Political Quotes

“I rise in support of the arts but in strong opposition to the Ehlers amendment which at its best is an untested way of handling arts funding. The NEA is indeed a lightening rod. It has some basic good ideas. I give them a lot of credit for that. But this concept is less than 24 hours old at this point. It has not been tested across the country. Virtually nobody really understands what is in it. In addition, it is a travesty that we are not in this body voting on NEA funding, which every single Member knows would be reinstated to the exact amount it got last year if we were given that opportunity, because of legislative process and procedures that has been avoided. The bottom line is that most groups in this country that I have been in touch with through fax, by telephone call, whatever, are in opposition to this amendment. That goes all the way from the Conference of Mayors to arts groups in general to business leaders to State arts agencies, all of whom are saying this is not the way to proceed. So it is a dilemma for those of us who support the arts. I oppose the Ehlers amendment. I believe that we must move ahead with good arts funding by the Senate and by the White House.”