Institution testified on Museum Programs and operations. Before the senate rules and administration committee. Secretary bunch outlined his priorities for the institution and efforts to reduce the maintenance backlog. Committee on rules and administration will be called to order. Good morning. I want to thank my colleagues for attending, and before i get any further, thank secretary bunch for bringing some of their great collection for us to look at. But mr. Secretary, were glad to have you, and several people from your team here to back you up if you need it. But im confident youll be able to be the man at the microphone there. This is your First Official appearance before the senate rules committee. Were grateful to have you with us. Secretary bunchs appointment is historic in a number of ways. Hes the first African American secretary to lead the Smithsonian Institution as well as the first Museum Director who was then later appointed secretary in at least in around 75 years. Hes a historian, something that i really enjoy, and he really understands. Its a great combination of things. This is the fourth position, the secretary bunch has had at the smithsonian. Something i dont believe any of your predecessors could claim. In 1978 secretary bunch began his smithsonian career at the national air and space museum as an education specialist. 11 years later he joined the National Museum of American History. And he most recently served as the founding director of the National Museum of African American history and culture. And as the founding director, he led an 11year effort in constructing that 400,000 square foot museum, and helping raise the matching Public Private the private funds that matched public funds and came up with the museum to tells an incredibly powerful story of that part of our history, and, in fact, of a lot of our history. Congress established the smithsonian in 1846 through a becrest by a british scientist, James Smithson who never visited the United States, but he generously left his estate to the United States government to found, quote, an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge. That ends the quote from mr. Smithsons will. And now we are almost 175 years later, the smithsonian encompasses 19 museums and galleries. Numerous research and educational facilities. The national zoo. A growing collection of 15 5 million objects and specimens. Secretary bunchs years of experience provide a unique perspective to look at the future of the smithsonian, and as the newly invested secretary who has inherited the responsibility for this vast, unique, unmatched collection, of course, the secretary also inherited the institutions challenges. The aging facilities, a deferred maintenance backlog totaling a billion dollars. And im sure thats going to be one of the topics we talk about today. In the last two decades, the smithsonian doubled the Square Footage while funding remained essentially flat. Now, under any circumstance thats not going to produce a very good result, and while doubling the institution added incredible spcapacity to see wh americans count on the smithsonians for, it added a burden we havent been willing to meet of maintenance. Thats one of the things we want to talk to the secretary about today, and one of the things he sees as one of his great responsibilities. When the secretary started his job, we were in the middle of a fiveyear Strategic Plan or at least implementing a fiveyear Strategic Plan created by his predecess predecessor. I want to does with the secretary of his thoughts on that plan, his vision on how it needs to change as we look now at the reality of many of the obligations and opportunities that are out there before us. And so mr. Secretary, were glad youre here. I want to call on todays Ranking Member, my good friend, senator udall for any comments hed like to make. Thank you very much, chairman blunt, and thank you for those nice words and introduction there. Great to be with you. Youre a good friend, and weve enjoyed looking at the display. Im very pleased to be here this morning to discuss the museum and the programs and to welcome the new secretary, lonnie bunch, before the committee for the First Time Since his appointment. Im also proud to have the chance to oversee the institution as both a member of the rules committee here, and as the Ranking Member of the Senate Interior appropriations Sub Committee. In both roles ive worked to make sure congress is an active partner with the Smithsonian Institution and provides the resources it needs to meet its obligations to advance the civic educational and artistic live of this nation. I can say im here sometimes on weekends, and my wife and i go to many of your museums, and its a marvelous display for americans about so many important issues in american life, and issues around the world. And im proud that the Senate InteriorSub Committee has worked to advance an appropriations bill that provides more than one billion dollars. This also includes new funding increases for security, facilities maintenance, and 1. 7 million in new funding for the Latino Center. I look forward to producing a final bill that will give the institution a strong budget for fiscal year 2020. I welcome the chance to talk about the opportunities and the challenges of the and supporting the great work the smithsonian is doing here this morning. And having a discussion about that. We all know that the smithsonian requireses Real Investments to keep the existing museums operating, to expand the collections to tell the story of all americans and to support the reach of its research and Educational Programs across the country. In particular, i expect we will hear this morning about the importance of congress committing the resources needed to meet the institutions maintenance and Capital Needs. The Capital Requirements clearly need to be a priority, but we will have the opportunity to talk about the importance of congress authorizing new museums that celebrate the history and Latino Community museums that would recognize and celebrate our nations diverse heritage and whose authorization, legislation enjoys broad bipartisan support. In my view, congress should be able to do both things, support existing infrastructure, and provide an exciting opportunity for the smithsonian to expand the footprint to include these new museums. And i look forward to hearing from the secretary this morning as we talk about each of these priorities. Thank you for being here, and i would yield back to the chairman. Thank you, senator. Secretary bunch, your written statement will be made part of the records, but id like for you to have a few minutes to talk about as much of that or all of you as you want. Thank you very much. Chairman, members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify today. As youve mentioned, my tenure as the 14th secretary of the smithsonian began this summer, however my relationship with it spans many generations it seems to me. Im pleased and humbled to the secretary of this institution that i love so much. The smithsonian appreciates the ongoing support of congress, administration, and the american people. And we take seriously the role we play in advancing the civic, educational, scientific, and artistic life of this nation. Our collections are vast. Represent an incredible scope and depth of historical, cultural and scientific achievement. We are an internationally respected scientific and Cultural Institution that does Cutting Edge Research in many disciplines. Our 21 libraries collectively form one of the worlds greatest repositories of knowledge. We have extensive array of educational material that learners of all ages can access online or in classrooms or in our museums. The smithsonian buildings host millions of visitors every year. Our facilities provide the Foundation Upon which we build our programs. Our exhibitions, our research, our scholarship. We have been successful in maintaining Building Systems well beyond their intended life like weve done with the air and space museum. But the truth is, with the deferred maintenance backlog of nearly a billion dollars, theres much work to be done. All of our sites, the museums, the research galleries, the zoo, in addition to the spaces, we must care for over 13. 9 million square feet of building. With a backlog of maintenance issues, weve been reacting to problems instead of maintaining as sets. Since becoming secretary, ive looked at the backlog with fresh eyes and in order to be more strategic, ive asked and directed the staff to begin analyzing projects in a new way. Rather than simply seeing the totality of the backlog, i want to analyze our maintenance projects system by system. With this approach, were better able to communicate our existing priorities, dwob a better sense of where our limited federal dollars are best spent and find opportunities to address maintenance needs as part of our capital revitalization projects. I believe addressing the backlog of is of pair mount importance. In their wisdom, congress and the administration have recognized the investment in Long Term Care of our facilities and have supported steady increases in our maintenance budget. Many of our museums were built in the 60s through 80s and need revietization. Funding Preventative Care cause fewer breakdowns, save energy and decrease unplanned closures. A series of Capital Projects required after decades of deferred maintenance. In addition our collections have grown as you said to over 155 million objects. These objects need to be stored, maintained, cared for, and prepared for research and exhibition. To most of our visitors, the collections we have largely define the institution. Therefore, our collections are a Vital National asset. And we are always striving to improve storage conditions, striking a balance between preserving the collections and providing access to them. The spaces that house our collections are not immune from deterioration. The maintenance of these areas have been deferred to the point of requiring capital investment. Our collection space framework plan outlines a strategy for improving all of our collections facilities. The smithsonians pressing infrastructure needs need and demand our immediate attention. Despite our best efforts, much of our aging infrastructure continues to be below acceptable standards. We appreciate the support of congress in addressing our most visible project, the renovation of the national air and space museum. But just as important, we are grateful for the ongoing support of the day today maintenance needs for this institution. Finally, let me say a few words about my plans and what i envision to do as secretary of the smithsonian. Under my leadership, our goal is to reach at least one billion people worldwide. I envision a Virtual Initiative leveraging state of the art resources and innovative partnerships allowing domestic and International Audiences to experience our scholarship, our research, our collections in new and exciting ways. If we are fully to serve 21st century audiences, we need to be more inclusive, more accessible and more diverse. A critical part of making the museum more diverse is including traditionally underrepresented stories, specifically highlighting the stories of asian american, american women, latina and Asian Pacific americans are vital to fulfilling our goal. Under my leadership, well make diversity and our collections in our aver kooifs and work force a higher priority. As you know, there are bills to establish a Latino American and american womens history museums pending before congress. If deemed in the Public Interest to move forward with these proposals, it is important that any additions to the smithsonian are considered in light of our existing priorities. A new museum will need funds for both the creation and longterm operation of the facilities, the care and preservation of our collections and of course, the ongoing success of the museum. Our work is also to increase knowledge is never ending. As we continue to make new discoveries, we plan to share them with future generations. Therefore, i plan to reimagine the smithsonians role in Lifelong Learning by making the institution a leader in k through 12 education. Finally, what i want is i want people to see the smithsonian as a resource. To help them better understand their lives, their universe, their history, and our shared future. It is incumbent upon us to be a more universal voice, one that earns the american Peoples Trust in us and leverages the great convening power to increase our relevance and research. We want to be the place that matters for all americans. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to testify before you today. And im happy to answer any questions you may have. Thank you. Were delighted youre here and look forward to the understanding you bring to the smithsonian. You mentioned that congress had provided money for maintenance, i think youre maybe generous in how you describe that, but looking at the maintenance numbers in front of me, we dont seem to increase that very much. Were sort of about the went from 75. 5 million to 76 million the next year, and then a pretty good increase of to 79 million in the year we just completed. Were hoping to get to 85. 5 million in this budget. Thats your request for this budget. Were not where we ought to be with getting that appropriations finished. But clearly thats not doing the job. Why dont you talk a little bit about your sense that going through every building, looking at the Building Systems, looking at building by building requirements, how you think that will help you prioritize and am i right in believing that the number youre working with in deferred maintenance is right at a billion dollars now . Yes. Our deferred maintenance is at a billion dollars, and i think that weve got really several important ways to address this. One is theres always a need to increase the amount of money we have for maintenance. We do right now about 1 of what we thats what we spend, and we really need to spend at least 2 to 3 to be able to not only stop the backlog but to reduce it. But in the meantime, what i realize is that by being more systemic, we cannot only understand where the needs are. We can anticipate future needs. Because our goal is to have the knowledge, and then to do several things. The first of all, really utilize the fact that the key to our success is to use both the maintenance budget and the capital budgets. To be able to do things like weve done with the air and space museum. By doing the renovation of the air and space museum, we were able to reduce and really address over 200 million of deferred maintenance at the air and space museum. We want to look at how we bring together the Capital Needs with deferred maintenance. One of the keys thats clear to me is we need to spend our time, focus our attention on preventative maintenance. We want to anticipate what issues we may be able to defer based on actually doing preventative maintenance on that. My open is well continue to grow our budgets. Well need the support. Well be more systemic and prioritize what we need to do, and then to really just make sure that were using every opportunity we can to leverage the resources to address that backlog. And i would assume hearing you explain that that there are some places where addressing one problem prevents the second problem from either occurring or getting worse. And hvac system thats not working with create all sorts of other problem in the case. Is that the kind of thing youre looking at . Exactly. If you look at, for example, as we think about what we need to do with the castle and the arts and industries. If we can create a central utility system that services all that, it solves a lot of problems. It makes it easier for us to maintain. Were looking at how to be more creative. How to really use the best technology to come up with solutions to the problems we will face. And am i right in the castle in the space there, the display, the space there, because of the hvac system, youre not able to use that space for what it was designed for . I think what we have to do with the arts and Industries Building especially, thats a building that we spent a lot of money to stabilize. The exterior is strong. The roof is good. Theres millions of dollars that need to go into turning that into a space that is usable for the public. While we, for example, use that space for my installation, we really are going to have to do new systems. Were going to have to fit out the spaces so it works for the general public. In essence, part of the challenge of the master plan is to look at both the whole notion of the castle as well as the arts and industries and how we use those better to serve not just office space but serve our visitors and public. Great. Im sure well have time for a second round of questions. And senator udaall is the Ranking Member on the authorizing committee. You can get a couple of double strokes in here today