Doug Bereuter: “I rise in support of the Ehlers amendment. We have had problems with the NEA because a few artists want to extend beyond…”

“I rise in support of the Ehlers amendment. We have had problems with the NEA because a few artists want to extend beyond what is acceptable with public funds. We have had great success with the State arts councils. I want to give them the funds they need to continue. There is a legitimate matter of debate about the use of public funds for art, but I believe that in a great civilization there has always been the use of public funds to support the arts. America is such a great civilization. I ask my colleagues to set aside their concerns and to help us move to a substantial situation of providing assistance to our State arts councils. Perhaps too much is allocated to the schools at the expense of the State arts councils, but this Ehlers amendment is a valid effort. I think it is important that we move in this direction. It is the solution in the long term. The national level will always be contentious. It is time to get the money to the State arts councils. They have done an extraordinary job in deciding how to spend their funds. I urge Members to support the Ehlers amendment to expedite this process to the final solution. The Ehlers amendments would replace the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) with a block grant program to the State art councils and public school districts. This Member has always been in favor of public funding for the arts. Every great civilization has always had public support of the arts.”