Art like life should be free, since both are experimental.
~George Santayana
by Emily Lanza
On March 16, 2017, the President of the United States announced his proposed budget for 2018, which outlines his plans to eliminate the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). Notwithstanding the political arguments surrounding this issue or the likelihood of manifestation of these plans, in order to fully grasp their intended role and current impact on the arts and humanities communities, it is important to consider why Congress created these agencies in the first place, over fifty years ago.
Legislative history not only reveals the past but also informs the present, specifically the basic role of an agency or program. Thus, in order to create a more comprehensive and convincing argument in favor of these agencies having a future, we must first turn to the past. This article considers the significance of the two agencies from a legislative history perspective and examines how the legislative history can affect the future of these programs.
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