While it may take years for the museums to be conceptualized, curated and built, Congressional approval is a victory for the advocates of the museums whose efforts go back decades.
The American Latino Museum will “ illuminate the story of the United States for the benefit of all by highlighting Latino contributions, ” decades after the Smithsonian released a report finding it to exhibit a pattern of “ deliberate neglect, ” with the presence and contributions were excluded and ignored. of Latino Americans in both the workforce and the exhibition halls.
The American Museum of Women’s History will be dedicated to documenting women’s contributions to the country’s history and recognizing “diverse perspectives”.
Democratic Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey, a longtime advocate for a Latino museum and the lead sponsor of Senate law, said the museum’s passage is the “ culmination of decades of hard work, advocacy, successes and setbacks in the movement to to recognize Latino contributions to America’s history, economy and culture. “
Menendez said he “can’t wait for the day when I can take my granddaughters to the National Museum of the American Latino in our nation’s capital.”
Half of the funding for both museums will be funded by federal funds and the other half by private donations. The museums have two years to designate a location.
Two empty spaces in the National Mall are considered potential locations for the Latino or Women’s Museum: the southern portion of the National Mall, close to the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, bounded by 14th Street and Jefferson Drive, or the northwest portion within walking distance steps of the Capitol, enclosed by Constitution Ave and Pennsylvania Ave.
The Smithsonian Institution’s Arts and Industries Building or the area between 12th Street and 14th Street in the National Mall is also eligible for the new Latino Museum.
The Congressional Budget Office estimated last year that a women’s museum would cost $ 375 million over nine years, with the museum’s construction being $ 242 million, and staff, exhibits and program creation and operations awards $ 133 million. would amount to.
“Americans of all ages deserve to see and be inspired by the remarkable women who helped shape this nation. When role models do what we aspire to, it can change the course of a person’s life,” she added.
She noted that it was “appropriate” for Congress to authorize a women’s history museum, as the US marked the centenary of the 19th Amendment and elected the first female vice president, Kamala Harris.
The most recent Smithsonian museum was the National Museum of African American History and Culture, which spanned years from when it was approved by Congress in 2003 to finally opening to the public in 2016.
In the US Senate, however, the unanimous approval of these two bills was blocked by Lee, who argued that the US does not need “separate but equal museums”.
The Smithsonian Institution “should not have an exclusive museum of American Latino history or a museum of women’s history or a museum of American men’s history or Mormon history or Asian American history or Catholic history. American history is an inclusive story that should unite us,” Lee said in comments earlier this month.
The massive spending bill – and the museum legislator – goes to President Donald Trump’s desk for his signature.
CNN’s Paul LeBlanc and Leah Asmelash contributed to this report.