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REMARKS FOR
THE HONORABLE NORMAN Y. MINETA
SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION
AMERICA ON THE MOVE
NEWS CONFERENCE
WASHINGTON, D.C.
NOVEMBER 18, 2003
10AM
Good morning, everyone, and thank you, Secretary of the
Smithsonian Larry Small, for that generous introduction. I also want to thank
you for your visionary and passionate leadership here at the Smithsonian. It
has been invaluable.
Today we celebrate the culmination of more than five years of research,
planning, and the systematic tracking down of the pieces of an important part of
the American story – the story of transportation, the story of how we arrived at
this moment in history.
When you tour this exhibition very shortly, you will embark on a journey – no, an adventure – one that starts in my native California and takes you across the country, and across the decades as America grew up.
The historians and curators here at the National Museum of American History have gone to great lengths to create an interactive atmosphere that engages your senses – sight, sound, touch, and even smell!
And what exhibition on transportation would be complete if it didn’t go the extra mile, so to speak for our mobility impaired visitors?
For example, before this renovation, people who couldn’t navigate stairs used to have to wait for a guard to come and operate a lift before they could get near the 1401 locomotive. Now, a platform takes you right up to the side of it, so everyone can peer into its cab.
The curators also created 3D maps and drawings for the visually impaired. And Bud, the dog, is used throughout the show to engage children in the journey.
I think you will find discovering just how much transportation has sculpted our lives over the last century a very interesting and enjoyable experience.
Transportation has clearly driven the economic engine of the last century, and continues to do so today. And I am very proud of the recent third-quarter economic reports that showed the fastest pace of growth in nearly 20 years.
And now we stand at the threshold of a new chapter in the history of transportation. We are embarking on an adventure, exploring ways to improve transportation through innovation and technology.
“America on the Move” puts the role of transportation in forming our country and its economic growth in the proper perspective.
It is an honor and very rewarding for me to be here to unveil this exhibition. I remember when the idea was germinated with funding in TEA-21, and now I get to see it blossom as President Bush’s Secretary of Transportation. It is truly an honor.
Thank you for coming today. And I hope you will all take the time to experience this outstanding exhibition at the National Museum of American History.
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