Political Quotes

“I rise in support of the Dicks- Slaughter-Shays-Leach-Price amendment to increase National Endowment for the Arts by $5 million and increase the National Endowment for the Humanities by $5 million. The dividend this Nation receives from the Endowment for the Arts and the Humanities far exceeds the investment we make with the limited Federal dollars. We could eliminate all funding for the endowments tomorrow, and the arts and humanities would survive. That's not the issue. The grants NEA provides don't make or break most theater productions, studio exhibitions or symphonic performances. What NEA does with its grants is to ensure that these performances, exhibits and productions are shared with greater audiences of Americans. Scholarly research on the humanities will continue without the NEH, but research, writings and creative thought on what it is to be an American, like the We the People initiative, the embodiment of who and what we are, and diffusion of this understanding and insight among Americans will suffer. Mr. Chairman, there is too much that divides us as a Nation. We need institutions like the NEA and the NEH, that find common ground through performances and pamphlets that inspire us to look past the parochial and appreciate greatness. Support the Dicks-Slaughter-Shays-Leach-Price amendment.”