House Subcommittee Recommends Preservation Cuts
Issued by Heritage Preservation.
June 16, 2008
The House Appropriations Subcommittee on the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies, which has jurisdiction over the budget for the National Endowment for the Humanities, last week recommended a FY 2009 funding level of $10 million for NEH's Division of Preservation and Access. This represents a total reduction of $8.380 million from current year funding and is $3.861 million less than the President's budget request of $13.861 million.
This surprising action took place at the same time the Subcommittee recommended an overall increase of $15 million for NEH as a whole.
As previously reported to Heritage Preservation members, the President's budget for NEH had recommended elimination of the Stabilizing Humanities Collections grant category, funded at $3.6 million in FY 2007. The Subcommittee's additional reduction means that ALL programs funded by the Division of Preservation and Access are now at risk.
Heritage Preservation is trying to determine why the Subcommittee made this unprecedented decision. However, their present priority is to have the House action reversed in the Senate.
SAA urges you to write to your Senators asking that funding for NEH's Division of Preservation and Access be restored to the FY 2008 level of $18.380 million. Your letters are especially important if your Senator is a member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies. (See list below.)
Your letters should make the following points:
- America's collections are at risk. (Use an example, from your own work, of a collection or an artifact that is endangered.)
- Support from NEH's Division of Preservation and Access has been essential in helping libraries, museums, and archives care for deteriorating treasures so that future generations can learn from them. (Again, use an example of an NEH grant made to your institution or a grant you are familiar with.)
- Libraries, museums and archives do not have discretionary funds in their budgets to support these kinds of important preservation projects.
- The budget for NEH's Division of Preservation and Access should be restored to the current year funding level of $18.380 million.
Immediate action is needed because the Senate subcommittee may move to mark up the Interior appropriations bill as early as next week. To have an impact, your letters ideally should be faxed or e-mailed (go to your Senator's website and follow the link to "contact" or find your Senator’s fax number here by typing in your zip code under “Elected Officials”). U.S. mail addressed to Congress is being screened for anthrax and other threats and can take weeks to be delivered.
Please also fax copies of your letters to Heritage Preservation at (202) 233-0807 to the attention of Ruth Hargraves so they can be hand delivered to Senate staff members who handle NEH appropriations. If you have questions, please contact Ruth at (202) 233-0800, toll free at (888) 388-6789, or via e-mail at rhargraves[at]heritagepreservation.org.
Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on the Interior, Environment, & Related Agencies
The Honorable Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) Chairman
331 Senate Hart Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
FAX: 202-228-3954
The Honorable Robert C. Byrd (D-WV)
311 Senate Hart Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
FAX:202-228-0002
The Honorable Patrick Leahy (D-VT)
433 Senate Russell Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
FAX:202-224-3479
The Honorable Byron L. Dorgan (D-ND)
322 Senate Hart Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
FAX: 202-224-1193
The Honorable Barbara Mikulski (D-MD)
503 Senate Hart Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
FAX: 202-224-8858
The Honorable Herb Kohl (D-WI)
330 Senate Hart Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
FAX: 202-224-9787
The Honorable Tim Johnson (D-SD)
136 Senate Hart Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
FAX: 202-228-5765
The Honorable Jack Reed (D-RI)
728 Senate Hart Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
FAX: 202-224-4680
The Honorable Ben Nelson (D-NE)
720 Senate Hart Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
FAX: 202-228-0012
The Honorable Wayne Allard (R-CO)
521 Senate Dirksen Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
FAX: 202-224-6471
The Honorable Larry Craig (R-ID)
520 Senate Hart Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
FAX: 202-228-1067
The Honorable Ted Stevens (R-AK)
522 Senate Hart Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
FAX: 202-224-2354
The Honorable Thad Cochran (R-MS)
113 Senate Dirksen Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
FAX: 202-224-9450
The Honorable Pete Domenici (R-NM)
328 Senate Hart Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
FAX: 202-228-3261
The Honorable Bob Bennett (R-UT)
431 Senate Dirksen Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
FAX: 202-228-1168
The Honorable Judd Gregg (R-NH)
393 Senate Russell Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
FAX: 202-224-4952
The Honorable Lamar Alexander (R-TN)
455 Senate Dirksen Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
FAX: 202-228-3398
Heritage Preservation
1012 14th St. NW, Suite 1200
Washington, D.C. 20005
www.heritgepreservation.org
June 16, 2008
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