ABSTRACT
In 1989 and 1990, a fierce political battle raged over whether the National Foundation for the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965 should be amended to prohibit the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) from providing federal grants for obscene or sacrilegious artwork. In Congress, the chief proponent of restricting funds was Senator Jesse Helms; he was joined by others who wanted to restrict the NEA tightly or even abolish it altogether. Defenders of the NEA argued that the vast majority of grants were unquestioned and that artists should be allowed freedom of expression in their work. In 1989, Helms succeeded in attaching an amendment to the Interior Department's appropriations bill that would prohibit the NEA from funding obscene work. The conference language also established a twelve-member commission to study the NEA and review grant procedures. The Hatch language would have removed the 1989 guidelines and again let the NEA fund most projects.
