House of Representatives Votes to Abolish National Endowment of the Arts

Posted on July 11, 1997

The House of Representatives voted Thursday in a vote of 217-216 to slash funding for the National Endowment for the Arts ("NEA"), and to replace the NEA funding with $80 million in block grants to school districts and state arts councils, setting the stage for the dismantling of the arts agency. The Republicans led the effort to abolish the NEA, which has been accused of funding immoral and pornographic art by conservatives.

Many Democrats are predicting that the agency will be saved by the White House and the Senate because the NEA is a crucial element for bringing art to poor and rural communities.

A vote will be held today in the House to accept or reject the block grants. If the block grants are rejected, the House bill will slash NEA funds and provide no alternative arts support.

The Democrats were unsuccessful in attempting to force a vote on their plan, which would have restored the $100 million to operate the agency next year that Republicans had slashed to $10 million, which is enough to cover the costs of closing the agency.

Democrats said the plan to replace the NEA with block grants would rip the heart out of public support for the arts.

House Republican Leader Dick Armey of Texas blasted the NEA as an ``art elite'' that picks and chooses which works the public funds. He called it ``the single most deplorable black eye on the arts.''

``With this vote, the religious right is one step closer to claiming this important agency for its trophy case,'' Carole Shields, president of People for the American Way Action Fund, said in a statement.

Arts advocates said the NEA has made fewer than 50 dubious grants out of some 100,000, and said the Republican measure could cripple support for cultural efforts.

The White House has threatened to veto a $13 billion spending bill that is primarily for parks and natural resource programs, if the parks bill contains the plan to replace or abolish the NEA.