The U.S. State Department is funding foreign heritage projects throughout the world at the expense of American taxpayers and OUR cultural heritage. Fox News reported the following:
Under a program established by Congress in 2001, the department will fund at least five projects in as many countries at a cost of more than $271,000.
The contributions include $76,135 for the 16th century Grand Mosque in Tongxin, China, and $67,500 for the 18th century Golden Mosque in Lahore, Pakistan. An additional $62,169 will be spent on restoring a 19th century minaret in Mauritania's ancient city of Tichitt; $50,437 for the Sundarwala Burj, a 16th century Islamic Monument in New Delhi, and $15,450 to restore the 18th century Gobarau Minaret in Katsina, Nigeria.
Yeah, let’s preserve the monuments of an oppressive ideology and religion that has enslaved and conquered peoples because of the revelations of a demented megalomaniac.
The amount spent on mosque restoration projects is a fraction of the total in the 2010 Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation, which also will fund projects to restore Christian and Buddhist sites as well as museums, forts and palaces.
Since 2001, the U.S. government has spent almost $26 million on the program to fund about 640 cultural preservation projects in more than 100 countries.
"The fund has demonstrated America's respect for the world's cultural heritage," Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said last month in announcing the 2010 projects. "Cultural heritage serves as a reminder of historical experiences and achievements of humanity. Ancient structures and objects offer important lessons for us today."
Yes Madame Secretary, but should it be at the expense of our own HERITAGE AND CULTURE? The National Trust for Historic Preservation is getting a 50% budget reduction:
President Obama Releases FY11 Budget with Focus on Deficit Reduction
February 2, 2010 – Yesterday morning President Obama released the spending details of his $3.83 trillion budget proposal for fiscal year 2011 (FY11). The proposal calls for nearly $23 billion in cuts and terminations of or reductions to 126 programs.
Of which our nation’s history is about to get a huge cut:
National Park Service’s Historic Preservation Fund: $54.5 million (a $25 million decrease from FY10 funding), including zero funding for Save America’s Treasures and Preserve America grant programs, a combined $30 million cut in funding.
I guess this is part of the NASA outreach program to Muslims. Barack Obama and his self-loathing minions in the State Department want to glorify the culture of other peoples, while diminishing the heritage of Americans.
Source: http://heritageconsultinginc.wordpress.com/2010/02/06/federal-cuts-to-arts-and-heritage-programs-in-obama-budget/
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/08/24/helps-fund-mosque-minaret-restoration-world-cultural-outreach/
The National Trust for Historic Preservation does not receive direct federal funding - the immediate past president, Richard Moe, moved the organization into status of a private non-profit, so Congress can not cut their budget. They do receive money as part of Save America's Treasures grants, though, since they help to administer that program.
ReplyDeleteYour point about the lack of support of cultural heritage is well taken, however. There is an effort to fully fund the Historic Preservation Fund, which has never been fully appropriated since it was authorized in 1977. The key to supporting cultural resources is to vote on the America's Great Outdoors website for preservation issues, and to lobby your Senator to pass the CLEAR Act, recently passed by the House. The CLEAR Act includes full funding for both the Historic Preservation Fund and the Land and Water Conservation Fund until 2040.