Join the discussion. On thursday, voters in the United Kingdom will decide if their country should stay or leave the european union. British Prime MinisterDavid Cameron and Labor Party LeaderJeremy Corbyn want the uk to to remain a member of the e. U. But some members of the party are part of the breck it is push, advocating for the uk to split from the european union. Watch the simulcast on cspan 2 and cspan. Org. Smithsonian institution secretary david skorten briefed legislators on plans to renovate the national air and space museum. He explained that at least half of the museum will remain open while the work is in progress. This House AdministrationCommittee Hearing is about an hour. I now all call to order the committee on House Administration for todays hearing on the Smithsonian Institutions National air and space museum revitalization. A quorum is present so we may proceed. I welcome our two witnesses, the secretary of the smithsonian and the undersecretary for finance and administration and chief Financial Officer for smithsonian, albert or vath. This is the first appearance of secretary skorton. He has served since july of last year and we welcome you both. Congress established the smithsonian in 1846 to carry out the will of english scientist james smithson. Smithson sought to create an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge. Since that time, the smithsonian has developed into the Largest Museum and Research Complex in the world with 19 museums, Nine Research centers and the national zoo. A major responsibility of the smithsonian is to collect unique artifacts which have shaped our nations heritage and showcase those items so they may be used as Educational Resources for todays generation and generations to come. The committee on House Administration works closely with smithsonian staff in its oversight over the smithsonians operations. In that role, we are holding this hearing today to discuss the current plans to renovate the national air and space museum. The national air and space museum consists of two facilities which are open to the public, the flagship facility, which is located on the National Mall, and the steven f. Udvahazzi center near Dulles Airport. The air and space collection tell this is countrys amazing aviation facilities and its facilities are the most popular. In fact, the mall facility is one of the most visited museums in the world with the largest collection of air and spacecraft among its 63,000 artifacts. Objects include the 1903 wright flier, Charles Lindberghs spirit of st. Louis Chuck Yeagers bell x1. The apollo 11 command module colombia and the key brothers airport from meridian, mississippi. I thought id throw that in. [ laughter ] which perfected aerial refuelling in 1935. Next month the air and space museums mall facility will celebrate its 40th anniversary. With nearly seven million visitors a year, the museum is the most visited museum in the United States and is one of the most popular museums, having received more than 320 million visitors since its opening. The more than 500,000 square foot mall facility was constructed by gsa between 1972 and 1975 at a cost of 41 million. It includes over 20 exhibit galleries, a plan taryetariupla theater and the popular interactive flight simulators. The facility includes a restaurant, gift shop, and administrative staff space on the third floor. Approaching its 40th anniversary this july, the museums mechanical systems are nearing the end of their useful life. Additionally the buildings original design has led to the cupping of the stones that make up the buildings outer stone cladding. The air and space museums mall facility is in need of major upgrades and construction repairs. This is the largest revitalization project to date in the smithsonians history with the price tag of more than 600 million. The smithsonian has determined the most costeffective approach with the least impact on visitors is to renovate rather than demolish and replace the facility. The smithsonians proposed revitalization plan will take place other the course of several years staggering out the overall Construction Costs and work and allowing visitors to still experience the museum. The committee has been assured that the museum will remain at least partially open during the renovation and that all of smithsonians museums will continue to be free to the public. The goal of our hearing today to review whether the smithsonian institutions plan for the air and Space Museum Renovation for the mall facility has been vetted, eliminating the need for additional renovations to this specific project in the near future. Congress must be assured that the proposed renovation has taken into account all potential costs as well as the timing and value of the work being proposed. During this hearing we want to hear from our witnesses at the smithsonian, it is considering nonfederal Funding Sources such as philanthropic or other potential Partnership Opportunities in the event the full appropriations request for the renovation is not met by the federal government. We would also like the smithsonian to address if it has fully vetted this renovation plan by conducting independent assessments to determine if current cost estimates and proposed timetables are accurate and realistic. Additionally we would like to hear from our witnesses on how the addition of proposed Storage Space located at the garber facility in maryland and our other center will tie into this legislation. Legislation hr 3702 has been referred to this committee to authorize the construction of these two storage facilities. This committee wants to be supportive of the needs of the air and space museum and be sure the facility is in a position to have a long and vibrant future. We view this hearing as your opportunity to make the case for funding to the public. There are many competing priorities before Congress Today and our committee looks forward to hearing your comments on this renovation plan. Lastly, our committee appreciates any information our witnesses have the overall state of the institutions, any challenges as well as other potential renovation projects on the horizon. Each of the smithsonians entity is cherished by us all and we feel a personal responsibility to ensure the success of this valued institution and its continued operation for future generations. The smithsonian is truly one of the great treasures of our nation and the world and we look forward to the institutions continued service. I thank our witnesses before their appearance before our committee and we look forward to hearing from them on revitalization plans. Id like now to recognize my colleague mr. Vargas for providing an opening statement. Thank you very much, mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, thank you for holding this important hearing and welcome to secretary skorton whos making his first appearance before the panel, the primary Oversight Committee in the house for the smithsonian institution. I also want to welcome mr. Horvath, the undersecretary of finance and administration, welcome to you, sir. I am filling in for our Ranking Member this morning who is delayed in philadelphia working on making sure we have a successful convention in his district in just a few weeks so he apologizes. I do understand mr. Brady did speak with you yesterday, mr. Secretary, and i know he appreciates your appearance here today and is committed to working with you for a successful revitalization of this amazing museum. This is an exciting year for the smithsonian, the museum of africanAmerican History and culture is opening in september with president barack obama cutting the ribbon. It seems like only yesterday this committee reported the authorization bill for that museum and it was only yesterday in 2012 that we finally had the Ground Breaking the passage of time requires the smithsonian to develop new and improved ways to undertake the construction education collections management and Scientific Research activities for which it has been so well acclaimed and, of course, the institution must always look to preserve and improve the infrastructure which dates back into the 19th century. The national air and space museum is one of the capitals and this nations major tourist attractions. It is probably the museum most associated with the smithsonian by the american people. In 2009, chairman brady convened a hearing which focused on Public Health and safety, worker safety issues related to Asbestos Abatement in the air and space an important issue giving the passing of millions of people through the buildings halls each year its critical for our committee to understand the fiscal implications of this massive revitalization project which will keep portions of the Museum Closed over a period of approximately six years. The air and space Museum Opened with great fanfare in 1976 for the u. S. Buy seiicentennial buts unfortunately not built to last for the ages. The need for massive external retrofitting at a time when limited federal funds are available will place stress on the long list of other priority which is ins t instituti the institution is committing. Some hard choices will be made. You maenentioned the plane from mississippi was up for 27 days . Yes, sir. It must have been built in san diego, california, where we had a fine thats outstanding, i do not know that. So, again thats a wonderful fact. Mr. Secretary, mr. Undersecretary, a pleasure and i thank mr. Chairman again for the opportunity to say a few yards. Any other member . Mr. Davis do you care to make any statement . I certainly would also like to follow up on that that mr. Hunter was the inventer who designed the shutoff valve for the aerial refuelling which is still used today with just a minor modification at all aerial refuelling so were excited about that. I dont know that i would want to have been on that flight because its a single engine plane with a metal cat walk on the side of the engine and somebody had to climb out there and service the engine during flight. Not a lot of fun to do but thanks again to our witnesses and id like to also say that our chairwoman Candace Miller sends her regrets, she planned to be here but the weather did not accommodate and she was one of those many who couldnt get into d. C. And to Reagan National last night and is traveling this morning so she sends her regrets that he could not be here and wishes each of you the best. Id now like to introduce our witnesses, dr. David skorton is the 13th secretary of the smithsonian. He assumed his position july 1 of 2015. As secretary, mr. Skorton overseas the entire collection of museums and galleries, libraries, national zoo and Numerous Research centers. He is responsible for an annual budget of 1. 3 billion. 6,500 employees and more than 6,300 volunteers. Before coming to the smithsonian, secretary skorton was the president of cornell university, a position he held from july, 2006. Secretary skorton is the first physician to lead the smithsonian. Albert horvath serves as undersecretary for finance and administration and chief Financial Officer for the smithsonian where he managed Administrative Offices including facilities in maintenance, human resources, security and financial operations. He served as acting secretary for six months following the retirement of thensecretary wayne cloud. Before joining the smithsonian . In 2011, he was at five universities and the melon bank. The committee has received your joint written testimony and the chair recognizes secretary skor the,on and ill recognize him for five minutes. Thank you, congressman harper and congressman vargas for the opportunity and honor to testify before the committee on House Administration and mr. Horvath and i enjoyed the lesson in aviation history you shared with us in a bipartisan fashion. Thank you. Due to the support of congress, the smithsonian is able to tell our nations story in relevant and compelling ways to inspire the next generation of american scientists, artists, teachers and leaders. July 1 marks my First Anniversary on becoming secretary of the smithsonian. Even though a year has passed, everyday i continue to learn more about and become more impressed by the breadth, depth, and quality of the smithsonians work in the arts, humanities and sciences. Everyday i continue to grow more excited by the smithsonians enormous potential to engage with the public on some of the most challenging issues we face together as a nation. Everyday i continue to observe the special bond between the smithsonian and the American Public. How americans feel ownership and pride in the smithsonian and their high expectationings and trust in us. Everyday i consider myself privileged to support the dedicated Smithsonian Community. Each year, million experience the creativity and innovation of our Smithsonian Community through exhibitions, scholarly research, public programming and Educational Outreach not only here in washington but across america and around the world. For example, more than 600,000 visitors have been captivated at the wonder exhibition at the renwick gallery. The gallery itself has become a work of contemporary art and an integral part of an exhibition that clearly resonated with the public. Since opening in november, wonder has inspired almost 100,000 social media posts. At the National Museum of American History, were exploring new ways to engage the youngest audiences through wonder of a different sort. The wegmans wonder place is a 1,700 square foot play area designed to excite the smithsonians youngest visitors about American History with novel interactives and objects from the museums collections. The success of wonder place has, however, created one unexpected problem how we manage parking logistics for dozens of strollers and baby carriages. Just this past monday, the Smithsonian Center for learning and Digital Access launched a Digital Learning lab that enables teachers and students to find and share more than a Million Museum resources. We piloted the program in pittsburgh and Allegheny County pennsylvania public schools. Teachers there told us the labs online tools allowed them to build immersive and individualized learning experiences and to share them with other teachers. And one teacher in moon, pennsylvania, explained its helped my student and me to think more creatively. On a more international scale, we are sharing our expertise in collecting and preserving culturally important artifacts with museum and government officials from across the globe. In this regard, the smithsonian is right now hosting a monthlong course entitled first aid to Cultural Heritage in times of crisis. Training participants from 18 nations to anticipate and manage threats to cultural artifacts from war or natural disasters. Smithsonian staff are also responding to real and immediate crises near and far from home. In mali, where jihadists destroyed ancient tombs and burned archives, we convened Museum Directors from across west africa to share strategies for responding to terror and provided by training for crises. In egypt, we responded along with the metropolitan museum of art to bombrelated damage sustained by cairos islamic museum, providing quick assessments and counsel and in haiti following the catastrophic earthquake of 2010 the smithsonian partnered and continues to partner with International Organization and the haitian government to rescue, recover, safeguard, and restore cultural artifacts and buildings. As was mentioned, in less than 100 days we will open the new National Museum of africanAmerican History and culture. This spectacular building at the foot of the Washington Monument was made possible only through the support of the congress and thousands of individuals, foundations, churches and corporations across the u. S. And the world. As the museums founding director explains, the museum will not be one that celebrates black history solely for black americans. Rather, we see this history as americas history. The museum will use africanAmerican History and culture as a lens into what it means to be an american. I look forward to celebrating with you at the museums grand opening on september 24. Today, though, were here to update you on the smithsonians plans to revitalize the national