Asa Hutchinson: “I rise to offer my enthusiastic support for the Federal-State Partnership of the National Endowment for the Humanities.…”

“I rise to offer my enthusiastic support for the Federal-State Partnership of the National Endowment for the Humanities. The Federal-State Partnership is a collaborative endeavor of the NEH and fifty-six state humanities councils. Its mission is to ensure that all of the nation's citizens, wherever they may live, benefit from locally designed humanities programs that are crafted with the concerns and needs of each state's citizens in mind. This partnership channels federal funds directly to the states so they can grant money to local areas where they will have the greatest benefits. The results that I have seen are quite impressive. The federal funds that go to the Arkansas Humanities Council are channeled to all parts of our state, impacting both large and small communities. A grant given to Deer, Arkansas illustrates this very well. Deer is a very small rural town in the hills of Newton County that received money for a program to purchase books that encourages parents and students to read together. They will also have a week-long event that celebrates the area's cultural heritage. Mr. Chairman, I commend the chairman of the Interior Appropriations subcommittee for sustaining the funding for the Federal-State Partnership.”