The Arts Win One in Congress
6/17/04
Congratulations everyone! After about an hour of debate yesterday, the U.S. House of Representatives approved the Congressional Arts Caucus Amendment by a vote of 241 to 185 at 6:10 pm. The amendment was sponsored jointly by Democrats and Republicans. By way of comparison, last year’s votes were 225 to 200 with 35 Republicans voting FOR the Arts Caucus Amendment. This year, 48 Republicans voted for the amendment.
The House also soundly defeated the Tancredo amendment, which would have decreased NEA funding by $60 million, by a vote of 112 to 313 at 6:20 pm. This is exactly the same vote count as last year for the Tancredo Amendment.
If it is also passed by the Senate, Minnesota will benefit from the increase in two ways: First, the block grant that comes to Minnesota will increase, and second, there will be more funds available for direct grants to arts organizations across the state of Minnesota.
Minnesotans voting WITH the arts:
Betty McCollum (CD4- DFL)
Jim Oberstar (CD8- DFL)
Collin Peterson (CD7- DFL)
Jim Ramstad (CD3- GOP)
Martin Sabo (CD5- DFL)
Minnesotans voting AGAINST the arts amendment:
Gil Gutknecht (CD1 - GOP)
John Kline (CD2-GOP)
Mark Kennedy (CD6- GOP)
Go to our DESKTOP LOBBYIST to send a note of thanks or disappointment to your member of Congress on their arts vote! The system will automatically generate a thank you if your member voted with the arts, or a letter of disappointment if they voted against us. It’s easy to do and takes just a couple of minutes. Let them know we are watching.
Here are some highlights of the arguments that Members of Congress made on the floor during debate.
Americans for the Arts’ Economic Impact research and the new Creative Industries research maps were cited numerous times. The fact that Americans for the Arts had delivered customized Creative Industry maps in the past 24 hours to every Congressional office was specifically mentioned.
Several members also spoke about wanting to support the President and Mrs. Bush’s request for a funding increase for both cultural agencies.
Also of note by Members was the impact of the NEA’s Shakespeare in American Communities and Operation Homecoming initiatives.
The arguments in opposition of the Arts Caucus Amendment were quite weak. Comments focused primarily on not asking taxpayers to subsidize the arts and to just let the arts be supported by consumers and patrons. Money would be better used for fighting forest fires and upkeep of national parks.
The Interior Appropriations bill as whole will likely be approved by the House later tonight. No other arts-related amendments are expected. The next step, as you know, is for the Senate to produce its own version of the bill. Preliminary action on the Senate side could come as early as next week. As of now, we don’t expect a Senate floor amendment on NEA funding. Of course, we will keep you posted and will let you know if there are appropriate steps to take.
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