Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, here we go again. All we have to do is mention NEA and my friends, the gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Crane] and the gentleman from Florida [Mr. Stearns], go into orbit. They are determined to immortalize Maplethorpe and Serrano, to make them as famous as Michelangelo in order to kill the NEA, which I think essentially is what they want to do. The gentleman from Florida [Mr. Stearns] says his amendment is a 9-percent cut. On the contrary, for remainder of this year, with the time remaining and the amount of funds that are remaining, it amounts to a 17-percent cut, but really when they talk about Maplethorpe and Serrano, which is the fundamental stain that bases their amendments. How many people saw the Maplethorpe and Serrano exhibit under NEA grants? Not many. Serrano was shown at one gallery, a South Carolina gallery. Maplethorpe at two galleries, three museums. How many people got to see these exhibits? And yet, because of Maplethorpe and Serrano, the sponsors of this amendment want to take NEA funds from hundreds of museums throughout the country serving millions of people from scores of symphony orchestras and theaters and schools where children learn about art and about artists.”