Oakland County, Michigan (July 23, 2003) -- On July 17, 2003, the U.S. House of Representatives approved an amendment to the Interior Appropriations bill to increase fiscal 2004 funding for the National Endowment for the Arts by $10 million and National Endowment for the Humanities by $5 million over the amounts recommended by the House Appropriations Committee, bringing their respective funding levels up to $127.5 million and $142 million.

The amendment passed by a vote of 225 to 200, with one member of the House simply voting present. Shortly afterwards, the House resoundingly rejected an amendment offered by Representative Tom Tancredo (R-CO) to strip $50 million from the NEA and transfer the funds to wildland fire management; the vote was 313 to 112. Please visit online to see how your Representative voted.

For further information please visit http://www.AmericansForTheArts.org