Ending ‘Willful Neglect’: Cornyn-sponsored bill to build National Latino museum closer to passage – By Elizabeth Thompson (Dallas Morning News) / Nov 17 2020
Latinos are a crucial part of American and Texas history, but have not gotten Smithsonian spotlight recognition. This bill attempts to right that wrong.
Over 25 years ago, a Smithsonian report titled “Willful Neglect” faulted the absence of Latinos from almost every aspect of the institution. Still striving to correct that, The National Museum of the American Latino got one step closer in Congress to becoming a reality Tuesday.
The Senate Committee on Rules and Administration held a hearing for legislation creating the museum, introduced by Texas Sen. John Cornyn, a Republican, and New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez, a Democrat. After the committee votes to send the bill to the Senate floor, the Senate can vote to create a museum at the Smithsonian Institution to honor Latino Americans’ contributions to the United States. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz sits on the committee.
The bill has garnered bipartisan support in the Senate with 45 cosponsors — including six Republicans. Partner legislation to the bill passed the House of Representatives unanimously earlier this year.
Hispanic and Latino Americans make up the largest ethnic minority in the United States as 18% of the population. As of 2017, Texas had an estimated 11.1 million Hispanic and Latino residents, and they are on the path to become the state’s largest ethnic population as soon as 2022.
