[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 192 (Thursday, December 17, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S13377-S13379]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         JOHN BRADEMAS CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF CONGRESS REPORT

  Mr. KERRY. Mr. President, from the Marshall Plan to tsunami relief, 
America's arsenal has always been most powerful when we have marshaled 
not just the force of our arms but the power of our ideals. It is no 
secret that for 8 recent years, the United States seemed to have broken 
with some of our best tradition and time-honored values--and it set 
back our security to be so isolated in the world. I have said many 
times that even the most powerful Nation needs some friends on this 
planet. Now, 1 year into President Obama's administration, the time is 
right for a robust public diplomacy to advance our interests in the 
world and to enhance our national security. That is the conclusion of a 
new report from New York University's John Brademas Center for the 
Study of Congress.
  The center, well known to the Senate for its research and 
recommendations for new perspectives on public policies, recommends in 
its report that international arts and cultural exchanges be 
incorporated more fully into the planning strategies of U.S. 
policymakers.
  Mr. President, this is a timely and important study. I recommend it 
to the Senate and ask that it be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

  Moving Forward: A Renewed Role for American Arts and Artists in the 
                               Global Age

       The 2008 election of Barack Obama as the 44th President of 
     the United States has offered an historic opportunity for the 
     renewal of faith in the American political system and 
     restoration of America's image around the world. In January 
     2009, the John Brademas Center of the NYU Wagner convened a 
     group of experts to explore the public policy implications 
     for American arts and culture of a renewed focus on U. S. 
     public diplomacy and issued a call for an expansion of 
     international arts and cultural exchanges in the service of 
     this new direction. The following report is the result of 
     their expert opinions and deliberations.
       The mission of the John Brademas Center for the Study of 
     Congress is to increase the understanding of Congress--its 
     role in making policy and its powers, processes, and 
     responsibilities. The Center's nonpartisan work reaches 
     scholars, students, public servants, policy makers and the 
     general public. The Center conducts research, sponsors 
     student internships, organizes academic conferences and 
     public symposia, and hosts policy addresses by Members of 
     Congress. As a part of the New York University's Robert F. 
     Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, the Center strives 
     to help the next generation of public service leaders develop 
     a deeper understanding of how and why Congress makes 
     decisions. It is named for its founder, NYU President 
     Emeritus John Brademas, who served in the U.S. House of 
     Representatives for 22 years (1959-81).
       The Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service of 
     New York University is a leadership school of public policy, 
     urban planning and non-profit management whose faculty 
     members are widely recognized for reframing the way people 
     understand and act on issues of public importance, and whose 
     graduates are bold, well-prepared change makers who expertly 
     navigate real-world complexity and produce results that 
     matter.
       This report has been prepared and edited by Michael F. 
     DiNiscia and Thomas M. McIntyre of the John Brademas Center 
     and Professor Ruth Ann Stewart of the Robert F. Wagner 
     Graduate School, New York University.


                           EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

       Over the past decade, studies have shown that public 
     opinion in other countries--particularly in the Islamic 
     world--has taken an increasingly unfavorable view of the 
     government and foreign policy of the United States. Yet 
     international opinion about the values and culture of the 
     United States, as distinct from government policies, has 
     remained more positive according to the most recent surveys 
     conducted by the non-partisan Pew Global Attitudes Project 
     even in Middle Eastern countries. The inclination to view the 
     fundamental ideals of American society as positive provides a 
     valuable opening for policymakers to utilize the arts and 
     culture both to advance America's international interests and 
     enhance the cultural experience of its citizens and their 
     understanding of America's place in a rapidly changing world.
       To these ends, this report recommends that international 
     arts and cultural exchanges be integrated into the planning 
     strategies of U.S. policymakers as a key element of public 
     diplomacy. History has proven that a robust public diplomacy 
     is essential to U.S. national security and the promotion of 
     American interests around the globe. The arts community has 
     observed firsthand the value of international artistic 
     exchanges in promoting moderation and tolerance among widely 
     diverse religious and cultural groups.
       Recognizing the fiscal constraints imposed by the current 
     economic downturn, the report advises policymakers and the 
     arts community to first focus on new and better ways to 
     utilize arts and cultural exchange initiatives that are 
     currently underway in both the private and governmental 
     sectors.

[[Page S13378]]

       As responsibility for America's public diplomacy 
     initiatives is shared among the White House, National 
     Security Council, Department of State, Congress, National 
     Endowment for the Arts (NEA), National Endowment for the 
     Humanities (NEH), Institute of Museum and Library Services, 
     and other Federal agencies, this report offers specific 
     suggestions and recommendations for fostering greater 
     interagency cooperation in the integration of arts and 
     cultural exchanges into their respective strategies.
       At the same time, American arts groups feel a 
     responsibility for promoting an understanding of the vibrancy 
     of arts and culture in our country that both animates our 
     democracy and nourishes international exchanges and America's 
     image. Thus, the report recommends a national conversation on 
     the arts generally and their centrality to the quality of 
     American life both home and abroad.


               A NATIONAL CONVENING ON CULTURAL DIPLOMACY

       We recommend that a National Convening on Cultural 
     Diplomacy be held in Washington, DC to bring together 
     policymakers and leaders in the arts community. Such a 
     meeting would be a way of directly engaging artists, at a 
     time of domestic and international difficulty, in the efforts 
     to tell anew America's story and expand and to deepen our 
     country's understanding of foreign societies and the value of 
     cultural diplomacy to the security and quality of American 
     life.
       The Convening would attempt to engage the relevant agencies 
     of the Federal Government to make arts and cultural exchanges 
     a strategic part of U.S. public diplomacy. While the meeting 
     could be best organized by one or more nonprofit 
     organizations working in this field, it would benefit greatly 
     from the support and collaboration of the U.S. Department of 
     State as the lead Federal agency promoting international 
     exchanges.
       We believe that the meeting would be greatly enhanced by 
     the inclusion of representatives from other countries who are 
     leaders of international cultural initiatives.
       We believe such a meeting, drawing together policy makers, 
     artists, scholars and representatives of professional service 
     organizations, foundations, and other nonprofit as well as 
     for-profit groups involved in the arts, would provide an 
     agenda for Congress and the Administration to build on 
     current resources and programs to expand international arts 
     and cultural exchanges--in both directions--in the service of 
     America's national security and quality of life.


                 BUILDING DEEPER AND BROADER EXCHANGES

       We believe it is critical that international arts and 
     cultural exchanges be two-way, person-to-person endeavors in 
     order to promote the human connection and that such 
     connections be sustained over time and not just episodic 
     events, as too often has been the case. As an example, we 
     recommend that visual arts presentations include an 
     educational component and performing arts master classes to 
     strengthen the value of these face-to-face interactions.
       We believe that given the appropriate level of funding and 
     commitment long term, cultural diplomacy programs can 
     demonstrate--using evidence-based evaluation--their success 
     and effectiveness in promoting the best aspects of America's 
     culture and democracy.
       American culture is rich in its diversity and demographic 
     make-up. Through the recruitment and exchange of outstanding 
     representatives of all of America's many cultures, we can 
     demonstrate the multicultural nature of American society at 
     its best, presenting a vision of openness and freedom of 
     expression to societies where such opportunities are often 
     lacking. Similarly, we urge a public diplomacy policy that 
     welcomes the cultures of others to our shores.
       We believe that cultural exchanges must not only be two-way 
     but also sensitive to local needs, practices, and aspirations 
     in selecting the type of American art to promote in a given 
     country or region. The Internet has opened up to the world 
     the rich variety of art and artists the U.S. has to offer and 
     we should seek to meet those expectations and interests 
     including for popular culture and the nonconventional.
       It would seem that a priority for arts and cultural 
     exchanges would be with countries with which the United 
     States has limited official relations as well as with 
     countries where there is a low level of travel or interaction 
     at the citizen level.
       We think cultural exchanges that focus on restoration and 
     preservation projects are especially productive as would be 
     the exchange of experts in the areas of performing arts 
     administration, museum policies and techniques, etc. 
     Technical assistance exchanges have a long history of helping 
     other countries to celebrate their heritage and promote 
     tolerance between nations while at the same time giving 
     Americans opportunities to learn about other cultures.
       In the past, cultural exchanges organized by the Federal 
     Government have on occasion raised suspicions that artists 
     had compromised their artistic integrity. We believe in the 
     importance of government at all levels--federal, state and 
     local--working with nonprofits and NGOs both at home and in 
     foreign countries to avoid the appearance that cultural 
     exchanges are contrived solely to serve U.S. foreign policy 
     interests rather than the intended purpose of furthering 
     mutual understanding. To that end, we urge that the 
     international exchange process not be centralized in or 
     overly coordinated at the national level but instead 
     structured to draw in artists and arts groups directly at 
     all levels.


                                RESEARCH

       Policymakers need credible evidence to help them determine 
     the merits and value of expanding international exchange 
     programs. We believe that a National Convening on Cultural 
     Diplomacy would provide the appropriate forum for assembling 
     a body of expert testimony and current and directed research 
     that would facilitate a clear and focused examination of 
     potential outcomes.
       We believe it would be beneficial to such deliberations if 
     a comprehensive inventory and review were undertaken of 
     current programs by federal, state, and local governments and 
     private groups in the international arts and cultural 
     exchange area.
       We recommend that a State Dept Working Group on Cultural 
     Diplomacy be charged with responsibility for coordinating the 
     effort to collect, examine and evaluate relevant reports and 
     data generated by both government and civil society 
     organizations as supplemented and supported by the 
     Congressional Research Service, private foundations, and 
     scholarly research efforts sponsored by the National 
     Endowment for the Arts (NEA), National Endowment for the 
     Humanities (NEH), and Institute of Museum and Library 
     Services (IMLS).
       We believe that a particularly productive part of the 
     research process would be the opportunity to document actual 
     experiences and impacts of both past and on-going cultural 
     exchanges, especially the person-to-person encounters that 
     have well established track records for generating 
     significant and measurable goodwill toward the United States.
       We believe that verification of such successes would not 
     only help substantiate the case for international art and 
     cultural exchanges as an important part of public diplomacy 
     but would also enable us to identify and evaluate best 
     practices in the field.
       It is our hope that private foundations would support the 
     research process and, working in collaboration with the arts 
     community, help to determine a series of metrics for not only 
     evaluating international programs but the adequacy as well of 
     resources and work opportunities for the American artists and 
     institutions who would fuel such efforts.
       We recommend that the State Department be encouraged to be 
     an active participant in the ongoing efforts by such 
     international organizations as UNESCO and World Monuments 
     Fund to map the world's cultural infrastructure toward the 
     protection of important art objects, artistic forms, sites, 
     and institutions located in disaster and conflict areas. The 
     U.S. Defense Dept and Federal Emergency Management Agency 
     might also be considered as a source of funding and 
     assistance for such undertakings.


                   TECHNOLOGY & TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE

       In recognition of the borderless nature of the Internet we 
     urge that the latest and most advanced electronic social 
     networking technology be utilized in cultural diplomacy 
     programs.
       We believe that stronger cultural exchanges would result 
     from government moving beyond the older idea of technology as 
     broadcasting medium to harness the new and most advanced 
     social networking technologies that not only distribute 
     message and art but also encourage civic engagement and 
     social connectivity.
       Given the effectiveness of the American public/private 
     model, a National Convening on Cultural Diplomacy would 
     explore opportunities to recommend to Government ways of 
     working in association with private nonprofit and for-profit 
     cultural organizations with popular social networking sites 
     in order to expand the range of possibilities for sharing and 
     exchanging cultural experiences.
       We believe that the pairing of technology and culture would 
     be especially efficacious through the dissemination of 
     hardware and software (e.g., cell phones, wi-fi systems, low-
     cost computers, hand-crank radios, etc.) to more remote areas 
     of the globe where cultural understanding and exchanges are 
     especially needed.
       We also recommend cultural exchanges involving scholars and 
     experts in such specialties as performing arts management, 
     conservation and preservation, museology, and curation, 
     especially those with expertise in newer forms of media and 
     technology. For example, we urge the expansion and 
     integration into public diplomacy efforts of the Cultural 
     Preservation Fund which currently sends conservators abroad 
     to provide technical assistance and run education projects,


                       PUBLIC/PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP

       We believe that the Government should encourage and promote 
     two-way international exchanges, acting in a convening role 
     to bring together private organizers and private funders, as 
     the cost should not be fully assumed by American taxpayers.
       We urge the State Department to consider ways in which it 
     might utilize its administrative capacity and area expertise 
     to explore possibilities for working with foundations and 
     U.S. corporations to increase grants for international 
     exchanges, as well as to investigate the potential of 
     coordinated activity with the many arts and media industries 
     engaged in the international marketplace of culture.
       At the same time, we recognize the importance of members of 
     the arts community keeping informed about policy changes and 
     shifts in the national agenda. We believe

[[Page S13379]]

     that over time and in evolving ways, cultural exchanges could 
     render service in partnership with government (as well as 
     foundations and corporations) that would continue to enhance 
     America's public diplomacy process.
       We believe that through the export of a wide diversity of 
     American arts and artists, and the import (and ready 
     admission through the passage of the Arts Require Timely 
     Service Act [H.R. 1785 and S. 1409]) of a broadly 
     representative group of foreign arts and artists, America's 
     best foreign and domestic cultural interests would be served.


                    LEADERSHIP AT THE FEDERAL LEVEL

       We believe that the effectiveness of American public 
     diplomacy would be advanced by the integration of cultural 
     diplomacy into the policy-making process of the White House 
     and the State Department.
       We propose that a National Convening on Cultural Diplomacy 
     incorporate into its agenda an examination of the recent call 
     by various nongovernmental study groups concerned with 
     Federal support of the arts generally for the creation of a 
     full time White House post specifically charged with 
     promoting the arts and culture as part of the Domestic 
     Policy Council. Arts and cultural professionals agree that 
     without a strong and healthy cultural sector at home 
     (frequently characterized as cultural vibrancy), the U.S. 
     would not have the rich pool of diverse talents in place 
     and available when selecting art and artists to represent 
     the nation at its best internationally.
       We further recommend that a National Convening on Cultural 
     Diplomacy be given the opportunity to propose the creation by 
     the President of a position on the National Security Council 
     (NSC) to oversee public diplomacy, including the coordination 
     of relevant arts and cultural exchange efforts with the 
     Domestic Policy Council, State Department, and the Federal 
     cultural agencies.
       We further recommend the National Convening agenda include 
     a proposal for the creation of a Standing Committee to advise 
     the Secretary of State on ways in which the State Department 
     could begin to renew its diplomatic strength and expertise in 
     the area of culture. Committee members would be persons in 
     the arts world involved in both informal and formal 
     international exchanges.
       We would also recommend that a Special Envoy for Culture be 
     appointed by the State Department to work on building 
     relationships and partnerships with foreign governments and 
     international bodies such as UNESCO, International Council of 
     Museums, World Heritage Alliance, et al.


                       EXPANDING FEDERAL PROGRAMS

       We believe that it is both timely and desirable to urge the 
     creation of a new direction for public diplomacy through the 
     expansion of Federal cultural programming.
       We believe that key to this new direction is an expansion 
     of the budgetary capacity of the State Department to increase 
     the number of cultural affairs officers stationed at 
     embassies and consulates and their capabilities for carrying 
     out cultural programming as the ones most informed about what 
     exchanges would be best coupled with which country.
       We recommend that, in addition to increasing its personnel 
     numbers, the State Department further enhance its ability to 
     attract good people by creating parity in career advancement 
     and status between cultural affairs officers and political 
     officers.
       We believe that the State Department would benefit as well 
     from the creation of a Cultural Diplomacy Fellowship Program 
     that would increase the flow of personnel through the 
     cultural diplomacy system; rotate outside cultural experts 
     through the Department; and enable State Department employees 
     to go for further training at cultural institutions in the 
     U.S. and abroad for fixed periods of time.
       Additional recommendations that have been proposed for 
     consideration by a National Convening on Cultural Policy 
     include:
       A publicity campaign coordinated by the State Dept., NEA, 
     NEH, and IMLS to alert more U.S. and foreign artists and 
     cultural institutions about the opportunities available for 
     international cultural exchanges, including Fulbright 
     fellowships.
       Ways for the United States Agency for International 
     Development (USAID) to support cultural programs that are 
     consistent with their development goals (i.e., cultural 
     preservation projects and arts and crafts programs).
       Ways for the Peace Corps and AmeriCorps to develop cultural 
     projects and recruit artists into both organizations.
       Ways for the Commerce Department to promote cultural 
     tourism that would direct Americans to cultural programs 
     abroad and market cultural activities in the U.S. to foreign 
     tourists.
       Increase funding for arts and cultural exchanges in 
     departments other than State and the Federal cultural 
     agencies (e.g., Defense Department, Commerce Department, 
     etc.) to encourage the sending of artists and technical 
     assistance to localities deemed to be less developed and 
     comfortable.


                          CONGRESSIONAL ACTION

       We encourage the relevant committees in Congress, in 
     particular the House and Senate Foreign Affairs Committees, 
     to hold a series of public hearings on the proposals coming 
     out of the National Convening on Cultural Diplomacy.
       We believe that congressional hearings are key to the 
     development of new and expanded legislation and programs in 
     support of two-way cultural exchanges, for all the reasons 
     and recommendations outlined above.
       We offer the Arts and Artifacts Indemnity Act of 1975 for 
     consideration by the Congress in its deliberations as a 
     legislative model of the time proven success of international 
     cooperation and cultural exchange.
       We recommend the inclusion in such hearings of a broad 
     representation of knowledgeable parties, especially 
     representatives of state and local arts and humanities 
     councils and agencies and of professional service 
     organizations.
       Finally, we again urge the reintroduction and passage by 
     Congress of the Arts Require Timely Service Act [H.R. 1785 
     and S. 1409] as an essential component of cultural exchange 
     and the enrichment and diversity of the cultural experience 
     of the American public.

                          ____________________