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Concurrent Resolution in the House and the Senate expressing the sense of the Congress that it would welcome the acquisition.

[[underline]] Adequate Appropriations [[/underline]]

Smithsonian staff currently estimate that were the Institution to assume responsibility for the Museum of African Art at the beginning of Fiscal Year 1979 (October 1, 1978), an amount of approximately, $800,000 and 30 federal positions, not including temporary and part-time personnel, should be included in the Institution's budget request to the Office of Management and Budget in September, 1977.  This figure, with which Warren Robbins generally concurs, comprises some $700,000 for necessary "salaries and expenses," plus needed improvements to the Museum's physical plant to ensure its satisfactory condition.  In Fiscal Year 1976, the last complete budget year, the Museum spent approximately $500,000.  The difference between these figures represents some staff growth, the application of Federal pay scales, a modest increase for security, and an estimate for intervening inflation.

With the expiration of a five year grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities at the beginning of Fiscal Year 1976, one of the major underpinnings of the Museum's operating budget was removed.  During Fiscal Year 1976, (July 1, 1975 to June 30, 1976) a small deficit accrued,