[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 60 (Thursday, April 6, 2017)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E485-E486]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     PROTECTING THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENTS FOR THE ARTS AND HUMANITIES

                                  _____
                                 

                          HON. ROSA L. DeLAURO

                             of connecticut

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 6, 2017

  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the 
National Endowments of the Arts and the Humanities. The Trump 
Administration has proposed completely defunding these two essential 
organizations.

[[Page E486]]

  President Trump's budget would eliminate the NEA's $148 million 
budget, the NEH's $148 million budget--accounting for less than .03 
percent of total discretionary spending. Yet the impact they make on 
our communities is enormous. While all fifty states would be negatively 
impacted by these cuts, rural communities would be hit the hardest. 
According to the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies, 
approximately 25 percent of NEA block-grant funds go to rural 
communities and 54 percent to low-income areas.
  A nation without arts is one without an identity. In the words of one 
of my heroes, the late Congresswoman Barbara Jordan, ``The arts are not 
a frill. The arts are a response to our individuality and our nature, 
and help to shape our identity. Art has the potential to unify. It can 
speak in many languages without a translator. The arts do not 
discriminate. The arts can lift us up.'' And they do.
  Artists have used their mediums to process their experiences--and to 
share their perspectives with all of us. There is no more valuable 
gift. We must defend this funding.

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