Add families who plan to visit Washington, D.C. for their summer vacation to the list of people affected by the sequester. According to The Washington Post
The Smithsonian Institution will be closing small exhibit area sections in the African Art Museum, the Smithsonian Castle and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden beginning Wednesday due to the across the board budget cuts known as sequestration.
The closures, announced by Secretary Wayne Clough after a Board of Regents meeting Monday, are part of $42 million in cuts that began March 1 and extend through Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year. They are part of a reduction in a security contract that supplements the Smithsonian security force . . .
Initial cuts to travel and building maintenance as well as a hiring freeze were announced when the sequester first took effect. Gallery closures on a “rolling basis” were announced earlier this month, but Smithsonian spokeswoman Linda St. Thomas said the three closures, which will remain in effect until the end of the fiscal year or until Congress enacts new legislation . . .
http://www.washingtonpost.com/...
For those of you who have not been to the Smithsonian, the Smithsonian is one of the few museums in the country where admission is free. Every summer Washington, D.C. is flooded with tourists, many of whom are families who traveled to Washington, D.C. for their summer vacation. Most of these tourists spend a least some time in the Smithsonian, which is a group of museums. Each museum covers a different field, and are designed to appeal to a wide variety of interests. Among the museums are the American History Museum, the Natural History Museum and the Air and Space Museum.
That the museums are free allows people of limited means to visit them. Visiting the museums is often fun for the children who get to visit them and encourages these children to continue learning about topics of interest to them.
While it appears from the article that the more popular attractions have been spared from these cuts, the cuts are very real as sections of the museums are closed, denying people who want to see those exhibits access to them.
It also appears that the cuts announced are not the end of the cuts. According to The Washington Post,
Planning for the next fiscal year, which could involve larger cuts, will begin in the summer if the sequester continues, Clough said.
.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/...
Night Cat has fond memories as a child of visiting the Smithsonian. It is a shame that the U.S. Congress has chosen to cut funding for the Smithsonian rather than asking the rich and corporations to pay a little more.