we are trying something new at the Smithsonian and it is too new to tell you whether 

it will rise or fall, but what I am doing is making the leadership 

accountable for two aspects of diversity. 

First, I have asked the Board of Regents to judge me every year 

in part based on two aspects of diversity, the composition of the institution, and the climate of the institution. As you all know, and 

I feel foolish saying this to you because you are so aware of it but 

I will say it, that you can recruit all you want but if the climate 

of the institution is not one that allows someone from a group not 

well represented to feel safe and to feel the likelihood of success, 

then they will not stay and retention rates will fall and fall and 

fall. So, I have that as part of my job evaluation. The people, the 

nine people, who report to me at the top of the institution, so to 

speak, have that in their evaluations, and the provost, the Chief 

sort of Content Officer, or the person to whom the museum Directors report and the Research Center Directors report, he has 

charged each of them in their evaluations for being accountable for 

these two aspects of diversity. I do believe over the years that that 

direct accountability will yield benefits, but honestly it is too soon 

to say whether that is actually going to work. 

The last aspect I want to make a very important comment on, 

specifically about the Hispanic and Latino programming, is separate from the leadership and separate from the rank-and-file staff 

and researchers and curators, the programs themselves have to reflect the growing diversity of America. I want to, I take no credit 

for what I am about to say now whatsoever, but since 1997 when 

the Smithsonian Latino Center was established, they have done an 

enormously, enormously effective job of increasing the coverage of 

culture, and science, and history, and other aspects related to the 

Latino and Latina experience. You may know the happy news that 

we have been able to establish a Latino Gallery, and a thanks to 

the family of the late C. David Molina, a physician in California, 

who developed a very prominent health care enterprise. The family 

has given us a wonderful $10 million leadership gift. 

So, we will have in the National Museum of American History 

the first physical space to cover Latino issues ever on the National 

Mall of the United States. I am thrilled and grateful to the Molina 

family because they allowed us to put wind in our sails to go forward, and I am especially thrilled that it will be in American history for two reasons Senator. One is that the fabulous foot traffic, 

if you will, over 4 million visitors a year, is an amazing chance for 

us to have people as they walk by see the Latino Gallery and walk 

in there. Then the other end of it is that I believe having the 


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Latino Gallery there will draw a lot of people who want to come 

and see that, and then will be able to enjoy many of the other wonders of the National Museum of American History. It is a job not 

finished yet. It is a job with a lot more to do, but I am very proud 

of my colleagues. I think we are making progress. 

Now there has been for several Congresses, the introduction of 

a bill to establish a National Museum of the American Latino and 

of course, if Congress in its wisdom decides to do that, we will work 

with Congress and make sure that this is a museum an American 

can be proud of. My orientation right now is that we need to find 

some equilibrium about our maintenance issues, and while we are 

figuring that out, we need to push ahead vigorously with the diversity increase that we have mentioned, with the Latino Gallery, but 

also with all the other programs at the Smithsonian Latino Center. 

I want to mention one other thing that is a National thing that 

that Center does. In addition to welcoming people to public programs and so on, the Latino Center for years and years has done 

its bit to train tomorrow’s Latino leaders at various levels of their 

formal education. We have a very active group of alumni, if you 

will, who have been through some of the programs through the 

Smithsonian Latino Center, who are now beginning to populate the 

museum industry around the United States and begin to scratch 

the surface and make a difference throughout the country in covering these important areas. 

So, thank you for a very important question. 

Senator CORTEZ MASTO. Thank you. 

Chairman BLUNT. Senator let us just go back and forth for a little bit. I will take a few minutes then you can have a few more 

minutes. Dr. Skorton, as you mentioned, the organization is 

unique, the structure is unique, the reporting to Congress is 

unique, the way you get funding and some of your restrictions even 

on how you can get private funding. You came to this job with an 

incredible background of leadership but again, the job is unique. 

What are a couple of things you know now that you wish you had 

known then? 

Dr. SKORTON. Okay. Thank you, chairman. Thank you for asking 

me a tough question. I appreciate it. The first thing is that—so I 

am just rounding third base on my fourth year, and I have to admit 

to you that it is a rare week that goes by that I do not learn something that I did not know about the Smithsonian. This year of calendar 2019 is the year of music, and you probably are both aware 

of this, but many people are not aware that we have a record label, 

a nonprofit record label in its 71st year. It is fabulous. We have 

won seven Grammy Awards. 

One thing that is a challenge is how various and variegated is 

the Smithsonian institution. Because of that variation, everything 

as I said from Astrophysics to Art History—you cannot run the 

Smithsonian as if it is a narrower kind of organization. Being College President, as you well know from your own experience as University President, has its own challenges but there is a common 

core of education that is the heart and soul of a college or university even though there is research, and athletics, and many other 

things. 


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The Smithsonian is so various, it almost defies comparison with 

anything else. One thing that I wish I knew when I came was to 

have many more healthy helpings of humility about how little I 

would know about the organization, and with respect to whoever 

follows me in this fabulous job, whatever she or he has as a background, they will also know sort of this much about the Smithsonian where there is this much to learn. That is one thing that I 

wish I would have known. 

A second thing is that I have a long history of working on issues 

with which I have had the honor of interacting with the U.S. Congress and the executive branch, and even legislative branch, in the 

higher education sphere and in the research sphere. I was not 

aware of the extent to which I would have to understand the complexities of running an organization that is at one time a quasiFederal organization and at the same time, if you will, sort of a 

non-profit, a private nonprofit. We are a trusted instrumentality as 

you well know it. It is sort of an unusual organizational setup, and 

I think had I been aware of the complexities of that, I would have 

availed myself of even more tutoring, if I can use that term, and 

I have had enormous tutoring, again, from these folks over my 

right shoulder. To this day they are trying to bring me up to speed, 

right up to about 5 minutes before the hearing started today. So 

that is a very important thing. 

Then the last thing I would say is the fact that we can open our 

doors and accept tens of millions of people crossing our threshold, 

as the Senator said, free which is so fabulous, gives us this enormous responsibility not only to take care of the facilities, but to recognize that that visitor experience is the currency by which you 

would judge how we are serving the American people. In serving 

the American people who cross those thresholds, we have to serve 

those who have trouble seeing the exhibits, who have trouble hearing audio, who have trouble getting up a couple of steps, something 

that I have learned about in a temporary way with this injury. 

Part of our diversity work is also working on accessibility issues related to the organization. I wish I would have known before I came 

how much of a challenge that would be because of the, I believe it 

is fair to say, unprecedented and unmatched amount of visitors 

that we accept in. 

Those are just some of the things, Senator, that I wish I would 

have known. Of course, I will be at the service of the Board of Regents and the new Secretary long after I am gone. I will just be 

across town and very willing to tell them all the things I wish I 

knew some 4 years ago. So, thanks for a great question. 

Chairman BLUNT. That was a great answer, and hopefully your 

successor will look at it and think about it, and benefit from having 

that look back at what you would have known. Senator. 

Senator CORTEZ MASTO. Thank you. So, Doctor, the maintenance 

backlog. Let us talk a little bit more about that. Did I hear you correctly, $84.5 million was requested to address the maintenance 

backlog which is a 6 percent increase from the previous budget. Is 

that correct? 

Dr. SKORTON. Yes. 

Senator CORTEZ MASTO. Is that in total what you need to address 

the backlog? 


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Dr. SKORTON. Well, Senator it is a complicated answer so please, 

if you would bear with me—— 

Senator CORTEZ MASTO. Yes. If you would—and breakdown for 

this because I know there is always an ongoing cost from maintenance. 

Dr. SKORTON. Right. 

Senator CORTEZ MASTO. That is different than what we need for 

the backlog. If you could break that down, that would be helpful. 

Dr. SKORTON. Sure. I would love to give you the context. Thank 

you so much for asking for that detail, Senator. So, our backlog, as 

the chairman mentioned, is hundreds of millions of dollars actually 

approaching $1 billion of backlog. Now, forgive me for talking about 

such a thing as industry standards, but industry standards is to 

try to get somewhere between 2 and 4 percent of the replacement 

cost of the buildings in annual maintenance expenditures. 

Now our replacement cost of our buildings is roughly $8 billion, 

and I want to hasten to emphasize a detail Senator, that that is 

not a sort of a blue book value, so to speak. It is what it would cost 

to actually replace those buildings, $8 billion. So, if you multiply 

that times 2 to 4 percent, you end up somewhere between, you 

know, $160 and $320 million. Now let’s be optimistic and say we 

do get the $84.5 million, that is going to be a little less than 1 percent or about 1 percent—call it 1 percent. So, it will be an increase 

and I would never be anything but enormously grateful for any increase that we would have. To stabilize the maintenance so that we 

do not continue to grow the backlog, will be somewhere between 2.3 

and 2.4 percent of that $8 billion. 

To begin to make progress on reducing the backlog, in other 

words not just stay in equilibrium and not grow the backlog, but 

to begin to reduce it, we have to go above that 2.3, 2.4 percent. We 

have estimated obviously, you know, somewhat as an estimate, 

that a 3 percent goal would be terrific. Now i’m naive about a lot 

of things. I am not naive about saying that to change our maintenance budget to $240 million a year which would be 3 percent of 

$8 billion is a heavy lift for a country where there are so many 

competing demands. 

That is why, as I mentioned in my testimony, oral statement, 

that I am so grateful that you all, during the time that I have been 

Secretary, have helped us to move slowly up that hill, but I do believe that eventually we are going to have to work with you all and 

your staff to begin to accelerate that rate of increase. 

Senator CORTEZ MASTO. Even at 3 percent, what is the timeframe to cover the backlog? I mean—— 

Dr. SKORTON. Well it is going to take me to take a while, and 

I want—I know I am being sort of long-winded. I am not trying to 

run the clock down. I just want to make sure I give you the context—— 

Senator CORTEZ MASTO. Listen, it is only the two of us. We have 

plenty of time. 

Dr. SKORTON. Well that is alright. That is alright. You know, it 

is March madness so wearing down the clock could be a cool thing 

anyway. But I do want to say that, again please forgive me for 

being redundant, I am endlessly grateful for the increase the President put in his budget and hopefully will realize this year, but one 


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of these days, for example, the castle, the oldest building, the 

iconic, if you will, Smithsonian building from which President Lincoln surveyed the Confederate troops from that tall tower. One of 

these days that building is going to fail catastrophically, and we 

will have problems. 

What we do, what our maintenance professionals do with deciding where to put those precious dollars, that $80 million hopefully 

plus dollars, is they break it into five different sort of segments of 

how urgent it is to do something. The most urgent segment being, 

if you do not do something there is an immediate risk of harm to 

people or to collections, and the fifth says you have, you know, 

maybe 7 to 10 years to do something. 

The longer we wait, Senator, the more buildings begin to move 

up toward that more urgent end. Should you have time afterwards, 

in addition to some of our treasures from the collection, we also 

have some other things that I might not call treasures, which are 

examples of some of our maintenance challenges. 

Senator CORTEZ MASTO. I know, I noticed. I am glad you mentioned that because I noticed you brought with you some artifacts 

and some art it looks like, predominantly from Missouri. Is there 

a connection here? 

[Laughter.] 

Dr. SKORTON. My Chief of Staff told me if such a question came 

up that I should talk about something else. 

[Laughter.] 

Chairman BLUNT. That is one of the great coincidences—— 

Senator CORTEZ MASTO. Oh, I see. 

Chairman BLUNT. What is the—this is not your appropriations 

hearing so I do not want to go into a lot of depth on that topic. But 

what is the revitalization amount that you asked for every year, 

which is I actually think that Congress has been pretty generous 

on that item, and what is that money for? 

Dr. SKORTON. It is fabulous. The National Air and Space Museum opened in 1976. Opened with the idea that we would in equilibrium have about 2.5 million visitors a year. The first year, we 

nearly doubled that and then we now have over 7 million visitors 

a year. So, the systems are worn out. Secondly, because of some 

construction ideas that did not turn out to be perfect, the cladding, 

the marble on the outside of the building is beginning to warp and 

needs to be replaced. 

So, between replacing the systems, which we have known for 

years we have to replace because of the dramatic, dramatic 

visitorship, and between the somewhat surprising problem with the 

cladding, with the marble, we actually have to give America basically a new National Air and Space Museum. 

Our estimates both our professionals and external consultations 

that we did at the time suggested that to do it right would be a 

$900 million project. That about $250 million of that would be 

money that we would raise philanthropically, Mr. Chairman, to 

redo all 23 galleries of the National Air and Space Museum, and 

$650 million we hoped would be the contribution, enormous contribution of the taxpayer. You all have been unbelievably generous, 

just as you mentioned. You have used just the right word chairman. We are right on track. The project is on track and on budget, 


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and you have been stalwart in that. Roughly $460 million has been 

committed to it by Congress to the current year that we are in 

right now, the enacted Fiscal Year 2019 budget, leaving us with 

$190 million that presumably a $100 in the next Fiscal Year and 

$90 in the last fiscal year. 

As you know by walking by the Air and Space or driving by it, 

we are at work right now. The museum will be open the whole 

time, but half of it will be closed for construction while the other 

half is being open and then vice versa. I want to thank you for 

something else that you have done for us. In order to deal with the 

precious artifacts that have to be put somewhere else during the 

revitalization and then long afterwards, you have given us funds 

to build a storage module out by Dulles. After the revitalization is 

over, that will still allow us enormous flexibility for continued collection storage. 

I do want to emphasize if I might, I know it is a bit of a digression so please forgive me. The collection storage is another maintenance issue that we have quite separate and above and beyond the 

maintenance of those parts of the buildings where the people work. 

The collections, as you mentioned, you got the number exactly 

right, 155 million objects and specimens, is the completely irreplaceable part of the Smithsonian. We need to make sure that we 

are holding those collections, this is the collections of the United 

States of America, in conditions in which we know they will be 

there for the next generation and the next generation and the next 

generation, and we have some real issues there. 

We have about 2.1 million square feet of collection storage all together, and we need to do something about roughly a million of 

those square feet, either replacement or, if you will to use your 

word, revitalization. I thank you on behalf of the Smithsonian for 

helping us begin to make a dent in what we have as a collection 

storage master plan. 

Chairman BLUNT. With all those numbers that we just went 

through that—your maintenance backlog number again for the 

record is what? 

Dr. SKORTON. Approaching $1 billion. 

Chairman BLUNT. Senator Cortez Masto. 

Senator CORTEZ MASTO. Let me change subjects a little bit. Doctor, the strategic plan that was launched in 2017 includes technology as one of the means to expand the reach of the Smithsonian. 

As part of that goal, there is the idea of creating a research and 

development and testing lab designed to create and evaluate new 

applications and other technologies that will enhance the visitors’ 

experience at the Smithsonian and museums all over the world. I 

just want to say I appreciate that the Smithsonian is establishing 

leadership in this area. In advancing museum related technology. 

Can you tell us a little bit more about that and how it is progressing? 

Dr. SKORTON. Yes. Thank you very much. It is very, very important that we serve everybody, not just the lucky few, so to speak, 

who can come across our threshold. I want to say in passing that 

we have 214 affiliate museums in 46 states, and Panama, and 

Puerto Rico. 


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Those are locally owned and operated museums and other facilities who bare our imprimatur and who work with us. They help us 

and we help them. We also have the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, and we have a subset of that service, Senator, called Museums on Main Street, MoMS. I love that acronym. 

We take things out to communities around the country with a median population of 8,000. The smallest community so far had a population of 845. I am a corny individual, but I love, almost brings 

tears to my eyes, to think that we are taking some from the Smithsonian to a community of 845 people and they get to enjoy some 

of this magic without having to get to Washington, which a lot of 

folks cannot afford to do. 

The other way of getting there is through technology. We have 

websites. We have a social media presence, and so on. Over my 

shoulder is Julissa Marenco, who is our Assistant Secretary for 

Communications and External Affairs. Julissa and many other 

leaders are bringing us quickly into the 21st century by utilizing 

technology better. One thing that we have discovered, this will 

come as a big shock, is that we do not know everything at the 

Smithsonian. Because we realize we do not know everything, we 

are also working with partners, industry partners, and recently we 

had the honor of kicking off a project with Google at the National 

Air and Space Museum through the Google Arts and Culture Initiative. 

We have found very gratifying interest in the tech industry of 

working with the Smithsonian. Why? Because the brand, if you 

will, of the Smithsonian is so stellar. People trust it. In an age 

where unfortunately Americans have lost certain trust in many 

kinds of institutions, museums and libraries and the Military tend 

to have high trust levels. We want to utilize that trust to work 

with industry, to learn from them, and to do things together. I 

want to give you a great example of that. 

This year is the 50th anniversary of the magnificent landing on 

the moon, and we have as part of the collection at the National Air 

and Space Museum, the command module that was, you know, up 

there while the astronauts went down and touched on the moon’s 

surface. You may or may not recall that the year after the actual 

moon landing, NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, took that capsule on a sort of a victory lap around America so everybody could have, you know, a chance to sort of be near 

that capsule. 

Senator CORTEZ MASTO. I think I was six. 

Dr. SKORTON. Sorry? 

Senator CORTEZ MASTO. I said I think I was six when that occurred. I do not really recall that. I do recall the landing though. 

Dr. SKORTON. Unfortunately, I was not six when it happened. 

[Laughter.] 

Dr. SKORTON. I was 20. I was 19 that year. By the way, when 

I was 19 I also thought I knew everything, but that lesson comes 

hard. But anyway, we are doing a mini, micro version of that, Senator, and we are sending it around to a few of our affiliates. 

One of the things that we realized is that we want America to 

be able to enjoy that capsule without having to get close to it. So, 

we work with a company called the Autodesk, a computer aided deVerDate Mar 15 2010 13:36 May 31, 2019 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00016 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 C:\USERS\EHRULES\DOCUMENTS\35990.TXT 35990

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sign company and did an inside the capsule and outside the capsule three-dimensional scan so that we could buildup what computer people call a three-dimensional data structure, which then 

can be turned into an image that can be sliced, and diced, and rotated in 3D. Believe it or not, those folks, those geniuses who did 

that, our geniuses and the geniuses at Autodesk, found something 

that history had forgotten, some scribbles on the inside of the capsule by the astronauts while they were up there. How exciting that 

anybody can get access to those imagery. That is another example, 

besides our inside talent, how we are working with partners to 

learn what we can from the tech industry as a way to spread the 

wealth more broadly. So, it is a very, very important effort and we 

have a long way to go but we are making some terrific progress. 

Senator CORTEZ MASTO. That is exciting. Thank you. Thank you 

again for all the good work that you have done. 

Dr. SKORTON. Thank you, Senator. 

Chairman BLUNT. So, Secretary—in an impressive way raised almost $2 billion from 500,000 donors. Will any of that money go toward deferred maintenance? 

Dr. SKORTON. First chairman let me say this as strongly as I possibly can, I take very little credit for that campaign. Wayne Clough, 

my predecessor, got that going. Had the courage to aim really high 

along with the people in our Office of Advancement and the Board 

of Regents. I sort of went from third base to home on that. So, I 

want to for the record say that this was—I just sort of did some 

of the cleanup at the end. But it was an amazing, amazing process. 

Almost $2 billion dollars. 

Most of that money, as any fundraising, as you all know very 

well, goes to a restricted purpose. So those funds went for things 

that are restricted. Some of them did go for facilities type things, 

but usually a person of whatever means will give something for a 

facility because of wanting to make some improvement in some 

area, like an exhibition, a gallery, something like that. In my experience, and I would never pretend that this is gospel, but in my experience it is relatively hard to get philanthropic support for real 

basic infrastructure. 

Not to be facetious but it is hard to get someone to help us replace an HVAC implement. Now that does not mean you should not 

try. That does not mean when someone gives us money to name a 

portion of a building that we should not try and ask her or him 

to help us with maintenance, but the big broad-shouldered maintenance that has to occur everyday, sometimes every hour, I think 

it is not reasonable to think we could get that from philanthropy. 

I also want to say that opening a magnificent museum requires not 

only the place, requires not only the people who are the geniuses 

who make it possible to show the public what we have, and teach, 

and inspire, it also requires excellent professional security staff. It 

also requires a lot of other kinds of worker, and those are all part 

of the infrastructure of a running a museum, and those are also 

very, very hard. Now those are not counted in the strict maintenance backlog that we are mentioning, but those are all a part of 

what needs to be done with, I believe with all respect, with Federal 

support. 


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So, I think that we continue to be grateful. We continue to show 

you value for the dollars that you are investing in us and show you 

that we are not wasting the dollars and we are not being silly 

about how we prioritize maintenance, but I hope as time goes on, 

and perhaps you consider infrastructure spending in a general 

sense, that you will think about this little corner of America as a 

place that could use a little more help. 

Chairman BLUNT. The parking facility at the zoo. I think we approved that on your recommendation and about a month later you 

decided not to do it. Now I am not in favor of doing things that 

you see flaws in that you did not see to start with, so I do not mean 

for this to be critical, but that was a fairly big decision on the part 

of you to ask for it in the Congress to do it. What was—is there 

a minute-and-a-half version of why that did not work out? 

Dr. SKORTON. Sure. Let me take the first 15 seconds of a minute 

and a half to say that I think a critical piece of leadership is to realize when you have to change course and not to, you know, stubbornly pursue something that just does not make sense. We had a 

turnover in leadership. We had a turnover in thinking about it and 

in reassessing the idea. 

Chairman BLUNT. You mean leadership at the at the zoo? 

Dr. SKORTON. At the zoo. 

Chairman BLUNT. Okay. 

Dr. SKORTON. Also, just sort of thinking about it at the top of the 

organization. Any change in leadership is a chance to look at something a fresh, and nothing wrong with the first idea but on balance, 

we decided, I decided after listening to the new leadership and sort 

of reassessing it, that maybe it was not the best use of funds right 

now. That is basically what happened. The original idea of needing 

more parking and wanting to free up space that is currently being 

used for surface parking was still a good idea, but prioritizing all 

the things we need to do, we just decided it wasn’t the highest priority. 

Chairman BLUNT. Well there is no reason to pursue a priority 

that you decide should not be the top priority. I do not disagree 

with that. Senator, I know you have to leave in a little bit. Do you 

have another question? 

Senator CORTEZ MASTO. One more. I know, Doctor, realizing the 

sensitivity of security initiatives, are you able to provide us with 

an update on the development of the strategic plan for security? I 

know there was a report on that previously. 

Dr. SKORTON. Thank you, Senator. Security is a massive moving 

target in the world right now. Security for the Smithsonian breaks 

into various different categories. I will make this as quick as I can 

because I do not want to waste your time, and you have a lot to 

do today. 

First of all, we have the physical security of the building. Unfortunately, we live in a time now where we have to take that more 

seriously, and we are asking for some help, additional help, in the 

2020 budget to increase security, some increases that we would 

have hoped to have gotten in days going by and some increases 

that are more new. 

I want to tell you that I am very, very grateful that you have 

been able to help us with security at the National Museum of AfriVerDate Mar 15 2010 13:36 May 31, 2019 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00018 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 C:\USERS\EHRULES\DOCUMENTS\35990.TXT 35990

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can American History and Culture. We do think we need more help 

than that. It also has to do with not just the quantity but the quality, and we are reassessing a lot of how we do the security, how 

the officers are trained, and so on, and that is all an ongoing effort. 

Then there is also of course cybersecurity which is massive. One of 

the things that I think is an important part of any organization is 

to audit how we are doing. We have the blessing of having an Inspector General. 

The Inspector General Office for the Smithsonian has helped us 

to keep our eye on the ball in terms of all those kind of security 

that I mentioned, physical security, training of people, and 

cybersecurity. Again, it is a moving target. We will never be done 

trying to fine tune that security, but we are well on our way. I 

want to say again, as we talked about perhaps 45 minutes ago, 

that the continuity that the Board of Regents supplies cannot be 

overemphasized in its importance. They are keeping my feet to the 

fire and will, I predict, keep my successor’s feet to the fire to keep 

thinking about all these security issues, the whole gamut, from 

physical security to cybersecurity. 

Nothing is ever perfect in that domain as unfortunately we have 

learned, but we are doing well. I am proud of what we are doing, 

and I am proud of the fact that we are not satisfied. 

Chairman BLUNT. Thank you, Senator, for your questions. I have 

about three more things to ask about, Secretary. One is on the information security front. I think one of the breaches was the information of who the donors were to the campaign. Am I right on 

that? 

Dr. SKORTON. You know, I am going to have to get back to you, 

if you do not mind, to make sure I give you correct information. I 

wonder if I have exactly the breadth of that issue before I say 

something. It may not be correct. So, if you could bear with me, either later today or first thing tomorrow, we will give you chapter 

and verse on it. 

Chairman BLUNT. Right. I think my information suggests that 

inadequate protection of the donors’ personally identifiable information, and if that was a problem, it certainly is not a unique 

problem in the Federal Government. You know, we have had serious problems with this, and we have to deal with it Governmentwide, but I think it is something that clearly you and your team 

have to pay attention to as we all do. There is way too much information out there without nearly enough thought as to how to protect it. 

Dr. SKORTON. You bet. 

Chairman BLUNT. Much of it given up way too voluntarily by the 

people that had it too and then not secured by others. On Air and 

Space, and then on the Fossil Hall Exhibit at the Natural History, 

what do you do to try to put information out to people coming to 

visit the Smithsonian of what might not be available that they 

would normally have expected, for instance, as some of that Air 

and Space collection has moved somewhere else while renovations 

are going on. How do you try to let people know that the thing they 

wanted to see and would normally be there, just might not be there 

when they come? 


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Dr. SKORTON. Well, I say this genuinely that as so often you have 

hit a really sensitive issue square on. This is an everyday issue for 

us not just because of the change in Air and Space and not just 

because of the imminent opening of Fossil Hall, but because we can 

only show a very tiny part of our collection any one time given the 

massive collection. The Directors at the individual museums try to 

do this. We have websites. 

One of the things that Assistant Secretary Marenco, and I, and 

others, and the museum Directors are working on is a way to get 

more information out to people so they can plan their visit because 

that is really what you are talking about, Mr. Chairman, is planning a visit. Actually, we are stepping back a couple steps and taking on the job of reassessing the whole visitor experience at the 

Smithsonian, and that will include what you are talking about, Mr. 

Chairman, but will not be limited to that. That we want to make 

sure that the visitor experience starts the day someone dreams 

about coming and continues after they have left our premises. 

One of the issues that we do run into is that not everything is 

available when they come, and even if it is available, how do you 

find it? Because people will sometimes, who are new to the Smithsonian, it is a great thrill to welcome someone who is new to the 

Smithsonian, they will think it sort of one place. You know, like 

where is the Smithsonian, and then they come and end up seeing 

that there is this big sprawling thing all over the place and even 

to New York City. We know that we need to do a better job of helping people plan their visits. We know that that is going to be done 

through technology largely, and through mobile technology at that. 

We are on the path to doing that but far from the goal. One of 

the aspects of that, as you have mentioned, is someone comes 

thinking they are going to be able to see x, but x has been moved 

because of construction, because of conservation of that entity. One 

of the difficult decisions that our curators make with the museum 

Directors to whom they report is what to have open to the American public. Some are there because of an actual exhibition on some 

topic, and then some are there because they are perennial favorites, like for example the first ladies’ inaugural gowns is a sort of 

an evergreen exhibition people just love to see. 

Chairman BLUNT. The last question I have for today and there 

will be other questions. The record will remain open for 1 week. I 

am sure I will have some other questions and members who were 

not able to come to the hearing will have some questions, but what 

about facilities like the Panama facility that are not in the United 

States? How many of those are there, and is that the biggest one? 

What do you do with those facilities located in other countries? 

Dr. SKORTON. So, we do research in 140 countries, and in most 

of those places we do not have permanent capital facilities. The 

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute to which you referred in 

Panama is our big overseas permanent research footprint. It is a 

fabulous place. If you have not had a chance to go there, Mr. Chairman, we would be honored to arrange a visit for you if you ever 

wanted to do that. 

Those facilities are taken care of by a combination of local work, 

and work and expertise and advice from the facilities of professionals here in the United States. Anywhere we are a guest of the 


RULES-408278 with DISTILLER
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country, if you will, we believe it is important to also work with 

local experts in that area, maintaining the same standards that we 

do here. I might take the moment that you brought that up to mention that we are working on our first permanent exhibition space 

oversees. That is a research space, and that exhibition space will 

be partnering with the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, in 

East London. 

So, we work in a combination with locals and with the expertise 

of our professionals in our facilities. Mr. Chairman, we will get 

back to you right away on that campaign cybersecurity breach. 

Chairman BLUNT. Alright. Well, thank you, Mr. Secretary. 

Thank you for the time you have spent today. As I said earlier, the 

record will be open for 1 week. We would like for you and your 

team to respond to any questions as quickly as you get them so 

that they can be put in that record. 

[The information referred to was submitted for the record.] 

Chairman BLUNT. It was great hearing, and I appreciate it. I am 

going to come down and look at the randomly selected material 

from the Smithsonian before I leave. The hearing is adjourned. 

[Whereupon, at 11:33 a.m., the hearing was adjourned.] 


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