[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 100 (Tuesday, July 15, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1431]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


  DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 
                                  1998

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                            HON. JACK QUINN

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, July 11, 1997

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill, H.R. 2107, making 
     appropriations for the Department of the Interior and related 
     agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1998, and 
     for other purposes:

  Mr. QUINN. Mr. Chairman, I rise today to express my concern over the 
recent cuts that we have allowed to be made to the National Endowments 
for the Arts. This program has a certain undeniable value that few 
other federally funded programs do. Art and artistically gifted people 
are often the cornerstones of communities, from campside storytelling 
to local movie theaters to large metropolitan galleries housing 
treasured symbols of our national and world culture. The cuts that have 
been made to the NEA will have a longlasting effect on us all, even if 
we don't take advantage of their direct benefits. I have been and will 
continue to be a strong supporter of the arts and other cultural 
resources.
  The pictures that hand along the tunnel wall leading from House 
Office Buildings to the Capitol is something that most of us pass on a 
regular basis. Some of these efforts might have been submitted by young 
people from your own constituencies. It is my belief that most of us 
would have trouble denying these bright and eager minds the opportunity 
to express themselves and stymie their developments as mature and 
confident individuals which comes about through their self expression. 
It might also be difficult to travel back to your districts and see 
vacant theaters and the galleries where once entire communities found 
common ground and were exposed to the artistic genius that their region 
has helped produce.
  The cost of this program equates to less than two hundredths of 1 
percent of the Federal budget, costing American taxpayers just 69 cents 
per year. There is room in our balanced budget for these programs.
  I personally voted against the block grant amendment submitted by my 
colleague Vernon Elhers because I thought that it did not fully deal 
with the issue as soundly as I would have liked. The bottom line Mr. 
Chairman is that we must foster artistic expression with our youth.