Political Quotes

“I happen to believe that Jane Alexander has done a brilliant job at NEA--a remarkable individual, truly a national treasure. I recall the specific questions being raised about these issues. Certainly legitimate questions should be raised about how well an agency functions, whether or not we are getting much for the dollar for the purposes intended, or how much gets consumed by administrative costs. I think that is a legitimate question raised in ways in which we make an agency function better. Certainly we have seen this administration focus a great deal of its attention on so-called ``reinvention of Government''--trying to streamline 180,000 fewer jobs at the Federal level, and fewer pages of Federal regulations. I think we all applaud that. I think it is a legitimate issue to look to see how we can make this agency perform better so that the American people will be the greater beneficiary, if you will, of the role of and the purpose of the NEA.”