Jeff Flake: “I find it curious when it's often said that the gentleman or somebody does not support the arts, does not support…”

“I find it curious when it's often said that the gentleman or somebody does not support the arts, does not support education. What would be said if there was a local individual, a philanthropist who gave $10 million to a local university, but did not believe that it was the Federal Government's place to do so? Would that person support education or not? If this is the standard by which people are judged, perhaps not. But I would submit that it's not a very good standard. Just because you don't believe that it's the Federal Government's place, in this case, to favor what is perhaps the best known ballet company in the country, with net assets of more than $15 million, over perhaps local ballet companies that could maybe use more support. How do we make that choice here? It just doesn't seem right to me. We have over 1,300 earmarks in this appropriation bill. I just don't know when Congress is going to draw the line. For the average American taxpayer, I would argue that this $150,000 to the American Ballet Company is too much, or in this case, maybe too, too much.”