Political Quotes

“I rise in opposition to the Ehlers amendment because it is designed to gut the NEA. The National Association of State Arts Agencies, which is the organization that represents the State arts agencies that would get these block grants, is strongly opposed to the Ehlers amendment because they know that it will not help them provide quality programs to young people. These arts agencies benefit from NEA's experience and their leadership in creating partnerships with schools and universities across the country. They cannot do that on their own and certainly not with the small amount of money they would get from the Ehlers proposal. Think about this. Under the Ehlers proposal, each school board would get about $3,000, or $1 per child. That is not going to work. It is almost laughable. No wonder that they oppose it. Further, this amendment requires the Department of Education to create a new bureaucracy to administer the program. DOE does not have any competitive grant programs by subject area now. NEA has the staff expertise. DOE does not. Let us not pretend that a vote for the Ehlers amendment represents a commitment to arts in this country. These State art agencies rely upon Federal leadership and direct funding of national initiatives to attract private, corporate, and foundation support, especially from funders who can be encouraged to provide matching support. That is why the major corporations have already told us they will not fill this vacuum.”