CQ TODAY ONLINE NEWS
March 29, 2012 – 1:35 a.m.
Proposed Latino Museum Draws Its Share of Critics — and Cynics
By Alan K. Ota, CQ Staff
A proposed National Latino Museum has gained bipartisan support in the Senate, as members of both parties jump at a chance to impress Hispanic voters in an election year.
Majority Leader
“Menendez and I are working hard,” Reid told members of a Hispanic advisory panel for Senate Democrats. “We don’t have it done yet. But we’re going to get one, and soon.”
Republican Sens.
But the idea has drawn a much less enthusiastic response from some conservative watchdogs. “There should be a review to determine whether this is sustainable,” said Steve Ellis, vice president of Taxpayers for Common Sense, an anti-tax advocacy group.
Of course, a central question any time a new component of the Smithsonian complex is proposed is where to find space on the National Mall, already brimming with museums. A commission authorized by a 2008 law (PL 110-229) concluded that a museum is needed to honor 50 million Hispanic-Americans and suggested a site between the Capitol and the East Building of the National Gallery of Art.
That proposal spurred questions from critics including Judy Scott Feldman, chairwoman of the National Coalition to Save Our Mall, a group that argues for retaining grassy, open space on the two-mile-long mall between the Capitol and the Lincoln Memorial.
In a bow to such concerns, Menendez said supporters have shifted their focus to the historic Arts and Industries Building that is next to the Smithsonian “castle” and faces the mall. The legislation would give the Smithsonian’s board 18 months to draw up a plan for financing a renovation of the building and construction of a large underground annex.
“We’re not asking for [federal] money,” Menendez said. “We would just authorize the use of the Arts and Industries Building. You can’t do fundraising unless you can show a potential donor, ‘This is where the museum will be.’”
But the current proposal has also drawn criticism from an informal local coalition that wants to restore the Arts and Industries Building to its original use as a showcase for American technology. It was built to permanently display items from the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exposition.
Phil Auerswald, a public policy professor at George Mason University, says lawmakers are rushing to put a Latino museum in the building before the proposal has been thoroughly reviewed.
“It looks like political expedience. They are picking this building so that they can get the museum moving in an election year,” Auerswald said.
Proposed Latino Museum Draws Its Share of Critics — and Cynics
Despite such complaints,
“Given the names of the people supporting this, I think this has a pretty good chance of happening,” Rubio said.