Tim Walberg: “Tonight I am offering an amendment that would reduce funding for the National Endowment for the Arts to fiscal year 2006…”

“Tonight I am offering an amendment that would reduce funding for the National Endowment for the Arts to fiscal year 2006 levels. In February, during the consideration of H.R. 1, I offered a similar amendment to cut NEA funding, which the House adopted. The underlying bill funds the National Endowment for the Arts at $135 million which is a $19.7 million reduction from last year's level. I commend the chairman and the committee for recognizing that this funding has precipitated at an unsustainable rate. Since 2008, the NEA has received increases of over $10 million each year, including $50 million in funding from the stimulus in 2009. These spending increases have coincided with annual trillion dollar deficits. My amendment would take funding levels back to fiscal year 2006 levels at $124.4 million. If accepted, this cut returns $10.6 million to the spending reduction account. I want you to know I believe in the fine arts, and of course I know that's defined by individual standards. In the past, I was privileged to serve on a symphony board for a time as the chairman of the finance committee. In my early years, I was brought to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra by my parents, on school trips and otherwise, and appreciate the impact the fine arts can have. Tramping through art museums is not foreign to me as well, and I enjoy much of what I see.…”