Commission to Study the Potential Creation of a National Women's History Museum Act

Floor Speech

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Mrs. LUMMIS. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

H.R. 863 establishes a commission to study the potential creation of a National Women's History Museum.

The commission will prepare a report with key findings that include an evaluation of potential locations for the museum in Washington, D.C.; guidance on whether it should be part of the Smithsonian Institution; and cost estimates for constructing, operating, and maintaining the facility.

In terms of fiscal responsibility, H.R. 863 requires an independent review of the report to analyze the ability of the museum to operate without taxpayer funding.

With the information generated by the report, Congress will be able to evaluate the proposed museum. This legislation does not authorize the museum to be built or authorize spending of taxpayer dollars of any kind.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mrs. LUMMIS. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I want to congratulate the women who have participated in this debate today. These are dynamic American leaders. I want to thank each and every one of them, including the gentlelady from Minnesota, who expressed the views of those who have concerned about this bill. They were well articulated.

She is someone with whom I am proud to serve in Congress and was very proud to see in the dais, participating in lively, strident debates when she ran for President, seeking the Republican nomination in the last Presidential election. These are all very formidable, important women--gentlewomen, one and all.

I rise in support of the study and in support of the passage of this bill. I come from the Equality State, the State of Wyoming, the first government in the world to continuously grant women the right to vote, so I come by my point of view honestly.

I am very excited about the opportunity to study and to report back to this Congress the notion of having a museum of the history of American women. The contributions to our society of American women are so extraordinary and are sometimes underrepresented.

I particularly look forward to touting the opportunity to show the history of American women of the West, people like Cattle Kate. She was a criminal, a scoundrel, a cattle thief. She was the first woman hanged in Wyoming. She is a historical figure.

Sacagawea, who led the Lewis and Clark expedition across this great, vast country; Annie Oakley, who was portrayed as a model of the American West and freedom in Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West show; and particularly, I would like to see Dale Evans recognized in this museum.

Let me tell you something about Dale Evans you may not know. Dale Evans was an actress, a songwriter, a mother, and she was the wife of Roy Rogers. They were the king of the cowboys and the queen of the cowgirls. Dale Evans and Roy Rogers had a special-needs child among their many children.

Back in Hollywood in the late 1940s and 1950s, there was a cultural condition in this country that was particularly prevalent in Hollywood, and that was people didn't want to see special-needs children in public. People didn't want to face the fact that not everyone in this country is born exactly the same.

Roy and Dale took their special-needs child with them everywhere they went, and they were ostracized, and they ceased to be invited to people's homes because they didn't want to see that child. It was a gutsy thing to do.

Roy Rogers and Dale Evans changed the way Americans viewed special-needs children. Now, when we see special-needs people in our society, it puts a smile on our faces. They are so integrated into our every day, and they are important members of our society.

When that child died, Dale Evans wrote the song ``Happy Trails'' to that child. She wrote, ``Happy trails to you, until we meet again,'' and in my heart, I believe they will meet again, Madam Speaker.

I think those are the kinds of women that we want to see portrayed in American history, and I am highly supportive of this study. I look forward to robust participation by Republican and Democrats and look forward to receiving the study, not knowing how it is going to turn out, but with great hope and expectation for something terrific, at least on paper, so we can determine at that point whether to move forward.

Mr. Speaker, I commend to this body's attention H.R. 863.

I yield back the balance of my time.

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