Susan Davis: “I rise in support of restoring funding for the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the…”

“I rise in support of restoring funding for the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities. While the proposed increases still will not return the support we knew in 1995, it is so important to the children of our country that we make this progress. I want to cite what many of my colleagues have talked about today. Many people think of the NEA and the NEH grants as large grants to communities, but, actually, what we have are a number of grants that go to small organizations. I think even the fact that they are out there really inspires many, many organizations to put forth initiatives that they otherwise would never have put together, would never have explored. In San Diego, we have many, many connections and many, many links. The National Endowment for the Arts supports major organizations in my area, like the San Diego Opera Association in its symphony outreach to students and the Old Globe Theater in their Teatro Meta program. We also have a Challenge America grant, which enabled the San Diego Youth & Community Services to artist-led activities that link students in the Teen Connection program with actors from the La Jolla Playhouse and the Diversionary Theater.”