PRESIDENT SEEKS $100 MILLION FOR NEH'S WE THE PEOPLE INITIATIVE Requested 3-Year Funding Increase to Begin in FY 2004 WASHINGTON, D.C., May 1, 2003--President George W. Bush announced that he would request $100 million over the next three years to support We the People, an initiative administered by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to encourage and strengthen the teaching, study, and understanding of American history and culture. The increased funding for the NEH initiative would begin with a first installment in FY 2004 of $25 million, which was included in the President's budget request for NEH submitted to Congress in early February. "For the ideas and ideals of democracy to be passed successfully from one generation to the next, our citizens--young and old--must know and understand the principles and practices on which our nation is built," said NEH Chairman Bruce Cole. "With the President's leadership and support, the Endowment will expand its efforts to foster excellence in conveying the lessons of American history through our schools, colleges, universities, and cultural institutions." The new funding would support a variety of We the People special projects, such as the following:
President Bush launched the We the People initiative on Constitution Day, Sept. 17, 2002, at a special White House Rose Garden ceremony. The President cited numerous studies that have indicated that many young Americans have at best only a passing knowledge of our nation's history and principles of democratic government. For example, one survey has shown that one in five high school seniors did not know Germany was not a U.S. ally in World War II, and another nationwide survey of voting age Americans found that two-thirds of those polled thought that Karl Marx's dogma, "from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs," was or might have been in the Constitution. The three-year funding that begins in FY 2004 will continue support for previously announced We the People programs, including an annual national essay contest for high school students on the theme of "The Idea of America" and an annual "Heroes of History" lecture, in which an acclaimed humanities scholar tells the story of heroic figures in American life and history. Both the first awards ceremony and lecture took place May 1 in Washington D.C., as part of the We the People Forum on American History, Civics and Service, where the President's announcement was made in videotaped remarks. Created in 1965 as an independent federal agency, the National Endowment for the Humanities supports learning in history, literature, philosophy and other areas of the humanities. NEH grants enrich classroom learning, create and preserve knowledge, and bring ideas to life through public television, radio, new technologies, museum exhibitions, and programs in libraries and other community places. Additional information about the National Endowment for the Humanities and its grant programs is available on the Internet at www.NEH.gov. For more on We the People, visit the initiative's website. |