Christopher Shays: “The government has an important role in funding the arts. Two years ago some of us thought we could combine two good…”

“The government has an important role in funding the arts. Two years ago some of us thought we could combine two good principles; fund the arts, but do it by replacing the NEA with a block grant directly to the State arts commissions. We thought we had a viable compromise that would end the annual debate; an honorable effort to broaden the base. That failed. The block grants are not viable. We need to fund the NEA and we need to increase the funding for the NEA. I appreciate the efforts of my colleague from Connecticut in making sure that will happen.”