Obama Budget Calls For $100M Smithsonian Increase

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Smithsonian Institution would see a $100 million increase in President Barack Obama's budget plan to build a new museum on the National Mall, while making small cuts elsewhere at the museum complex. 

The 2012 fiscal year request Monday totals $861.5 million. The increase would fund construction of a black history museum. 

Congress has pledged to provide half the museum's $500 million cost. It is scheduled for completion in 2015. 

The Smithsonian's budget for salaries and facilities would decline about $5 million. To absorb the cut, the National Zoo will close its Kids Farm. The National Museum of the American Indian will replace a paid interpreters program with volunteers. A repatriation program that returns sacred objects to American Indian tribes will have a smaller budget for travel and consultants. 

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)