" NEA FUNDING BILL ON HOLD UNTIL SENATE DEBATE RESUMES IN SEPTEMBER"
1999-08-09 until 1999-08-09
National Essembly of State Arts Agencies
, , USA United States of America

The Senate and House adjourned for the summer recess on Friday, August 6, leaving the FY00 Interior Appropriations Bill pending on the Senate floor. When Congress reconvenes on September 8, funding for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and other programs in the Interior money bill will be back on the Senate agenda.

Before adjournment, the issue of NEA funding came up in the form of an amendment, sponsored by Sens. Robert Smith (R-NH) and John Ashcroft (R-MO), to eliminate all money in the bill for the NEA. The Smith-Ashcroft amendment was soundly defeated in the form of a motion to table which passed, 80-16.

In proposing the amendment, Smith explained that his objective was not to reform or restructure the NEA, but to close it down. He argued that federal funding for the National Endowment for the Arts is unconstitutional. Ashcroft joined Smith in speaking in support of their amendment.

More senators lined up to speak against the amendment and in support of the work of the NEA -- and the state arts agencies. Please take time to send a note of thanks to your senators listed here who went to the Senate floor to argue in favor of federal funding for the arts:

Illinois Dick Durbin (D)

Minnesota Paul Wellstone (D)

Nevada Harry Reid (D)

Virginia Charles Robb (D)

Washington Slade Gorton (R)

West Virginia Robert Byrd (D), John D. Rockefeller IV (D)

Those senators who voted against tabling the amendment represent the last line of opposition to federal arts funding in the U.S. Senate. They need to hear from their constituents who favor spending federal funds on the arts that their vote was a disappointment to voters back home.

Please review the list of those sixteen senators. If any are from your state, write and tell them that you disagree with their vote to support the elimination of NEA funds. Let them know how federal dollars make the arts possible for citizens in your state. Senators who voted against tabling the Smith-Ashcroft amendment to cut all NEA funding:

Alabama Jeff Sessions (R)

Arizona Jon L. Kyl (R), John McCain (R)

Arkansas Tim Hutchinson (R)

Florida Connie Mack (R)

Illinois Peter G. Fitzgerald (R)

Kansas Sam Brownback (R)

Kentucky Jim Bunning (R)

Missouri John Ashcroft (R)

Nebraska Chuck Hagel (R)

New Hampshire Robert Smith (R)

North Carolina Jesse Helms (R)

Oklahoma James M. Inhofe (R), Don Nickles (R)

South Carolina Strom Thurmond (R)

Texas Phil Gramm (R)

The appropriations bill pending Senate floor votes sets NEA funding at $99 million -- an increase of $1 million over the current budget level. An amendment with bipartisan sponsorship to add $4 million more to the NEA's appropriation is expected to come to the Senate floor in September.

The final funding level will be decided upon by a House-Senate conference committee. The House-passed bill keeps NEA funding at $98 million for next year.

Related Links:

National Endowment for the Arts

Indepth Arts Resources for the State of

Other Important Exhibitions in United States