Lynn C. Woolsey: “what an embarrassment. Once again, the House of Representatives is considering an appropriations bill that includes…”

“what an embarrassment. Once again, the House of Representatives is considering an appropriations bill that includes level funding for the arts, the humanities, museums and libraries, programs that teach us to think; programs that encourage us to feel and to see in a new way; to speak. The arts and the humanities help us to grow. The Slaughter-Dicks-Horn amendment to increase funds for the National Endowment for the Arts and the other programs is a small investment with a return as vast as one's imagination. Last year, we increased funding for the National Endowment for the first time since 1992, and this year we must increase the funding again. Anyone who has ever managed a budget knows that level funding means a decrease in funds. Opponents of the NEA cry 'fiscal discipline,' as if the richest nation in the world need be the most culturally impoverished. The dollars we invest in the NEA leverage matching grants and multiply many, many times over. The nonprofit arts industry generates more than $3 billion annually. It supports more than 1 million jobs. In fact, the arts industry is a money maker, not a money taker. In addition, funding for the NEA supports programs like Challenge America, which brings art projects to underserved areas across our Nation. It funds programs like Positive Alternatives for Youth, which lowers the rate of juvenile crime by creating artist-led after school programs for our youth.”