ClarksvilleNow.com Reporting
news@clarksvillenow.com
Photo courtesy of Mike Reynard, MSNBC
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. House of Representatives has passed legislation introduced by Reps. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) to form a Congressional Commission on the Potential Creation of a National Women’s History Museum in Washington, DC.
The bipartisan legislation (H.R. 863) passed by a vote of 383 to 33 and now heads to the Senate, where Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) are leading the charge.
“This legislation takes an important step in our effort to recognize the accomplishments of women who have contributed to freedom and the promise of opportunity which we Americans cherish,” Blackburn said. “This museum is about bringing together women and remembering those visionaries who changed the course of American history. All this would be done through private donations, and not one dime of taxpayer money. It is only appropriate that during the same week we celebrate mothers around the country for their contributions to our families, that my colleagues in the House would come together in this bipartisan effort to honor our nation’s most influential women.”
The bill, H.R. 863, would establish a commission to prepare a report containing recommendations for establishing and maintaining a National Women’s History Museum in Washington, D.C. The eight-member commission would have 18 months to produce the report and submit it to Congress for approval.
According to the Congressional Budget Office, the commission and the museum would have no significant impact on federal spending. The bill authorizes the commission to accept and spend monetary gifts, and National Women’s History Museum (NWHM), is already raising the funds necessary to pay for the commission.