Jimmy Carter photo

Bill Authorizing White House Conferences on the Arts and Humanities Statement on Signing H.J. Res. 649 Into Law.

May 03, 1978

Today I sign H.J. Res. 649, the 1979 White House Conferences on the Arts and Humanities act.

This administration believes deeply in the importance of the arts and the humanities to the vitality of our culture, and in the worth of Federal programs in this area. In their work on this bill, John Brademas, Claiborne Pell, and others have helped to demonstrate the need for a broad national discussion of the state of the arts and humanities.

However, I sign this bill today with some reservations. In my view, conducting separate conferences in arts and humanities would involve unnecessary expense and duplication and would miss an opportunity for a far more productive exchange of views and experiences among persons deeply concerned with our cultural life.

It is therefore my intention that this bill be implemented as efficiently and inexpensively—and as productively—as possible. I expect that the two conferences will function jointly or concurrently and that they will share staff and activities to the maximum extent possible.

Note: As enacted, H.J. Res. 649 is Public Law 95-272, approved May 3.

Jimmy Carter, Bill Authorizing White House Conferences on the Arts and Humanities Statement on Signing H.J. Res. 649 Into Law. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/245594

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