The Co-Chairs of the Congressional Humanities Caucus, Rep. David Price (D-NC) and Rep. Phil English (R-PA), have prepared a Dear Colleague letter in support of $177 million in funding for the National Endowment for the Humanities in FY 2009, which is currently circulating in the House of Representatives. The deadline for Members of Congress to sign the letter is soon- Monday, March 17, 2008.

ACTION NEEDED

Please call, email, or fax your Representative and ask him/her to sign on to this letter today. A draft message is posted for you to email or fax your Member of Congress at the Humanities Advocacy Network's website: http://www.humanitiesadvocacy.org/action_ctr.html. Please feel free to customize the message, especially if you have recently participated in Humanities Advocacy Day congressional visits.

A large number of signatures on the Dear Colleague letter, particularly if they represent both sides of the aisle, will send a very important message to the leadership of the House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee as they begin to work on the mark-up of the FY 2009 spending bill. All Members of Congress can be reached by phone through the Capitol Switchboard at 202.224.3121.

Note: Appropriations Committee members do not typically sign Dear Colleague letters addressed to their Subcommittee.

SAMPLE MESSAGE TO MEMBERS OF CONGRESS

I write to ask that you sign on to a Dear Colleague letter currently circulating by Rep. David Price (D-NC) and Rep. Phil English (R-PA), requesting $177 million for the National Endowment for the Humanities in FY 2009, an increase of approximately $30 million over the FY 2008 enacted level and the President's request.

The proposed increase would provide additional resources for important on-going NEH programs including state humanities councils, research, education, preservation, and public programming. It would also allow NEH to extend the reach of two of its major initiatives: the "We the People" program and the Digital Humanities Initiative.

The Interior and Environment Appropriations Subcommittee said that signing this letter does not require certification and will not count against a Members' earmark requests.

For more information or to sign on to the letter, please contact Kate Roetzer with Rep. David Price at 5-1784 or Peter Sperry with Rep. Phil English at 5-5406. The deadline to sign the letter is Monday, March 17. You can view text of the letter at: http://www.nhalliance.org/caucus/house_neh_dcl.pdf.