SENATE SUBCOMMITTEE APPROVES $99.5 MILLION FOR NEA

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                 CONTACT: AGNES CECILE OCZON
July 12, 1996                                        202-224-7073

SENATE SUBCOMMITTEE APPROVES $99.5 MILLION FOR NEA,
DIVERGES FROM HOUSE POSITION TO PHASE OUT FUNDING

Domenici Announces NEA, NEH, IAIA Funding
in Interior Appropriations Bill

The Senate Committee action demonstrates a divergence from the House version of the Interior bill that includes language to phase out funding for the NEA by the end of next year.

The Subcommittee finished its work on the 1997 Interior Appropriations Bill today. It includes the $99.5 million for the NEA, and includes language supporting continued funding for the NEA, which differs from language in the House bill.

The Senate bill will now be referred to the full Senate Appropriations Committee. Domenici is a member of both the Interior Subcommittee and the full Appropriations Committee.

"As the subcommittee approved it, there is no reduction to the NEA funding, and there is no expectation of termination," Domenici said. "Our bill also demonstrates support for continued funding for the NEA, despite the language the House has included in their bill to phase out funding the NEA. We do not intend to terminate the NEA."

The $99.5 million for the NEA is equal to the amount that was in the Interior Appropriations Bill last year.

The same amount of funding, $99.5 was approved for the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH).

The House Appropriations Bill contains this language: "This appropriation is consistent with the agreement reached on the floor of the House during debate over the fiscal year 1996 Interior appropriation bill in terns of the proposed reauthorization by the House legislative committee of jurisdiction to phase out Federal funding for the National Endowment for the Arts over a two year period."

In opposition to the House position, the Senate bill includes the following language: "As noted in the statement of the managers accompanying the conference report on the fiscal year 1996 appropriation for the National Endowment for the Arts, the Senate supports continued funding for the NEA and expects the authorizing issues to be resolved by the legislative committees in the House and Senate."

The Interior Bill also provides $5.5 million for the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe.

The items in the bill are provided within the spending limits established in the six-year balanced budget resolution that was passed by the Congress.