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United States Senate
SELECT COMMITTEE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS
WASHINGTON, DC 20510-6450

DANIEL J. EVANS, WASHINGTON, VICE-CHAIRMAN

JOHN MELCHER, MONTANA
DENNIS DeCONCINI, ARIZONA
QUENTIN N. BURDICK, NORTH DAKOTA
THOMAS A. DASCHLE, SOUTH DAKOTA
FRANK H. MURKOWSKI, ALASKA
JOHN McCAIN, ARIZONA

ALAN R. PARKER, STAFF DIRECTOR
PATRICIA M. ZELL, CHIEF COUNSEL
JOE MENTO, JR., MINORITY COUNSEL
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April 18, 1988

The Honorable Robert McCormick Adams
Secretary
Smithsonian Institution
Washington, D.C. 20560

Dear Secretary Adams:

In an effort to be responsive to your letter of April 12th, as well as to ascertain the manner in which we might continue our joint efforts, I have undertaken a review of the discussions that we have engaged in over the past year relative to the establishment of the National Museum of the American Indian within the Smithsonian Institution, and have, in addition, reviewed the testimony of the Smithsonian Institution that was presented to the joint hearing of the Select Committee on Indian Affairs and the Committee on Rules and Administration on November 12, 1987.

The process of developing legislation is, as you know, a continually evolving and dynamic process that seeks as its objective to achieve solutions to problems which maximize the potential for consensus and agreement among affected communities of interest. It is toward that end, that I have sought to work with the Smithsonian Institution, the Board of Trustees of the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation, the New York Congressional delegation, the Governor of New York, the Attorney General of New York, and the Mayor of the City of New York to develop a solution that will assure the preservation and enhancement of what is acknowledged to be one of the world's preeminent collections of Native American objects and artifacts. It is my belief that the development of the proposal that was presented to you on April 12, 1988 constitutes what can only be viewed as the first step in the evolution of a legislative initiative that will constitute the charter of the National Museum of the American Indian. In order that we may proceed with the next step, I look forward to meeting with you in the very near future to continue our discussions that began nearly a year ago.

First, I cannot take exception with your description of the world-renowned status of the Smithsonian's own Native American collection, for as you stated in your November 12, 1987 testimony before the committee,