*NEH and NEA
*Smithsonian
*National Endowment for the Humanities - The House
Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior and Related
Agencies, chaired by Ralph Regula (R-OH), held a hearing on
January 24 on the National Arts and Humanities Endowments.
Reflecting the high visibility of the debate over the future
of the endowments, almost all members of the subcommittee
attended. In a packed hearing room, five witnesses
addressed the basic question of whether there should be
federal funding for the arts and humanities. Two former
chairs of NEH, Lynne Cheney of the American Enterprise
Institute and William Bennett of Empower America, and Edward
Delattre of the School of Education of Boston University
called for an end of federal funding for the endowments. A
summary of Cheney's testimony appeared in an opinion piece
in the January 24 Wall Street Journal.
All three cited examples of what they considered
inappropriate grants and stressed that as government
downsizes and as new priorities are developed for a smaller
budget that th ere is no longer money to support scholars
and artists, who represent elites. In the question and
answer period, Yates (D-IL) stressed the many positive
things that the endowments had accomplished. Dicks (D-WA)
questioned Cheney on the discrepancies bet ween her positive
statements about NEH a few years ago and her current
negative position. Skaggs (D-CO) asked Bennett to be more
precise about his claims of "massive corruption" at NEH in
the practice and products of the humanities. Political
correctness, Bennett claimed, with its emphasis on such
ideologies as feminism, had corrupted scholarship. Cheney
also laid blame for the poor state of current scholarship on
postmodernism which she said had tossed objectivity to the
winds. Delattre stated that "in many instances federal funds
by the endowments has militated against both intellectual
quality and the public interest." There was some discussion
of the National History Standards. Cheney responded to a
question from Nethercutt (R-WA) by saying that at this time
the state of study of history in higher education is such
that she did not believe that any national group of
historians would be able to promulgate standards that the
committee could accept. Skaggs, however, noted that in her
testimony on the history standards Cheney had picked
examples out of context and had distorted the standards.
The last two witnesses -- actor Charlton Heston and
Frank Hodsell, former head of NEA under the Reagan
Administration -- made strong statements in support of NEA
and NEH. Both acknowledged that there had been mistakes but
Hodsell estimated the mistakes at about 1% which he said was
a much better performance rate than most corporations.
Heston refuted the notion that the endowments are for the
elite and talked about how NEA had nourished regional
theater and brought the arts to ordinary people across the
country. If NEH and NEA are abandoned, Heston stated the
U.S. would be the only industrial democracy in the world
that does not provide support for its culture. In closing
Heston quoted eloquently from Shakespeare to make the point
that the arts and humanities are fundamental to the fabric
of American life. Hodsell asserted that arts and humanities
are as important to the national life as science and that
the National Science Foundation has made mistakes that cost
millions of dollars, yet no one suggests that NSF be
abolished.
Only two members of the subcommittee have e-mail:
Charles Taylor (R-NC) CHTAYLOR@HR.HOUSE.GOV and David Skaggs
(D-CO) skaggs@hr.house.gov.
The Senate hearing on NEA was postponed today because
of the death of Senator Kennedy's mother.
* Enola Gay Exhibit at the Smithsonian - Three congressmen
-- Representatives Peter I. Blute (R-MA), Sam Johnson
(R-TX), and Stephen E. Buyer (R-IN)-- have sharply
criticized the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum's
Enola Gay exhibit. They called for Martin Harwit, the
director of the museum to be fired, the exhibit to be
cancelled, and oversight hearings to be held. The
Washington Post quoted Representative Blute as saying: "we
think there are some very troubling questions in regard to
the Smithsonian, not just with this Enola Gay exhibit but
over the past 10 years or so, getting into areas of
revisionist history and political correctness. There are a
lot of questions that need to be answered." Representative
William Clinger (R-PA), who chairs the House Government
Operations Committee, indicated that oversight hearings on
the exhibition will be held. It now appears the hearing
will be held at the subcommittee level by the Government
Management, Information and Technology Subcommittee chaired
by Steven Horn (R-CA). No date for a hearing has been set.
The issue of the Enola Gay exhibit is expected to be on the
agenda of the Smithsonian Board of Regents meeting scheduled
for January 30. Those wishing to register concern about
this matter, should write to Secretary I. Michael Heyman,
The Smithsonian Institution, 1000 Jefferson Drive, SW,
Washington, DC 20560
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