[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 79 (Tuesday, June 21, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: June 21, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                         NEA--AN OUTRAGE AGAIN

  (Mr. STEARNS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. STEARNS. Mr. Speaker, an article in this morning's Washington 
Times shines a bright light on the National Endowment for the Arts, and 
what we see is not a pretty picture.
  Year in, and year out, members of this body are told that the latest 
outrages funded by the NEA are aberrations, that the NEA is not 
responsible for the works of these so-called artists, and that it will 
not happen again.
  Well, it has happened again. The Walker Art Center in Minneapolis 
received $104,500 in matching NEA grants in 1993 and hosted the 
following piece of performance art. On March 5, Mr. Athey, who is HIV 
positive, began his show by piercing his body with needles. He then 
proceeded to cut designs into the back of another man on stage.
  Mr. Athey blotted the blood from the man's back with paper towels and 
proceeded to use a clothesline to run the bloody towels over his 
shocked audience. The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported that many in 
the audience scattered in near-panic trying to avoid the dripping 
blood.
  As a famous actor was fond of saying, ``Here we go again.'' It is 
obvious that something needs to be done about the NEA. Public outcry 
has not compelled the NEA to distribute its grants with perceptions of 
common decency in mind. Nor have mere words from Congress. It is time 
to send the NEA a message it cannot ignore. Please join me in voting to 
cut funding for the NEA.

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