Republican members of Congress yesterday launched another round of attacks against the National Endowment for the Arts, saying the government should not subsidize the arts community.
NEA Chairwoman Jane Alexander defended her agency before two House subcommittees, saying that Congress should not "rob our children of their future, artistically, by neglecting to nurture and develop the artists and arts organizations of today."
In the past two years, Republicans have cut budget by 40 percent, to $99.5 million. The president's fiscal 1998 budget proposal requested $136 million for the 150-employee agency.
"If we can't eliminate this little tiny agency, we can't eliminate any of the excesses that permeate our government," said Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Fla.
House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas, said the government should allow the free market to determine what is good art.
But Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., called on Congress to look at how NEA's achievements "can be recognized, respected and projected into the next century." Kennedy and other Democrats praised the agency for being the catalyst for improving the arts in America.
Sen. Tim Hutchinson, R-Ark., said the private sector has taken the lead in funding the arts, and that NEA's influence is minimal.
"To give the NEA such credit, I think, is kind of akin to giving the rooster the credit for a beautiful sunrise," Hutchinson said.
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