Tom Harkin: “let me just say that we have a lot of budding artists in Iowa, a lot of them musicians. I can tell you, when the Chamber…”

“let me just say that we have a lot of budding artists in Iowa, a lot of them musicians. I can tell you, when the Chamber Music of America came out and spent 2 years in our small towns, it was wonderful. These wonderful artists went to these small towns. They got these kids excited about music and about chamber music. I can't tell you how many hundreds of Iowa kids, I say to the Senator from Texas, were enthused and got involved in music and are progressing now because of that. That would not have happened without the National Endowment for the Arts. It just simply could not have been funded by the State and wouldn't have been, and I don't think the State of Texas would have funded it either. Yes, there are a lot of budding artists out there, and that is why we need a national program to reach out to these budding artists.”