BREAKING LEGISLATIVE NEWS

NOW IS THE TIME TO STAND WITH OUR ZOOS AND AQUARIUMS

The jobs bill recently passed by the House of Representatives reprises very disturbing wording from last year’s stimulus bill (Section 1604): “None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available in this Act may be used by any State or local government, or any other private entity, for any casino or other gambling establishment, aquarium, zoo, golf course or swimming pool.”

This provision is misguided, damaging and contemptuous of the public’s love of and loyalty to zoos and aquariums. Further, should this bill be passed by the Senate and become law, it would set a terrible precedent by equating valuable educational and conservation institutions, and important members of our country’s great museum community, with casinos, swimming pools and golf courses. We must do all we can to ensure that this portion of the House bill is excised from the final bill. The words “zoos and aquariums” could easily be expanded to include “art museums” or “children’s museums” or any other kind of museum in subsequent legislation or in subsequent versions of this bill.

Both the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) and AAM have provided sample letters on our websites (www.aza.org and www.speakupformuseums.org.) I urge you to write or call your representatives in the House and Senate, and I hope you in turn will also urge your staff and the members of your board of trustees to call or write their representatives in Congress.

We must act quickly to get behind our colleagues at America’s great zoos and aquariums.