Louise Slaughter: “these amendments would provide a funding increase to three agencies that most certainly deserve it: the National…”

“these amendments would provide a funding increase to three agencies that most certainly deserve it: the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services. In fiscal year 1996, the arts and humanities sustained massive funding cuts. The budgets of NEA and NEH were slashed by 40 percent. The Congressional Arts Caucus waged a successful battle to save both of them from annihilation, but neither one has fully recovered from the cuts. Last year, we won the first budget increase for the agencies in nearly a decade. The fiscal year 2001 budget contained an additional $7 million for the NEA's Challenge America initiative, as well as increases of $5 million and $2 million for NEH and IMLS respectively. It is time to reaffirm our Nation's commitment to the arts by providing another modest funding increase for NEA, NEH, and IMLS. Supporting the arts is not merely a matter of being high-minded. The arts produce very real benefits for individuals, for communities and for the Nation as a whole, with the greatest positive impact on our children. For example, data from the college entrance exam board shows that students who took 4 years or more of art and music classes outscored their peers on the SAT by more than 80 points in 1995, 1996 and 1997. The arts are an economic boon to communities.”