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June 28, 2005
Dear Arts Advocate:
We have good news to report. Earlier today (June 28), Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) withdrew from consideration his floor amendment to the Interior Appropriations bill which would have cut FY 2006 funding for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) by $5 million each. It became clear to Sen. Coburn that his amendment had little support for passage, in large part because of the outcry from thousands of grassroots advocates.
The Senate will likely pass the bill in its entirety tomorrow. The House and Senate will then convene a conference committee the week of July 11 to craft a final bill, reconciling any differences between their separate versions. We favor the House version, because it contains a higher funding level for the NEA, and also because it would fully fund the NEA’s Challenge America program, which primarily supports arts programs in underserved areas. Therefore, we encourage you to contact your Senators and Representatives and urge them to support the House-approved level of $131.3 million, including full funding for Challenge
America, during the House-Senate conference.
Thank you for your continued arts advocacy. These legislative successes could not be achieved without the hard work of dedicated advocates like you.
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We encourage you to forward this message onto friends and colleagues who may be interested in these issues. If you have any questions, please contact Justin Beland, Government Affairs and Grassroots Manager, at jbeland@artsusa.org, or 202-371-2830.
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