Acting at the request of Congressman Zach Wamp, Congress on Friday approved a bill to help the American Museum of Science and Energy maintain its status as a significant national museum and popular regional tourist attraction.

The legislation allows the museum to use volunteer workers and accept private donations, which it badly needs. It is part of an appropriations bill for the U.S. Departments of Labor and Health and Human Services that President Clinton is expected to sign shortly.

"AMSE is the second most visited site in the Knoxville area," said Wamp. "The museum has an incredible display of our nation's scientific resources and offers a very good collection of educational programs. It includes excellent exhibits on the Manhattan project that produced the Atomic bomb and won World War II and on the history of Oak Ridge," Wamp said.

Since the museum was founded in 1949, the federal government has paid for its operating cost, but the U.S. Department of Energy is phasing out federal support. "The bill Congress passed will help make sure that the museum stays on a solid financial foundation and can continue to be the great resource for the Oak Ridge area and our nation that it has been for 51 years," Wamp said.

Kaye Johnson, Oak Ridge National Laboratory project manager for the museum, said: "This is absolutely outstanding news. This is a major element in establishing the long-range stability of the museum. Getting this accomplished was not as easy as everybody thinks, but Congressman Wamp has the energy and the enthusiasm to get things done, and he has really gone the distance for us and for the whole Oak Ridge area. This shows the value of having an effective representative in Congress."

Wamp said, "I am confident that this bill will be signed into law so that the museum can receive the support it will need from the private sector. Until now the law has required that contributions to the museum must be passed on to the federal treasury. This measure will provide that money that is given to the AMSE will stay there and will be spent only for the museum.

"With the reduction in federal support, the museum will have to rely on volunteers to do some of the work that has been handled by federal employees," Wamp said. "This bill will give the museum the authority to use volunteers."

Wamp said: "Since 1949, more than 10 million people from all of our 50 states and 40 foreign countries have visited the museum, so there's no doubt that this is a treasure we need to preserve for future generations."

The 53,000 square-foot building that now houses the museum was built in 1975 and sits on 17.4 acre site in Oak Ridge. It includes a 312-seat auditorium, an 80-seat lecture room and a classroom laboratory.