In early June the House Subcommittee on Interior and Related Agencies will decide whether to set aside money for fiscal 1996 for the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). Also in June, the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee will consider legislation to reauthorize the endowment. The NEH is the principal source of support for individual research and study in the humanities; its programs playa key role in connecting scholars to the public and in preserving our nation's heritage. If you support these functions of the NEH, now is the time for you to write to members of Congress to urge them to provide funding for the NEH.

The NEH will probably not be reauthorized by the time that the House Subcommittee on Interior and Related Agencies considers the fiscal 1996 budget for the endowment. The leaders of the new Congress have said that they will not fund programs that have not been authorized; however, under Democratic leadership, Congress did provide the NEH with funding in fiscal 1994 and 1995 without authorization. If money is not set aside now for the NEH, all available funds could be allocated to other programs. If that were to happen, the NEH would not receive funding for fiscal 1996 even if it is reauthorized later in the year.

Those who support the NEH should write to their own members of Congress and to the leaders of the committees with responsibility for the NEH. Urge members of the House Subcommittee on Interior and Related Agencies to provide an appropriation for the NEH for fiscal 1996: Ask members of the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee to support the reauthorization of the NEH. Letters about NEH funding for fiscal 1996 should emphasize that even though Congress is under great pressure to cut budgets, reductions to the NEH budget should not exceed cuts to other programs. All letters should stress the importance of the NEH as a national resource. Addresses: House Subcommittee on Interior and Related Agencies. U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, DC 20510; Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee, U.S. Senate, Washington, DC 20510.

Members of the House Subcommittee on Interior and Related Agencies are Ralph Regula (R-Ohio), chair; Joe Skeen (R-N.Mex.); Joseph McDade (R-Pa.); Jim Kolbe (R-Az.); Jim Bunn (R-Ore.); George Nethercutt (R-Wash.); Barbara Vucanovich (R-Nev.); Charles Taylor (R-N.C.); Bob Livingston (R-La.); Sidney Yates (D-Ill.), ranking minority member, Norm Dicks (D-Wash.); Tom Bevill (D-Ala.); David Skaggs (D-Colo.); and David Obey (D-Mo.).

Members of the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee are Nancy Kassebaum (R-Kans.), chair; James Jeffords (R-Vt.); Dan Coats (R-Ind.); Judd Gregg (R-N.H.); Bill Frist (R-Tenn.); Mike DeWine (R-Ohio); John Ashcroft (R-Mo.); Spencer Abraham (R-Mich.); Slade Gorton (R-Wash.); Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), ranking minority member; Claiborne Pell (D-R.I.); Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.); Paul Simon (D-Ill.); Tom Harkin (D-Iowa); Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.); and Paul Wellstone (D-Minn.).