[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 131 (Friday, October 1, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2016]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            PULL FEDERAL FUNDING FROM BROOKLYN MUSEUM OF ART

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JOHN E. SWEENEY

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, October 1, 1999

  Mr. SWEENEY. Mr. Speaker, today I am introducing a resolution along 
with Mr. Fossella, that calls for an elimination of federal funds for 
the Brooklyn Museum of Art if it proceeds with an exhibit that 
desecrates religion.
  The Museum, which has come under fire for using taxpayer money to 
host an exhibit featuring a portrait of the Virgin Mary smeared with 
elephant dung, has received more than $700,000 from the National 
Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities 
over the past three years.
  John Cardinal O'Connor, in published new accounts, called the exhibit 
``an attack on religion itself and, in a special way, on the Catholic 
Church.'' In fact, it is an is an affront to the more than one billion 
Catholics worldwide!
  In addition to the Virgin Mary painting, the art show titled, 
``Sensation: Young British Artists from the Saatchi Collection,'' also 
features a portrait of a convicted child murderer fashioned from small 
hand prints. Do we really want to glorify convicted murderers?!
  I wholeheartedly agree with my colleague, Mr. Fossella, who describes 
the exhibit as ``little more than publicly-funded bigotry.'' He was 
correct in saying that ``the American people have a right to know that 
their tax dollars are not being used to desecrate religion and promote 
bigotry.''
  When taxpayers decide to support the arts, I doubt these are the 
kinds of exhibits they have in mind. Our resolution will give a voice 
to the millions of Americans who are disgusted that they are being 
forced to fund this offensive exhibit. Furthermore, I believe that most 
of my constituents would join me in saying that this exhibit goes too 
far and is devoid of culturally redeeming value, by any standard.
  Our federal tax dollars should not be spent on images that glorify 
immoral and criminal behavior. They should be used to defend not 
offend. Further, if we are to subsidize the expression of art, let that 
expression carry a message of education, not defecation.
  We have no obligation to call it art and the American people don't 
have to subsidize it. While these so-called artists have a right to 
create their ``art,'' and galleries have a right to display it, the 
First Amendment does not guarantee that the American people must 
subsidize it.
  The City of New York has threatened to pull the museum's funding, and 
so too should the federal government.
  Again, I urge my colleagues to continue to cosponsor this important 
resolution.

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