Nancy Pelosi: “I rise in great respect for the gentleman from Ohio [Mr. Regula], the distinguished chairman of the subcommittee. I…”

“I rise in great respect for the gentleman from Ohio [Mr. Regula], the distinguished chairman of the subcommittee. I appreciate his fine work in bringing this legislation to the floor. And I join my colleagues in expressing great esteem for our colleague, the gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Yates], for the great tradition that he has brought to this Congress of support for the arts and support for preserving our national and natural heritage as well. It is indeed an honor for every one of us who serves in this body to call him 'colleague.' So it is with regret that I rise to oppose an amendment that will come up later, the Ehlers amendment, and hope it will not be part of this legislation at the end of the day. As I am fond of saying in this Chamber, there are so many fig leaves around here that it is beginning to look like the Garden of Eden. Today's fig leaf is the Ehlers amendment, which is supposed to give cover to those who voted to eliminate the National Endowment for the Arts, but alas, it is a transparent fig leaf.”