Alan Simpson: “I thank the gentlewoman for yielding. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to this amendment which seeks to eliminate…”

“I thank the gentlewoman for yielding. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to this amendment which seeks to eliminate funding for the National Endowment for the Arts. While I support the gentleman's spending, this bill already significantly reduces funding including the NEA. The bill also requires--and this is what is important to me, frankly--that the NEA allocate at least 40 percent of its grant funding to State and local communities. Now, the gentleman mentioned the $24 billion that was given privately to the arts throughout the country. The problem is none of that $24 billion goes to support an arts organization in Jerome, Idaho; or in Shelley, Idaho; or in Sandpoint, Idaho. What I emphasize every time I talk to the director of the National Endowment for the Arts is that I am concerned about the arts in rural communities. I have gone out to communities throughout my district and met with these arts councils about what they do. Their funding is completely reliant--maybe completely is too broad a word--but substantially reliant on the grants that they get from the National Endowment for the Arts. Therefore, Mr. Chairman, I oppose this amendment. {time} 1315”