Political Quotes

“My amendment strikes $186.3 million in funding for the National Endowment for the Arts. According to its website, the NEA is the largest funder of the arts and arts education in communities nationwide. Now, this is all well and good. I am sure all of us here can appreciate the arts. Certainly, I attend my daughters' concerts. We have pictures hanging up in our home and pictures hanging up in my office. We bought them. We pay for our daughters' instruments. We pay for their instruction in music. We go to the plays, and we pay. However, again, we are $33 trillion in debt. We are heading for $36 trillion in the next 18 months. According to a recent report by Giving USA 2023, in 2022, giving to the arts, culture, and humanities is estimated at over $24 billion. The funding in this bill is a drop in the bucket compared to those private- sector contributions. Yet, it is still important to an America that is careening towards bankruptcy. Furthermore, there have been many debates about objectionable art funded by NEA grants including lewd or controversial topics. Our citizens, our bosses, and our constituents shouldn't have to be forced to pay for these things that they find objectionable. One current example is the NEA's current focus on equity, which only divides Americans using identity politics. One way to completely avoid that debate is to stop subsidizing any of these projects.…”