HJ91: National Women's History Museum; Congress to support establishing in Washington, D.C.

HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 91
Offered January 11, 2012
Prefiled January 10, 2012
Memorializing the Congress of the United States to support the establishment of a National Women?s History Museum in Washington, D.C.
Patron-- Comstock

Committee Referral Pending

WHEREAS, in 1987, Congress declared March to serve as ?Women?s History Month? to acknowledge the important role women have played in shaping America; and

WHEREAS, although women constitute a majority of the nation?s population, their achievements and contributions are underrepresented in museums and memorials; and

WHEREAS, only 10 percent of the people identified in a recent survey of 18 history textbooks were women; and

WHEREAS, in 1999, The President?s Commission on the Celebration of Women in American History called for a women?s history museum to be established on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.; and

WHEREAS, the National Women?s History Museum (NWHM), founded in 1996, is a nonpartisan, nonprofit, educational institution dedicated to preserving, interpreting, and celebrating the diverse historic contributions of women, and integrating the heritage of women fully into this nation?s history; and

WHEREAS, the NWHM seeks a site on or close to the National Mall and in close proximity to the White House and U.S. Capitol Building; and

WHEREAS, the NWHM has identified federally owned property for sale near the National Mall; and

WHEREAS, legislation is currently pending in Congress seeking authorization for the NWHM to be able to purchase this property at fair market value with privately raised funds and no federal funds are being requested for the purchase of this land; and

WHEREAS, there are museums dedicated to flight, postage stamps, buildings, and many other important people and issues of interest but not to women, and yet women comprise 51 percent of the nation?s population; and

WHEREAS, the NWHM will showcase the full history of women in the United States and the contributions they have made and continue to make in the marketplace, arts and sciences, government, entertainment, education, home, and community; and

WHEREAS, a coalition of 43 women?s organizations representing eight million women, which includes the National Foundation for Women Legislators, supports the efforts of the NWHM to establish a permanent residence near the National Mall, the most prominent location for museums to be situated in the nation?s capital; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the Congress of the United States be urged to support the establishment of a National Women?s History Museum in Washington, D.C.; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates transmit copies of this resolution to the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, the President of the United States Senate, and the members of the Virginia Congressional Delegation so that they may be apprised of the sense of the General Assembly of Virginia in this matter.