The following is a reposted action alert from the National Humanities Alliance.

As you may know, a significant increase for the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is currently pending in Congress. We ask you to contact your legislators today and urge them to support additional funding of $15 million for the NEH.

Background
NEH is funded through the Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Appropriations bill, which may be one of the first spending bills voted on by the Senate this September. House and Senate leaders are trying to complete the appropriations process before the new fiscal year (2010) begins next month, on October 1.

The House passed HR 2996, its version of the Interior spending bill, on June 26, with an increase of $15 million for NEH, for a total funding level of $170 million for FY 2010. The Senate has not yet voted on the bill approved by the Full Senate Appropriations Committee on June 25. The Senate bill provides for a smaller increase of $6.3 million, for total funding of $161.3 million, the overall level proposed by President Obama.

Sample Message to Senators
I request that you support increased funding for the National Endowment for the Humanities. On behalf of the humanities community, please ask Senators Dianne Feinstein (D/CA) and Lamar Alexander (R/TN), Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Interior Appropriations Subcommittee, respectively, to support the higher House-passed increase of $15 million for NEH. Your assistance and support is crucial as the FY 2010 Interior bill moves toward a Senate floor vote and joint House/Senate conference.

Sample Message to Representatives
I request that you support increased funding for the National Endowment for the Humanities. On behalf of the humanities community, please ask Congressmen Norm Dicks (D/WA) and Mike Simpson (R/ID), Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Interior Appropriations Subcommittee, respectively, to support the higher House-passed increase of $15 million for NEH. Your assistance and support is crucial as the FY 2010 Interior bill moves toward a joint House/Senate conference.

Additional Talking Points
Please support FY 2010 funding for NEH at the House-passed level of $170 million. This number represents a much-needed increase of $15 million, which will expand the agency’s capacity to support high-quality projects and programs throughout the country.

NEH grants support:

• Collaborative research projects
• Fellowships for college/university-based scholars and independent researchers
• Professional development workshops for teachers and faculty
• Public programs and exhibits at museums, libraries, and historical societies
• Film, radio, and TV programs
• Preservation of historically significant collections
• Capacity building for humanities institutions and programs
• The 56 State humanities councils located in every U.S. state and territory

Contact Information
To reach your Senators and Representatives by phone, call the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 and ask for their offices. You can also contact your Senators’ offices by using their web forms. These forms, and additional contact information, are available at: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm. You can edit the above messages and cut-and-paste them into the appropriate forms. A web form to write your Representative is available at: https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml. You will need your zip code and 4-digit zip code extension.

This post first appeared on AHA Today.