Arts Advocates Ask Congress for Increases

Musicians, actors, and other artists testified before a House subcommittee in Congress this week, asking that the government restore arts funds to levels from the early 1990s, before programs were drastically cut, reports the Associated Press.

The advocates want to see federal money for the National Endowment for the Arts raised to $176-million in the next fiscal year. President Bush’s proposed 2008 budget recommends $128.4-million for the endowment, up $4-million over 2007.

If the endowment were given funds commensurate with the 1992 allocation, adjusted for inflation, it would receive $254-million next year, arts advocates said.

“Our kids are uncultured and culturally ignorant all over this country,” Wynton Marsalis, the jazz musician, testified. “It’s important for us, in this time, to set another tone for what our nation is about.”