THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, October 10, 1994 TAG: 9410100052
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: CHARLOTTE LENGTH: Medium: 57 lines
Critics of Sen. Jesse Helms say race was uppermost on his mind when he blocked legislation for a proposed National African American Museum, while the senator says the nation doesn't have the money for it.
Before the Senate adjourned Saturday, the Republican senator from North Carolina killed a bid to start the museum, which would have been part of the Smithsonian complex in Washington.
``It's the power of one senator,'' said Sen. Paul Simon, D-Ill., who with Sen. Carol Moseley-Braun, D-Ill., was the bill's primary sponsor. The bill already had been approved by the House.
To kill the bill, Helms used a behind-the-scenes legislative maneuver known as a ``hold.'' Under Senate rules, an individual senator can say he's against a bill and keep it from coming to the floor unless other senators force a vote.
If a vote is forced, a senator has the right to filibuster or add time-consuming amendments. Helms was prepared to offer as many as 15 amendments - a process that could have mired the Senate in debate for days.
Helms had fought and stalled the proposal to authorize and fund the museum for months, saying he was against writing a blank check for a cultural institution, The Charlotte Observer reported.
``With a $4.6 trillion federal debt, Congress is now being asked . . . to give an unlimited - I repeat, an unlimited - authorization for an unlimited number of years for a new museum,'' Helms said on the floor late Thursday night.
Moreover, other minority groups would want their own museums if this one were authorized, Helms said.
But critics, noting that Helms has opposed issues like the Martin Luther King federal holiday, said his action was in part motivated by race.
``He never has had any history of doing anything that has any favorable bearing on the black community,'' said Rep. Mel Watt, D-N.C.
Smithsonian officials have envisioned a museum that would house exhibits on African-American history, art and culture. It also would train black museum professionals for the 120 smaller black museums around the country.
Helms asked museum officials the pricetag for their plan. He sent the museum 29 questions last month and didn't think much of their answers.
Supporters insisted costs would be low. They said they would use $475,000 in federal money already appropriated for initial planning. Part of the planning would be to identify private donors who would keep the museum going.
``Over the next five fiscal years, no additional requests for federal funds will be made to support the establishment of the museum,'' Smithsonian undersecretary Constance Newman said in her reply to Helms. Newman didn't specify how much the museum would cost to operate each year and where that money would come from. by CNB