2012 -- S 2065

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LC00411

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STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2012

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S E N A T E R E S O L U T I O N

SUPPORTING THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A NATIONAL WOMEN'S HISTORY MUSEUM

IN WASHINGTON, D.C.

     Introduced By: Senators Lanzi, Paiva Weed, Lynch, Crowley, and Sosnowski

     Date Introduced: January 17, 2012

     Referred To: Recommended for Immediate Consideration

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     WHEREAS, In 1987, Congress declared March as “Women’s History Month” to

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acknowledge the important role women have played in shaping America; and

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     WHEREAS, Although women constitute a majority of the nation’s population, their

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achievements and contributions are underrepresented in museums and memorials; and

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     WHEREAS, In a recent survey of eighteen history books, only 10 percent of the people

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identified were women; and

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     WHEREAS, In 1999, the President’s Commission on the Celebration of Women in

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American History called for a women’s history museum to be established on the National Mall in

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Washington, D.C.; and

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     WHEREAS, The National Women’s History Museum (NWHM), founded in 1996, is a

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nonpartisan, nonprofit, educational institution dedicated to preserving, interpreting, and

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celebrating the diverse historic contributions of women and fully integrating the heritage of

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women into this nation’s history; and

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     WHEREAS, The NWHM seeks a site on or close to the National Mall and in close

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proximity to the White House and United States Capitol; and

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     WHEREAS, The NWHM has identified federally-owned property for sale near the

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National Mall; and

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     WHEREAS, Legislation is currently pending in Congress seeking authorization for the

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NWHM to be able  to purchase this property at fair market value with privately raised funds.  No

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federal funds are being requested for the purchase of this land; and

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     WHEREAS, There are museums dedicated to flight, postage stamps, buildings, and many

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other important people and issues, but not to women, and yet women comprise 51 percent of the

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nation’s population; and 

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     WHEREAS, The NWHM will showcase the full history of women in the United States

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and the contributions they have made and continue to make in the marketplace, arts and sciences,

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government, entertainment, education, home, and community; and

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     WHEREAS, A coalition of 43 women’s organizations representing 8 million women,

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which includes the National Foundation for Women Legislators (NFWL), supports the efforts of

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the NWHM to establish a permanent residence on the National Mall, the most prominent location

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for museums to be situated in the nation’s capital; now, therefore, be it

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     RESOLVED, That this Senate of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations

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hereby respectfully urges the esteemed members of the United States House of Representatives

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and the United States Senate to support the NWHM’s efforts to secure a permanent home on or

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close to the National Mall for a museum that will highlight the important role women have played

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in shaping this great nation; and be further

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     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and he hereby is authorized and directed to

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transmit duly certified copies of this resolution to the National Foundation for Women Legislators

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and the entire Rhode Island Congressional Delegation. 

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LC00411

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