On 6 November 2007, House of Representatives delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) introduced HR 4098, “The Smithsonian Modernization Act of 2007.” The legislation, if passed, would completely restructure the Smithsonian Institution’s governing board. Currently, the Board of Regents consists of 17 members, including three Senators, three Representatives, the Vice President, and the Chief Justice of the United States. Norton proposes increasing the board to 21 members – all private citizens, rather than public officials, appointed by the President.

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On 8 November 2007, the Natural Science Collections Alliance sent a letter to the leadership of the House and Senate Subcommittees on Interior, Environment and Related Agency Appropriations. The letter acknowledged both subcommittee’s prior support for the US Geological Survey and the National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII), and encouraged the subcommittees to do all they can to restore proposed fiscal year 2008 cuts to the NBII program.

The text of the letter follows.
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