§80q–3 Board of Trustees of National Museum of the American Indian

Summary

Creates a Board of Trustees to run and oversee the National Museum of the American Indian. The Board must recommend the museum’s yearly operating budget to the Board of Regents, advise the Regents about running and caring for the museum, write its own bylaws, pick a chair and officers, and send an annual report about acquiring, disposing of, and displaying Native American objects. Under the Regents’ general policies, the Board alone can lend, trade, sell, buy, or accept items for the collection, set rules for how the collection is used for research, education, and display, and handle restoration, preservation, fundraising, and spending from the museum’s endowment. At first the Board will have 25 members: the Smithsonian Secretary, an Assistant Secretary chosen by the Regents, 8 people the Regents appoint, and 15 people the Regents appoint from nominees provided by the Heye Museum board. Of those 23 appointees, at least 7 must be Indians. The Assistant Secretary serves at the Regents’ pleasure; the other appointees serve 3-year terms starting when Heye assets transfer. Later the Board will include the Secretary, a senior Smithsonian official named by the Regents, and 23 Regents’ appointees chosen from nominees the Board of Trustees gives; at least 12 of those 23 must be Indians. Some initial appointees have 1- or 2-year staggered terms as specified. Vacancies are filled only for the rest of the term. A majority of members makes a quorum. Members may receive a daily fee and travel pay for days they work, under the same rules as other intermittent federal workers.