[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 130 (Tuesday, October 2, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1771]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 A TRIBUTE TO BILL IVEY, CHAIRMAN OF THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT OF THE ARTS

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                            HON. BART STUPAK

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, October 2, 2001

  Mr. STUPAK. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Bill Ivey, 
Chairman of the National Endowment of the Arts. Bill grew up in 
Calumet, Michigan, a town in the Upper Peninsula in my district.
  It is with great pleasure that I note Bill Ivey's remarkable career 
achievements. In recent years controversy had surrounded the NEA. This 
controversy has led to strict reform and restructuring of the NEA. Bill 
has led this reform and was able to build bipartisan support for the 
arts in Congress. Congress responded by providing the first budget 
increases in eight years. Bill Ivey spent much of this time explaining 
and implementing changes needed at the NEA. In his three years running 
the National Endowment for the Arts, Bill methodically changed the 
agency from one that was constantly criticized to a bastion of 
bipartisan calmness.
  Bill Ivey's past experiences prepared him well for the job, including 
serving as Director of the Country Music Foundation for 25 years. His 
experience and focus uniquely qualified him to recognize the importance 
of cultural programs across the country not only in big cities but also 
in rural communities and small towns.
  Under his leadership the NEA began a program to distribute more grant 
monies to under-represented geographic areas. I receive many letters 
from local arts councils, senior centers, community theaters, youth 
programs and museums detailing the positive effect of NEA's programs 
have and how even a small amount of federal funding greatly impacts the 
quality of their programs. These reforms led by Bill deserve much of 
the credit of the new image of the NEA.
  Under Bill's direction of the NEA the ``Save America's Treasures'' 
program helped preserve the Calumet Theatre in Calumet, Michigan. 
Despite its remoteness, this remarkable theater once provided a stage 
for some of the greatest actors and actresses who traveled the country 
shortly after the turn of the century. Like many institutions of its 
kind, the theater fell on hard times but was rediscovered by farsighted 
local residents. Now it is the bright jewel of a national project. I 
thank Bill for his tireless efforts toward this goal.
  Bill has been not just in Washington and other large cities but he 
also visited the small towns of America witnessing the progress of the 
NEA. He believes that art should not just be in the big city but also 
rural America, For example, Bill visited Fraziers' Boathouse in 
Marquette, Michigan, and granted them $15,000 to Lake Superior Theater, 
Inc. to overhaul the lighting system in the boathouse theater.
  Bill can be proud to know that he leaves the NEA with a greatly 
improved reputation and solid Congressional support. I wish Bill the 
best at Vanderbilt University, and his service at the National 
Endowment for the Arts will be missed, just as I will miss working with 
my friend, the Honorable Bill Ivey.

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