The Hill News

The ranking member of the House Administration Committee is calling on Congress to fulfill its commitment to fund the establishment of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Rep. Robert Brady (D-Pa.) sent a letter Tuesday to Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho), chairman of the Appropriations subcommittee on Interior and the Environment and ranking member Rep. James Moran (D-Va.), expressing concern over the funding level for the Smithsonian Institution in the fiscal year 2012 Appropriations bill.

“When Congress enacted the authorizing legislation establishing the National Museum of African American History and Culture within the Smithsonian in 2003, we explicitly authorized a 50-50 public-private funding ratio,” Brady wrote.

According to a statement Brady released the same day, the FY12 appropriations bill provides less than half of the $125 million in federal contributions requested by the Smithsonian.

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