[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 111 (Thursday, July 24, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1585]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page E1585]]
  DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 
                                  2004

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                               speech of

                          HON. JAMES P. MORAN

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 17, 2003

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill. (H.R. 2691) 
     making appropriations for the Department of the Interior and 
     related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 
     2004, and for other purposes:

  Mr. MORAN of Virginia. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong opposition to 
the amendment by my colleague from Colorado (Mr. Tancredo). Wildfires 
are a serious problem but we should not be undercutting an investment 
in our future. Build fewer roads in our national forests and I'll bet 
you'll have more money to fight forest fires and maybe even have fewer 
forest fires to fight.
  Mr. Chairman, this is a cynical amendment. Why target just the NEA? 
What has NEA done to deserve such spitefulness? Since its creation in 
1965, the NEA has issued more than tens of thousands of grants. Of this 
total, fewer than 20 have been considered controversial. Match that 20 
against grant recipients who received 35 of the past 46 National Book 
Awards, National Book Critics Circle Awards and Pulitzer Prizes in 
fiction and poetry since 1990.
  Match it against the grant recipients of PBS's Great Performances who 
were nominated for 121 Emmys and won 51 Emmys. The arts are vitally 
important to the intellectual and cultural growth of our nation. The 
contributions that the National Endowment for the Arts have made to 
such efforts are significant and should be permitted to continue at an 
even higher funding level. It has worked to enrich American life and 
culture by promoting knowledge of artistic endeavor, thought and 
culture throughout the nation. The endowment accomplishes this mission 
by providing grants for high-quality artistic projects.
  Great performances or small, NEA has supported hundreds of 
professional orchestras, dance companies, and nonprofit theaters, where 
before NEA's support there were none. As a member of the Subcommittee 
on Interior Appropriations, I have been privileged to learn more about 
the NEA through congressional hearings and outside witnesses. Federal 
funding for music, dance, theater, literature and visual arts is not 
just about quality of life; it's about investments to fulfill our human 
and economic potential.
  By directing funds toward culturally diverse, educational, community-
oriented programs, for example, we provide places where at-risk youth 
can express themselves creatively rather than destructively. The small 
seed money NEA provides is an investments in communities across the 
country that will pay us back many fold in rich dividends. Today, we 
have a chance to increase our investment funding for this worthwhile 
program, not retreat from it.
  I urge my colleagues to oppose this amendment.

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