Several members of Congress have called for a presidential commission to study the formation of a “melting pot museum” in Washington to tell the history of immigration and migration that formed the nation.
Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.) introduced legislation July 7 that calls for studying the creation of a National Museum of the American People without any federal taxpayer funds. The bill had 11 other co-sponsors.
A New York-based coalition pushing the idea said more than 140 ethnic and minority groups support the museum’s creation. They include people of Chinese, Arab, German, Jewish and Irish descent, among others.
Sam Eskenazi is the director of the coalition behind the museum push; he is a retired federal employee who has worked at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. — jta