{"id":25318,"date":"2026-09-08T21:13:18","date_gmt":"2026-09-09T01:13:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/?p=25318"},"modified":"2026-09-08T21:13:18","modified_gmt":"2026-09-09T01:13:18","slug":"merkley-statement-on-smithsonian-secretary-lonnie-g-bunch-iii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/es\/merkley-statement-on-smithsonian-secretary-lonnie-g-bunch-iii\/","title":{"rendered":"Merkley Statement on Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>WASHINGTON, DC \u2013 Today, Oregon\u2019s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley \u2013 the lead Democrat on the Interior Appropriations Subcommittee which oversees federal funding for the Smithsonian Institution \u2013 released the following statement after the Institution announced Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III would be retiring after a five-decade career as a museum leader, historian, and educator:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><strong>\u201cAs Secretary of the Smithsonian, Lonnie Bunch sought to make the Institution more than a place for tourists to see artifacts, and he succeeded by ensuring the collections reflect the vastness of the American experience. As the first historian to serve as Secretary, Lonnie brought studied research and independence to extend the Institution\u2019s mission to share America\u2019s journey in all its dimensions with visitors across the country and the world. As his crown jewel, he brought the National Museum of African American History and Culture from an idea to an extraordinary addition to the National Mall, establishing an enduring institution to tell the story of the African-American experience as an integral part of the American experience.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>\u201cLonnie\u2019s legacy will be standing up for the Smithsonian\u2019s independence and dedication to telling the whole American story. I congratulate Lonnie on an incredible career \u2013 including nearly 40 years at the Smithsonian \u2013 and thank him for his leadership and wisdom in telling the complete American story.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>As an independent institution, the Smithsonian Board of Regents is responsible for choosing the next Secretary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">###<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>WASHINGTON, DC \u2013 Today, Oregon\u2019s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley \u2013 the lead Democrat on the Interior Appropriations Subcommittee which oversees federal funding for the Smithsonian Institution \u2013 released the following statement after the Institution announced Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III would be retiring after a five-decade career as a museum leader, historian, and educator: \u201cAs [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":24864,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[40],"class_list":["post-25318","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-press-releases","tag-education"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Merkley Statement on Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie G. 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