Pelosi, House Democrats Slam Republican Rewrite of Women’s History Museum Bill, Demand Restoration of Latino Museum

Washington D.C. - Yesterday, Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi joined 145 Members of the House Democratic Caucus in sending a letter to Speaker Mike Johnson urging him to restore the longstanding, bipartisan version of H.R. 1329, the Smithsonian American Women's History Museum Act, which would solidify plans for the museum. In their letter, Members make clear their support for passage of the bill depends on Republicans reinstating the bill's bipartisan foundation and commitment to pair it with H.R. 1330, the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Latino Act.

This letter follows a March 18 House Administration Committee hearing(link is external) in which House Republicans introduced and adopted a hyperpartisan version of the bill that abruptly derailed the years-long, bipartisan effort to advance the Smithsonian American Women's History Museum and National Museum of the American Latino. The bill as reported out of Committee gives unprecedented and undue control over the museum to President Trump. It also threatens the inclusion of transgender women and girls from the museum while opening the door to broader exclusion of other women. Before this last minute amendment, the work to establish the Smithsonian American Women's History Museum had been a bipartisan effort rooted in the joint conviction that women's history and women's stories are central to the identity of our nation.

In the letter, the Members emphasized that the design and location of a museum about women, fought for and supported by women, should not be controlled by one man.

"The buildings that house museums are interpretative objects themselves. Their design and location frame how visitors understand the content inside. The design and location of a museum about women, fought for and supported by women, should not be controlled by one man and his loyalists-particularly not a man who has been found liable for sexual assault, and regularly denigrates women based on physical appearance, among other repulsive behaviors. American women deserve better. The American people deserve better."

The Members also explain that a provision in the Republican-amended version threatens the inclusion of transgender women and girls while opening the door to broader exclusion of other women.

"The amended bill also now vaguely states that only 'biological women' can be included in the museum. While the author's intent is clearly to target transgender women and girls, the provision invites arbitrary enforcement and could be used to challenge the inclusion of any woman or girl a politician deems not 'feminine' enough. This is just another example of Republicans needlessly adding an anti-transgender provision to an unrelated bill that would impact not just transgender women and girls but all women and girls."

The Members close by declaring that their support for the Smithsonian American Women's History Museum bill is contingent on the retention of the museum's spirit and the bill's bipartisan foundation.

"If Republicans truly want to celebrate women's history, we call on you and your colleagues to restore the bipartisan version of this bill and move it forward with us. Our support for this bill is contingent on the retention of the museum's spirit and the bill's bipartisan foundation. Absent those conditions, we will be compelled to oppose the politicized version of H.R. 1329 on the House floor."

Read the letter here(link is external).