Subject: Advocacy Day Results and Updates

Museums Advocacy Day Wrap-Up

• 200+ Museum Advocates Bring a Unified Message to Capitol Hill
• Members of Congress Speak Up for Museums - Video Footage Now Available!
• Museum Appropriations Letters Signed by 47 Members of Congress

200+ Museum Advocates Bring a Unified Message to Capitol Hill
More than 200 advocates brought a unified message to Capitol Hill on March 22-23. They participated in a day of intensive advocacy training and then made coordinated visits to Capitol Hill in support of increased federal funding for the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and the role of museums in the pending reauthorization of both IMLS and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA).

Members of Congress Speak Up for Museums - Video Footage Now Available!
A Congressional Reception was held at the US Botanic Garden, where the museum community honored Sen. George Voinovich (R-OH), Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY), Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN), and Rep. Todd Platts (R-PA).  Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI), Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN), and Rep. Paul Tonko (D-NY) were also honored during Museums Advocacy Day events. Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL) delivered a stirring keynote address at the Congressional Breakfast, followed by additional remarks from Reps. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Rush Holt (D-NJ), and Maxine Waters (D-CA).

See clips of legislators discussing the public value of museum at the Museums Advocacy Day Congressional Reception and Kickoff Breakfast.

Museum Appropriations Letters Signed by 47 Members of Congress
Congratulations, Museum Advocates! Thanks to your efforts during Museums Advocacy Day 2010 and emails and letters from around the country, we are pleased to report that 47 Members of Congress signed on to this year’s House and Senate Museum “Dear Colleague” letters. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Representatives Paul Tonko (D-NY), Louise Slaughter (D-NY) and Leonard Lance (R-NJ) took the lead on circulating “Dear Colleague” letters in both the Senate and the House of Representatives, encouraging Members of Congress to join their letters to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees urging $50 million for the Office of Museum Services (OMS) at the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). The letters highlighted the many educational and other vital community services museums provide.

Thanks to our combined advocacy efforts and outreach, the following Members of Congress signed the FY11 museum letters:

House of Representatives

“This is the first year a letter like this has been circulated in the Senate, thanks to our newest museum champion, Senator Gillibrand, and only the second year this letter has been circulated in the House,” said AAM President Ford W. Bell.  “Forty-seven Members of Congress joining our effort to request a significant new investment in our nation’s museums is a tremendous step forward for our field, but we must grow that number each and every year until we reach all 535. That will require consistent advocacy on the part of the entire museum field.”

Don’t Miss: AAM Annual Meeting and Museum Expo 2010 - Museums Without Borders! There’s still time to plan your trip and register on-site or participate in the first ever Virtual Conference, which allows you and several colleagues to access several Annual Meeting sessions live right from your own museum.

Learn more about AAM’s Advocacy for Museums.