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[Letters 1999-2000: Last Names Starting With “B”] [2]
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[Letters 1999-2000: Last Names Starting With “B”] [2]
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Melanne Verveer's Correspondence files
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Withdrawal/Redaction Sheet
Clinton Library
DOCUMENT NO.
SUBJECT/TITLE
DATE
RESTRICTION
AND TYPE
001a. letter
[personal letter from Hillary Rodham Clinton re: illness] (1 page)
11/08/2000
Personal Misfile
001b. note
Handwritten notes re: letter (1 page)
n.d.
Personal Misfile
COLLECTION:
Clinton Presidential Records
First Lady's Office
Melanne Verveer
OA/Box Number: 23247
FOLDER TITLE:
[Letters 1999-2000: Last Names Starting With "B"] [2]
2013-0534-S
ry1622
RESTRICTION CODES
Presidential Records Act - [44 U.S.C. 2204(a)]
Freedom of Information Act- [5 U.S.C. 552(b)]
P1 National Security Classified Information [(a)(1) of the PRA]
b(1) National security classified information [(b)(1) of the FOIA]
P2 Relating to the appointment to Federal office [(a)(2) of the PRA]
b(2) Release would disclose internal personnel rules and practices of
P3 Release would violate a Federal statute [(a)(3) of the PRA]
an agency [(b)(2) of the FOIA]
P4 Release would disclose trade secrets or confidential commercial or
b(3) Release would violate a Federal statute [(b)(3) of the FOIA]
financial information [(a)(4) of the PRA]
b(4) Release would disclose trade secrets or confidential or financial
P5 Release would disclose confidential advice between the President
information [(b)(4) of the FOIA]
and his advisors, or between such advisors [a)(5) of the PRA]
b(6) Release would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of
P6 Release would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of
personal privacy [(b)(6) of the FOIA]
personal privacy [(a)(6) of the PRA]
b(7) Release would disclose information compiled for law enforcement
purposes [(b)(7) of the FOIA]
C. Closed in accordance with restrictions contained in donor's deed
b(8) Release would disclose information concerning the regulation of
of gift.
financial institutions [(b)(8) of the FOIA]
PRM. Personal record misfile defined in accordance with 44 U.S.C.
b(9) Release would disclose geological or geophysical information
2201(3).
concerning wells [(b)(9) of the FOIA]
RR. Document will be reviewed upon request.
U
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
June 26, 2000
Ambassador Nicholas Burns
U.S. Embassy
Athens, Greece
PSC 108 APO AE
09842-0108
Dear Ambassador Burns:
Thank you for your letter and for letting us know about
Anna Diamantopoulou's request to meet with the First Lady on
June 10.
Regrettably, the First Lady's busy schedule did not
permit a meeting. Please accept Mrs. Clinton's appreciation for
bringing the request to our attention and for all you do to
strengthen U.S.-Greek relations.
Very best wishes.
Sincerely,
I hand go
Me
Melanne Verveer
Chief of Staff to
got extension an all
the First Lady
Greese Hipeael
15 mill,
01
06 00 THU 16:23 FAX
0
001
@
and
EMBASSY OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
to
OFFICE OF THE AMBASSADOR
regree
ATHENS, GREECE
FAX: (30/1) 725-2161
TEL: (30/1) 720-2478
TO:
Ms. Melanne Verveer
FROM:
Sherilynn Tounger
FAX:
(202) 456-6244
Total pages this message: 2
DATE:
June 8,2000
Ms. Verveer:
Please see the attached letter from Ambassador Burns.
Thank you.
08.06 00 THU 16:23 FAX
5
002
Embassy of the United States of America
Athens, Greece
R. Nicholas Burns
Ambassador
June 8, 2000
Dear Melanne:
Greetings from Athens! I know this must have been a particularly crazy past few
months for you. We've been watching Mrs. Clinton's campaign with great interest from
Athens and hear very positive comments from many Greek-Americans who hail from
New York.
I am writing to recommend that Mrs. Clinton consider meeting with Anna
Diamantopoulou who is one of Greece's leading younger politicians. Anna was among
the women leaders who met with Mrs. Clinton during her visit last November. In
addition, she is a minister in the European Union government in Brussels.
I understand that the Greek Consulate in New York has requested a meeting in
New York City on Saturday, June 10. I would appreciate Mrs. Clinton's consideration of
this request.
Sincerely yours,
Nick
R. Nicholas Burns
Ambassador
Ms. Melanne Verveer
Chief of Staff, Office of the First Lady
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20500
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
August 18, 1999
Rhoda and Mark Berenson
320 E. 25th Street
New York, NY 10010
Dear Rhoda & Mark:
Thank you for your letter regarding your daughter who is serving a life sentence in Peru.
I can only imagine how difficult her ordeal continues to be for you both.
The President and I share your concerns about Lori's case. My husband has personally
raised this issue with President Fujimori, as did his Special Envoy to the Americas, Buddy
McKay, when he met with President Fujimori in Lima. Ambassador McKay stressed that our
objective continues to be early resolution of this case in a manner that meets our fundamental
concerns.
Our consulate in Peru continues to keep in regular contact with Lori, and we have also
regularly raised with Peruvian authorities various issues regarding the conditions of Lori's
imprisonment.
Please know that we continue to seek a just and expeditious outcome of Lori's case.
Sincerely
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Rhoda and Mark Berenson
320 East 25th Street
New York, NY 10010
Tel.: 212-689-3868 and Fax: 212-689-9572
June 2, 1999
The Honorable Hillary Rodham Clinton
The First Lady
The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC 00000
Dear Mrs. Clinton:
We are very pleased to know that you will be the keynote speaker at graduation ceremonies
at our alma mater, CCNY. We both have fond memories of our commencement ceremony
in 1963 when the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King was the keynote speaker. We
know that this is a very important day for you, the graduates, and the CCNY community.
Unfortunately, this day, like so many others these past three and a half years, is one that
we cannot enjoy.
We are writing this letter to ask for your personal assistance in our efforts to obtain justice
for our daughter Lori who is currently serving a life sentence in Peru following her
conviction for "treason" by a secret, hooded military tribunal, in violation of international
law. She has termed the charges against her preposterous and she has repeatedly
proclaimed her innocence. Her physical health has been impaired due to the harsh
conditions of incarceration in Andean prisons. The psychological abuse she has been
subjected to by prison officials and other prisoners these past few months is now taking a
different toll and causes us new concerns.
Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori continues to ignore requests that he meet his
international legal obligations in Lori's case, including requests from the US Department of
State, the Congress, and the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights which
recently declared that her case is one in which disrespect for international norms is of such
gravity that she must be considered to be arbitrarily deprived of liberty.
Over the past three and a half years we have met repeatedly with members of the State
Department and since July 1998 we have been in regular contact with members of the
National Security Council. However, the bottom line remains that after three and a half
years we see no progress toward a resolution of her case. All we see is continued
deterioration of Lori's health.
You, more than any other First Lady in history, have been a champion of women's rights
and children's rights, not only in the US but around the world. At the time of Lori's arrest,
she was writing articles about the effect of poverty on women and children in Peru. Lori's
purpose in life was to be of help to those less fortunate than herself. Unfortunately, she
now needs the help of others. We urge you to do everything possible to bring Lori home
now, before her health deteriorates even further. Please help!
Sincerely,
Rhoda and Mark Berenson
States
fromsc
Berenson Summary
We have consistently made clear to the Government of Peru our
belief that Ms. Berenson deserves a fair trial before a civilian
court. Our consulate also maintains regular contact with
Ms. Berenson, calling her once a week and visiting her every
three months. In addition, we have regularly raised with the
Peruvian authorities various issues regarding the conditions
under which she is being held. Our interventions have resulted
in some improvements.
We have also held quiet negotiations with the Peruvians about a
possible resolution in which they might reduce Lori's sentence
and permit her transfer to a U.S. facility. However, the
Peruvians have thus far refused to undertake any positive action
which could ultimately be attributed to them.
Last week, Buddy MacKay visited Peru, met with President
Fujimori, and raised the case with him. Buddy urged a quick
resolution of the matter, raising again the idea of a reduction
of her sentence and a prisoner transfer. Although Fujimori did
not respond to Buddy's points, one of his aides did indicate
that they would get back to us on the matter.
We are not optimistic about a solution to this case in the short
term. Fujimori is currently positioning himself for re-election
in April 2000. Much of his public support derives from his
successful fight against terrorism. Lori's militant statement
at her sentencing, in which she called the guerrillas with whom
she is accused of collaborating "revolutionaries" and not
"terrorists," has created a widespread perception in the
Peruvian public that she had an association with them. Thus,
Fujimori has little incentive to act generously in Lori's case.
Moreover, there are thousands of Peruvians who were convicted
under the same procedures received by Lori. A decision to grant
her a new trial or to release her would create a problematic
precedent for these other cases.
We also have limited leverage over Fujimori, particularly given
his overriding domestic political interest in maintaining a hard
line against terrorists. Moreover, any threats we might make,
(such as curtailing counternarcotics assistance or aid to the
poor) would compromise other important U.S. interests.
We believe our best hope for obtaining justice in Lori's case
lies after the April elections. If Fujimori runs and is re-
elected (which we currently expect), he will not have the same
2
strong political interest in maintaining a hard line in Lori's
case. If he is not re-elected, we may have a chance of striking
a deal with a new leader.
In the interim, we should lay the basis for some sort of post-
election deal such as the one described above (e.g., a reduction
of sentence in exchange for Lori's transfer) and seek to
mitigate legitimate complaints Lori may have about the
conditions under which she is being held.
(ATTACHED) 10/12/998 from Leonard P. Strickman, thanking for your response
to his letter about Lori Berenson. Her father said she has again been placed in
isolation by Peruvian prison authorities. Her physical and mental health are suffering.
You indicated your willingness to meet with her and her father. Now, more than ever,
they would appreciate that opportunity.
To
Melanne
for review/followup
Is
Evi,
I's file with
Becauson
prevant
UNIVERSITY@ARKANSAS
1871
Robert A. Leflar Law Center
Fayetteville, Arkansas 72701
(501) 575-5601
School of Law
October 12, 1999
The Honorable Hillary Rodham Clinton, Esq.
c/o Carolyn Huber
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20500
Dear Hillary:
I appreciate your response to my letter about Lori
Berenson. I have talked with Mark, her father, today, who has
recently returned from Peru, where Lori has again been placed
in isolation by Peruvian prison authorities. Her physical and
mental health are suffering.
You indicated your willingness to meet with Mark and
Rhoda. Now, more than ever, they would really appreciate that
opportunity. Their number is 212-689-9572. Thanks again for
your attention and the President's.
With warm regards,
Sincerely,
Jan
Strickman
UNIVERSITY#ARKANSAS
ocT 1299
3033
1871
PBMETER
School of Law
7023962
U.S. POSTAGE
Robert A. Leflar Law Center
Fayetteville, Arkansas 72701-1201
The Honorable Hillary Rodham Clinton, Esq.
c/o Carolyn Huber
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20500
20500X0005
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
August 18, 1999
Rhoda and Mark Berenson
320 E. 25ᵗʰ Street
New York, NY 10010
Dear Rhoda & Mark:
Thank you for your letter regarding your daughter who is serving a life sentence in Peru.
I can only imagine how difficult her ordeal continues to be for you both.
The President and I share your concerns about Lori's case. My husband has personally
raised this issue with President Fujimori, as did his Special Envoy to the Americas, Buddy
McKay, when he met with President Fujimori in Lima. Ambassador McKay stressed that our
objective continues to be early resolution of this case in a manner that meets our fundamental
concerns.
Our consulate in Peru continues to keep in regular contact with Lori, and we have also
regularly raised with Peruvian authorities various issues regarding the conditions of Lori's
imprisonment.
Please know that we continue to seek a just and expeditious outcome of Lori's case.
Sincerely
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Hillary Rodham Clinton
FROM
FAX NO. : 2126899572
Jun. 29 2000 03:04PM P2
US Senate "Dear Colleague Letter" - 2000
Page 1 of 1
The Honorable William Jefferson Clinton
The President
The White House
Washington, DC 20500
Dear Mr. President:
We write to urge your support for the humanitarian release of Lori Berenson, an American citizen
who was sentenced to life in prison in Peru.
On January 11, 1996, a secret Peruvian military tribunal, in violation of international law, convicted
Ms. Berenson of treason. Throughout her incarceration which has lasted more than four years and
significantly damaged her health - she has consistently maintained her innocence.
Ms. Berenson was denied a fair public trial, as outlined in Article 14 of the International Covenant
on Civil and Political Rights, which Peru ratified on April 28, 1978. In December 1998, the United
Nations High Commission on Human Rights condemned the Peruvian government for Ms.
Berenson's "arbitrary" deprivation of liberty and asked the government to remedy the situation. Peru
has yet to adopt the recommended measures.
In May 1999, the Inter-American Human Rights Court of the Organization of American States ruled
that Peru should grant new trials to four Chileans serving life sentences for treason. In response,
Peru partially withdrew from its juridical obligations to the body. It is clear that this country has a
questionable commitment to improving human rights.
During the last four years, Ms. Berenson has developed serious physical ailments as a consequence
of her high-altitude imprisonment Though she has been moved to a prison at a lower altitude, her
health has not improved, and she now lives in virtual isolation. Ms. Berenson continues to have
numbness in her hands, vomiting attacks, and night blindness in her right eye. We urge you to use
your authority to secure her humanitarian release before her health further deteriorates.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
http://www.freelori.org/gov/congress/senate/00letter_senate.html
6/29/00
FROM
FAX NO. : 2126899572
Jun. 29 2000 03:05PM P3
Signers of Senate "Dear Colleague" Letter Urging Humanitarian Release - June 29, 2000
Daniel K. Akaka (D-HI)
Max Baucus (D- MT)
Joseph R. Biden, Jr. (D- DE)
Jeff Bingaman (D- NM)
Barbara Boxer (D- CA)
John B. Breaux (D- LA)
Susan M. Collins (R- ME)
Christopher J. Dodd (D-CT)
Byron L. Dorgan (D- ND)
Richard J. Durbin (D- IL)
Russell D. Feingold (D- WI)
Dianne Feinstein (D- CA)
Tom Harkin (D- IA)
Daniel K. Inouye (D- HI)
James M. Jeffords (R-VT)
Tim Johnson (D- SD)
Edward M. Kennedy (D- MA)
J. Robert Kerrey (D- NE)
John F. Kerry (D- MA)
Mary L. Landrieu (D- LA)
Frank R. Lautenberg (D- NJ)
Patrick J. Leahy (D-VT)
Carl Levin (D- MI)
Blanche Lambert Lincoln (D- AR)
Barbara A. Mikulski (D- MD)
Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-NY)
Patty Murray (D- WA)
Jack Reed (D- RI)
John D. "Jay" Rockefeller IV (D-WV)
Paul S. Sarbanes (D- MD)
Charles E. Schumer (D- NY)
Arlen Specter (R- PA)
Robert G. Torricelli (D- NJ)
Paul David Wellstone (D- MN)
Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R- CO)*
Ron Wyden (D- OR)*
- Will send own letter urging humanitarian release
FROM
FAX NO. : 2126899572
Jun. 29 2000 03: 05PM P4
US House of Representatives "Dear Colleague Letter" - 2000
Page 1 of 1
The Honorable William Jefferson Clinton
The President of the United States
The White House
Washington, DC 20500
Dear Mr. President:
We are writing to urge your support for the release of Lori Berenson, an American citizen who is
being wrongfully imprisoned in Peru.
On January 11, 1996, a secret Peruvian military tribunal, in violation of international law, convicted
Ms. Berenson of treason and sentenced her to life. During her incarceration in maximum security
isolation - which has lasted more than four years and significantly damaged her health - she has
constantly maintained her innocence.
Ms. Berenson was denied a fair public trial by an independent and impartial tribunal, as outlined in
Article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Peru ratified on April
28, 1978. The United Nations High Commission on Human Rights has condemned the Peruvian
government for Ms. Berenson's wrongful imprisonment; Peru has continually ignored the
Commission's recommendations. Additionally, Peru withdrew from its juridical obligations to the
Inter-American Human Rights Court of the Organization for American States (OAS) after the body
found that Peru's military tribunals had failed to provide human rights and democratic principles. It
is now time for you to act.
Title 22 U.S.C. Section 1732 directs the President to take all necessary steps - short of going to war -
to secure the release of an incarcerated American citizen "if it appears to be wrongful." A failure to
intervene on Ms. Berenson's behalf would send the message that the United States will not act when
its citizens are wrongfully imprisoned in foreign countries. We urge you to do everything in your
power to seek her immediate release.
Sincerely,
http://www.freelori.org/gov/congress/house/00letter_house.html
6/29/00
FROM
FAX NO. : 2126899572
Jun. 29 2000 03:06PM P5
Signers of House "Dear Colleague" Letter Urging Lori's Release - June 29, 2000
Neil Abercrombie (D- HI)
Thomas H. Allen (D- ME)
Robert E. Andrews (D- NJ)
Joe Baca (D- CA)
Brian Baird (D- WA)
Tammy Baldwin (D-WI)
Shelley Berkley (D- NV)
Howard L. Berman (D- CA)
Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (D- GA)
Rod R. Blagojevich (D-IL)
Earl Blumenauer (D- OR)
Robert A. Borksi (D- PA)
Robert A. Brady (D- PA)
Sherrod Brown (D- OH)
Tom Campbell (R- CA)
Lois Capps (D- CA)
Michael F. Capuano (D- MA)
Julia M. Carson (D-IN)
William L. Clay (D- MO)
Eva M. Clayton (D- NC)
Tom Coburn (R- OK)
John Conyers (D-MI)
Jerry F. Costello (D-IL)
William J. Coyne (D- PA)
Joseph Crowley (D- NY)
Elijah E. Cummings (D- MD)
Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R- CA)
Pat Danner (D- MO)
Thomas M. Davis (R- VA)
Danny K. Davis (D-IL)
Peter A. DeFazio (D- OR)
Diana DeGette (D- CO)
William D. Delahunt (D- MA)
Rosa I. DeLauro (D-CT)
Norman D. Dicks (D- WA)
Julian C. Dixon (D-CA)
Lloyd Doggett (D- TX)
Michael F. Doyle (D-PA)
Eliot L. Engel (D- NY)
Phil English (R- PA)
Anna G. Eshoo (D- CA)
Eni F.H. Faleomavaega (D-AS)
Bob Filner (D- CA)
Harold E. Ford, Jr. (D- TN)
Bob Franks (R- NJ)
Martin Frost (D- TX)
Sam Gejdenson (D-CT)
Charles A. Gonzalez (D-TX)
Jim Greenwood (R- PA)
Luis V. Gutierrez (D-IL)
Tony P. Hall (D- OH)
Ralph M. Hall (D- TX)
Maurice D. Hinchey (D- NY)
Joseph Hoeffel (D- PA)
FROM
FAX NO. : 2126899572
Jun. 29 2000 03:06PM P6
Tim Holden (D- PA)
Rush Holt (D- NJ)
Darlene Hooley (D- OR)
Stephen Horn (R- CA)
Steny H. Hoyer (D- MD)
Jay Inslee (D- WA)
Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX)
Jesse L. Jackson, Jr. (D- IL)
William J. Jefferson (D- LA)
Chris John (D-LA)
Nancy L. Johnson (R- CT)
Eddie Bernice Johnson (D- TX)
Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D- OH)
Sue W. Kelly (R- NY)
Patrick J. Kennedy (D- RI)
Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick (D- MI)
Peter T. King (R- NY)
Jerry Kleczka (D- WI)
Steven T. Kuykendall (R- CA)
Nick Lampson (D- TX)
Tom Lantos (D- CA)
John B. Larson (D-CT)
Tom Latham (R-IA)
Rick A. Lazio (R- NY)
Jim Leach (R- IA)
Barbara Lee (D-CA)
Sander M. Levin (D- MI)
John Lewis (D- GA)
Frank A. LoBiondo (R- NJ)
Zoe Lofgren (D- CA)
Nita M. Lowey (D- NY)
Carolyn B. Maloney (D- NY)
James H. Maloney (D- CT)
Edward J. Markey (D- MA)
Matthew G. Martinez (D- CA)
Frank Mascara (D- PA)
Robert T. Matsui (D- CA)
Carolyn McCarthy (D- NY)
Karen McCarthy (D- MO)
James P. McGovern (D- MA)
Cynthia A. McKinney (D-GA)
Michael. McNulty (D-NY)
Martin T. Meehan (D- MA)
Carrie P. Meek (D-FL)
Juanita Millender-McDonald (D-CA)
George Miller (D- CA)
Patsy T. Mink (D- HI)
John Joseph Moakley (D- MA)
Dennis Moore (D- KS)
Constance A. Morella (R- MD)
John P. Murtha (D- PA)
Jerrold Nadler (D- NY)
Richard E. Neal (D- MA)
David R. Obey (D- WI)
John W. Olver (D- MA)
Major R. Owens (D- NY)
FROM
FAX NO. : 2126899572
Jun. 29 2000 03:07PM P7
Frank Pallone (D- NJ)
Bill Pascrell (D- NJ)
Donald M. Payne (D- NJ)
Nancy Pelosi (D- CA)
John Edward Porter (R- IL)
David E. Price (D- NC)
Jack Quinn (R- NY)
Nick J. Rahall (D- WV)
Charles B. Rangel (D- NY)
Steven R. Rothman (D- NJ)
Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA)
Bobby L. Rush (D-IL)
Martin Olav Sabo (D- MN)
Bernard Sanders (I- VT)
Max Sandlin (D- TX)
Thomas C. Sawyer (D- OH)
Janice D. Schakowsky (D-IL)
Jose E. Serrano (D- NY)
Christopher Shays (R- CT)
Don Sherwood (R- PA)
Ronnie Shows (D- MS)
Louise Mclntosh Slaughter (D- NY)
Adam Smith (D- WA)
Vic Snyder (D- AR)
Fortney Pete Stark (D- CA)
Ted Strickland (D- OH)
Bart Stupak (D- MI)
James M. Talent (R- MO)
Ellen O. Tauscher (D- CA)
Mike Thompson (D- CA)
Bennie G. Thompson (D- MS)
John F. Tierney (D- MA)
Edolphus Towns (D- NY)
James A. Traficant, Jr. (D- OH)
Jim Turner (D- TX)
Mark Udall (D- CO)
Robert A. Underwood (D- GU)
Nydia M. Velazquez (D- NY)
Peter J. Visclosky (D-IN)
James Walsh (R- NY)
Maxine Waters (D-CA)
Melvin L. Watt (D- NC)
Henry A. Waxman (D-CA)
Anthony D. Weiner (D- NY)
Robert Wexler (D- FL)
Robert A. Weygand (D- RI)
Ed Whitfield (R- KY)
Lynn C. Woolsey (D- CA)
Albert Russell Wynn (D- MD)
Barney Frank (D- MA)*
sent own letter
THE white house
washington
September 1, 2000
Ms. Bonnie Berry
U.S. Department of Education
1990 K Street, NW #7134
Washington, DC 20006-8503
Dear Bonnie,
Thank you for your update and congratulations on the
great work you are doing at DOE! As you know, I believe they
are so lucky to have you.
The agenda for the upcoming distance learning
conference looks so interesting. I feel SO proud about what
you're doing and happy that you are able again to make such a
positive difference.
See you sometime soon.
Very best wishes,
Ane Chief of Staff to
Melanne Verveer
the First Lady
August 31, 2000
Ms. Bonnie Berry
U.S. Department of Education
1990 K Street, NW #7134
Washington, DC 20006-8503
as ymknow, D
Dear Bonnie,
believe they
Thank you for your thoughtful update, note and congratulations
on the new work you are doing at DOE! They are so lucky to
have you.
great
conference, The agenda which I for have the shared upcoming with distance my colleagues, learning looks & in they
fantastic. Unfortunately, my schedule won't allow me to attend.
But I know, under your leadership, it will be a huge success!
2 feel So read
as net what
See you sometime soon.
Very best wishes,
you 're doing
and relieved hopy
Melanne Verveer
that again ymare
Chief of Staff to
a Sle Ro
the First Lady
make such
a positions
defference
DEPARTMENT OF
UNITED STATES
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
UNITED STATES.OR AMPROX
Bonnie B. Berry
Special Assistant
Office of the Assistant Secretary for
Postsecondary Education
1990 K St., NW
Telephone:
(202) 502-7719
Room: 7134
Fax:
(202) 502-7677
Washington, DC 20006-8503
E-mail: [email protected]
@
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
Congral
Melanne- -
Iam so thankful
I so enjoy waking
Ps DOE_ Sin International
Conforence - Agenda Astached!
we are doing well with it.
Bernadeth Bomey is great
towar with -
Lunch please on me!
Dave you so much!
many Thanks!
THE white house
washington
September 4, 2000
Ms. Adrienne Germain
President
International Women's Health Coalition
24 East 21st Street
New York, NY 10010
Dear Adrienne:
Thank you for your thoughtful note and the video about
Nigeria, which I have passed on to the First Lady. Given her
present full time engagement she, regrettably, could not make
the trip to Nigeria. But she was very interested in all that
transpired.
We were pleased by the President's visit to Nigeria and
that he was able to see firsthand some of the important work
taking place there. He was also able to make some vital
announcements about new resources for critical social
development programs.
Thank you for your leadership and, belatedly, for your
counsel during the Beijing +5 process. Very best wishes.
Sincerely,
Anne Chief of Staff to
Melanne Verveer
the First Lady
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
September 1, 2000
Ms. Adrienne Germain
President
International Women's Health Coalition
24 East 21st Street
New York, NY 10010
Dear Adrienne:
Thank you for your thoughtful note and the video about
Nigeria, which I have passed on to the First Lady. Given her
present full time engagement she, regrettably, could not make
the trip to Nigeria. But she was very interested in all that
transpired.
We were pleased by the President's visit to Nigeria and
that he was able to see some of the important work taking place
there firsthand. is a critically important place and the was able
to make some important announcements about new resources
for critical programs that I know you and I care about
1
Thank you for your leadership and, belatedly, for your
counsel during the Beijing +5 process. Very best wishes.
Sincerely,
Melanne Verveer
Chief of Staff to
the First Lady
Is this
the right
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yes
August 31, 2000
Ms. Adrienne Germain
President
International Women's Health Coalition
24 East 21st Street
New York, NY 10010
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and that he was able to see some of the important work taking
nine
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SQ many. Thank you for your leadership and all you do for
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Melanne Verveer
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IWHC
INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S HEALTH COALITION
24 East 21 Street, New York, NY 10010 Telephone: (212) 979-8500
Fax: (212)979-9009
E-Mail: [email protected]
www.iwhc.org
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THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
November 3, 2000
Ms. Gigi Bradford
Executive Director
Center for Arts and Culture
401 F Street, NW #334
Washington, DC 20001-2728
Dear Gigi:
Thank you for your letter and the draft of Creative
Transition, which I read with great interest. You and your
colleagues have developed an impressive document.
I look forward to seeing the report in its final form, and
I hope it will be put to good use by the next administration.
We are fortunate to have your leadership in promoting our
nation's cultural and artistic life.
Best wishes,
Maler Verveer
Chief of Staff to
the First Lady
October 25, 2000
Ms. Gigi Bradford
Executive Director
Center for Arts and Culture
401 F Street, NW #334
Washington, DC 20001-2728
Dear Gigi:
great
Thank you for your letter and the draft of Creative
Transition, which I read with interest. You and your colleagues
have developed a comprehensive resource that touches on
many vital issues. an in pressue document
I look forward to seeing the report in its final form, and I hope is will be
which, will no doubt be put to good use, Thank you for your we are fortunate to
haven
leadership and all you do to promote and protect our nation's
cultural and artistic life.
Best wishes,
by adownism the next
Melanne Verveer
Chief of Staff to
the First Lady
FedEx® USA Airbill Tracking Number
FedEx
8236 6627 5717
1 From This portion can be removed for Recipient's records.
Date 9/28/00
FedEx Tracking Number
823666275717
Sender's
LAURA BECKER
RECIPIENT: PEEL HERE
Name
Phone 202 783-5277
Company CENTER FOR ART & CULTURE
Address 401 F ST NW STE 334
Dept./Floor/Suite/Room
5
City WASHINGTON
State DC ZIP 20001
2 Your Internal Billing Reference
6
3 To
Recipient's
Name
MELANNE VERVEER Phone 202 456-6266
Company OFFICE OF THE FIRST LARY
Address
OLDEXECUTIVE OFFICE ELDE.
To "HOLD" at FedEx location, print FedEx address.
We cannot deliver to P.O. boxes or P.O. ZIP codes.
FOOM 100
Dept./Ploar/Suite/Room
City WASHINGTON
State DC ZIP 20502
Center
for Arts and
Culture
September 28, 2000
Ms. Melanne Verveer
Office of the First Lady
Old Executive Office Building, Room 100
Washington, DC 20502
Dear Melanne:
We are pleased to send you a draft of Creative Transition: Arts, Culture and the National Agenda, the
first document to come out of the ACNA process.
Earlier this year, we commissioned papers from over 75 scholars and thinkers from the creative
sector, and they dribbled in by late July. The quality and scope of the contributions were uneven for
the purposes of this project. As you might imagine, the authors expressed a variety of ideas, reached
a number of conclusions, and offered scores of suggestions. Given the rapidly approaching election
deadline, we decided that the most important document we could prepare would be a short summary
(about 10,000 words) of the issues for use with the transition teams for the new Administration and
new Congress.
Creative Transition is designed to be an easily digestible report. Its primary purpose is a broad
introduction to the issues and the rationale behind our structural recommendations. We want
something to hand to the transition teams that stands a chance of being read and considered during the
hectic months between the election and inauguration. The booklet is part of an inside the beltway
communications strategy for the transition.
A few people have seen this draft already and have made systemic recommendations. Some favor a
more pragmatic approach incorporating specific issues for policymakers to consider within each of
the separate chapters; others argue for greater unity and transitions throughout to tie chapters 2-9
more pointedly to both general structural recommendations and more in-depth recommendations
concerning specific agencies and appropriations. A consensus seems to be building as well for
changing the "chapter" titles to plainer, more descriptive language. As usual with projects of this sort,
there are line edits and language considerations which we will valiantly endeavor to resolve.
We are preparing longer, more substantive "issue briefs" on chapters 2-9 that will include more
extensive scholarship, research and documentation. Those issue briefs will be the second wave of the
ACNA project specifically targeted to the right audiences. (The "Enhancing International Dialogue"
chapter, for example, will be of interest to those dealing with foreign affairs and cultural diplomacy.)
A third wave of the project has emerged from the issue briefs. We have a small number of excellent
papers from our initial group, some of which the Center plans on publishing as separate monographs -
401 F STREET NW
SUITE 334
WASHINGTON DC 20001-2728
TELEPHONE 202.783.5277
FACSIMILE 202.783.4498
E-MAIL [email protected]
WEB WWW.CULTURALPOLICY.ORG
more in-depth and targeted takes on specific issues. We can continue the dialogue around these
themes. New support for ACNA, especially from a new donor to the Center, indicates the importance
of this project and the growing understanding of its potential and will allow this third wave of
publication.
Creative Transition should be read as the framework for an exciting future direction for the Center
for Arts and Culture, the next step in our evolution as a think tank. In order for us to give a draft to
the campaigns before the election and to design and publish this book by mid-November, we need
your comments by COB October 4, 2000. As you read through, please remember that the concepts
will be fleshed out in greater detail in the issue briefs. Our point here is to stay at the right length and
still make the basic points.
We ask that you do these things:
1. Tell us if we have forgotten any major points
2. Tell us what you disagree with
3. Make any necessary line edits
Sincerely,
Gigi
Gigi Bradford
Executive Director
melanne with thanks for any thoughts you night hows 1
M
Creative Transition:
Art, Culture and the National Agenda
I. Why now?
Entranced as we are by the speed of change today, we sometimes forget how radically different
life has become in the Internet Age. In ways wonderful and challenging, our world has changed
utterly. Creativity and innovation have become our most valuable national resources for the new
century.
[In more stable times having in-depth knowledge about a specific topic is useful. But in more
chaotic, transformative times, it's better to know a little about a lot of things
So having a
broad understanding of the past and a broad perspective on the future will be more important
than ever
especially since we are entering a phase of unusual change as we kick off what will
likely be known as the Internet Century. - Steve Case, CEO, America Online] sidebar
The United States of America is poised to make a creative transition into that new century. Our
ideals and values have brought about much of the dramatic change: the Berlin Wall has fallen;
capitalism and free markets dominate the world; international companies operate beyond old
boundaries; ideas and images cross borders and language barriers in seconds through multiple
media.
The growth and redefinition of the creative sector parallels the rise of the global information
society. From 1970 to 1990, the number of people working in the creative sector increased more
than any other professional sector, and 42 percent of that increase is attributable to authors and
designers, the content providers of our new information-based economy. More Americans now
attend arts events each year than attend professional or amateur sports events. Every day, 18,000
people visit the Louvre, but that number doubles when web attendance is included.
It's time to start thinking of the creative sector differently. The arts and culture are more than
just music, dance, painting and theater. While these vibrant art forms continue to delight, reflect
and inform, in today's world they are joined by a mosaic of new forms which stretch our ideas of
what "art" means. If we are to address the heartfelt concerns of Americans about our changing
culture, we must be willing to consider that culture as a matter of public interest.
The new Congress, President and Administration, the first of the 21st century, have the
opportunity to exercise groundbreaking leadership for America. While the Federal government
plays a small role in culture, it is a catalytic one. Government can make a creative transition
by considering culture holistically. Our nation's ability to adjust to the increased pace of
change is linked more closely than ever before to the facility to imagine, to create, to innovate
and to produce. Creativity and innovation have become bedrock American values for not only
our economic success but for a more civil society. The time has come for the nation to invest in
its creative life with the same degree of awareness we give to the environment, economics and
foreign policy.
The Center for Arts and Culture has brought together nearly 100 scholars, analysts and
practitioners from the creative sector to contribute to the Art, Culture and the National Agenda
project. Creative Transition is a synthesis of their ideas and observations. This is the first of the
Center's program of more in-depth studies, reports and programs assessing the increasing
importance of a growing creative sector in American life. Out of this national conversation,
several key issues emerged:
Creativity and the Marketplace
Promoting Access and Equity
American Legacies and National Memories
Strengthening American Communities
Beyond the Market: Our Unique U.S. System
Enhancing International Dialogue
American Creativity and the New Century
Each of these interconnected cultural issues points to how government can serve the public
interest. American values of balance, fairness, justice, free choice and expression, independence
and the common good underscore the discussion of government's role in partnership with the
private sector. The United States has never had a Ministry of Culture or a highly centralized
approach to supporting creativity, and should not now have. The federalist interlocking system
of checks and balances has proven highly effective. America's creative sector is the strongest in
the world, and we can make it stronger still.
Technology, globalization and the desire for a civil society are threads that run through this
report and through all of the Center's work the past three years. Our recommendations are few
and broad, but we believe they suggest a potent means for government, aligned with the private
and not-for-profit sector, to support America's creative revolution.
2
II. The Evolving Shape of the Creative Sector
Every American holds a vested interest in the creative sector. Whether as an active participant or
a passive spectator, everyone is affected by its social and economic impact. The creative sector
includes all those individuals and organizations engaged in the creation and distribution of arts
and entertainment, as well as those who study and preserve its products and artifacts. Those who
provide critical resources - funders, volunteers, administrators, suppliers, and professional and
political representation - are also part of the creative sector.
From a nonprofit dance company to an amateur chorus, from a website design firm to the
corporate media conglomerate, the creative sector is part of a whole cultural ecology. The
creative sector is big business, which rests on a foundation of substantial assets - facilities,
collections, and most importantly, a talented and innovative workforce. [America's combined
cultural industries (the output of artists and other creative workers in entertainment, publishing,
music, recording and related fields) generated $444 billion in annual revenues, about 5.68
percent of the Gross Domestic Product, and more than $60 billion in overseas sales.] - sidebar
Not only does creativity matter to the economic health of our nation, there is tremendous public
interest in ensuring that how we sustain the creative sector - through national, state, local and
international policies, regulations and law - be based on a clear understanding of the issues
involved. Government policies touch and affect the creative sector in many and diverse ways,
some obvious and others subtle. As technology and globalization become more important in the
21ˢᵗ century, a number of factors contribute to the growing importance of creativity and
innovation, the arts and culture, to our national life.
Cultural Diversity
As the American population undergoes dramatic demographic shifts, cultural pluralism will
increase. An aging population that is healthier, more mobile and with more discretionary income
will become more vigorous cultural consumers. Today's teenagers and subsequent generations
will be increasingly proficient in the use of technology to produce and consume creative
products. We are becoming a less homogenous society, and American culture is undergoing a
transformation.
These demographic changes result in re-energized cultural heritages and traditions as sources of
ethnic identity and community pride. At the same time, these traditions are quickly integrated
into mainstream popular culture and the arts, blending into the American story. As quickly as
diverse heritages become part of a shared sense of national identity, we have become slowly
more aware of the fragility of our past. Whether civic artifacts such as the Star Spangled Banner
and its significant preservation or libraries of books crumbling or films disintegrating, our
collective national patrimony is threatened.
3
The Financial Web
Funding for the arts and culture is a complex and variegated web. The commercial sector
depends on its market share, but rapidly developing technologies challenge presumptions about
the ownership and control of intellectual property. Similarly, the ability to develop global
markets for American culture has changed the financial calculus for much domestic production
in film, television, Internet and publishing.
In the nonprofit arts, which rely on a mix of earned and contributed income, basic patterns and
assumptions concerning virtually all revenue streams have changed in the past decade. Federal
support has been drastically reduced, and other sources of public funding, while growing overall,
reveal an uneven pattern based on local, state and regional economic conditions. Cultural
enterprises are looking toward other interests - education, at-risk youth programs, housing,
technology access - to achieve their ends.
Philanthropy is changing. As the number of large corporations decreases due to mergers and
acquisitions, some insist that their giving to nonprofits produce marketing and image-enhancing
results. Two major phenomena to watch among individual donors are the potential massive
inter-generational transfer of wealth and the rise of high tech entrepreneurs with different ideas
about philanthropy. Cultural institutions are changing with the times, searching for more ways
to generate earned income through ancillary activities, including digitizing their cultural assets.
Financial shifts are generating more concern about the ability to sustain new works and to
preserve existing ones.
Blurring of Distinctions
In the old paradigm, it was easy to separate the nonprofit and commercial arts. Today, not only
are distinctions among art forms blurring, but a great deal of crossing over is occurring between
the nonprofit and commercial world. Opera's Three Tenors perform in huge stadiums, are
broadcast to a wide audience, and sell recordings like rock stars. The film industry makes
movies about high art figures like Picasso and Basquiat and presents updated versions of
Shakespeare. Cultural scholars produce books that zoom to the top of Amazon.com bestseller
lists and theatrical actors moonlight on television. The Internet tends to flatten distribution
systems, making it just as easy, with a high speed connection, to "visit" the Museum of Modern
Art in New York as it is to watch a television sit-com in your own home. The creative sector
itself is coming to realize that for most people the distinctions are rather opaque between popular
and high culture, between one art and another.
Public Debate and Controversy
The "culture wars" of the 1990s over the public funding of controversial art were a symptom of a
cultural transformation rather than its cause. Debates over privatization, decentralization and
conglomeration are paralleled by social concerns about violence, misogyny and vulgarity in
4
some of the most popular works. Incidents of cultural unrest abound. The NAACP protests
against the lack of diverse casting and programming on network television. Historic
preservationists fend off the attempt to build a theme park on a Civil War battleground in
Virginia. Victims of the Nazis during World War II petition current governments for their
cultural property, and Native Americans seek the repatriation of their cultural artifacts from
museums. Globalization raises trade disputes over both cultural imperialism and the traffic in
stolen intellectual and cultural property. The recording industry sues Napster over copyright
infringement, and freeware pops up on the Internet hour by hour. Incidents of violence in our
schools often indict "culture" as a contributory factor. Everyone decries the lack of civility in
government, the media and the public green. The cumulative effect of all this media, political
and public attention - fragmented though it has been - has raised public awareness of art, culture
and the creative sector. Government has yet to assess its increasingly pervasive impact on our
society, our economy, and in our everyday lives.
Future Prospects
The creative sector contains two valuable sources of capital. Creative capital is the knowledge
and capacity for innovation in the people and institutions of the arts and culture sector, and it
extends to all economic sectors. Creativity, in turn, generates intellectual property - a man-made
resource of infinite renewability. Cultural capital is the assets that rest in the archives, repertoire,
collections and heritage of the arts and cultural sector - virtually centuries of content and ideas.
We have, in abundance, the talent for the new and the value of our history.
As technology, globalization and the concern for a civil society predominate the early part of the
21ˢᵗ century, we are looking for ways to reinvigorate the social and civil infrastructure of our
communities, our nation and our world. We have the opportunity to invest in the education and
cultural citizenship of our children and creative workforce. Long hallmarks of the American
system of values, the arts and culture can contribute to the cultivation of a global civil society.
Government, the steward of the public interest, is a catalyst for change, and by recognizing the
scope and importance of the arts and culture in our social and economic welfare, can begin a
creative transition of its own.
5
III. Creativity and the Marketplace
The Internet has changed our most basic assumptions about information and cultural exchange.
Individual citizens, the marketplace, and the government vie to establish order in the midst of
chaos - trying to sort through intellectual property rights, First Amendment and the World Wide
Web, and corporate consolidation's effect on culture.
The New Marketplace for Ideas
More than two billion web pages are online, and the next billion are on their way. Perhaps not
since Gutenberg's printing press, and certainly not since broadcasting, has there been so
substantial a transformation in the way words, books, pictures, ideas and ideologies are
reproduced and transmitted across boundaries of place and culture.
Because the Internet is a "free" market, ideas and information are not only readily accessible, but
easily copied as well. Definitions of intellectual property and copyright protection are being
challenged. Old systems of protection for other media, such as books, film, video, music and
other expression are fighting to remain relevant. Similarly, controls on content and our nation's
long-cherished freedom of expression are in flux, as we experience a kind of info-chaos.
Compounding the extraordinary legal questions raised by the information age, public interest
issues surrounding corporate consolidation in the creative sector complicate the agenda.
Public policy decisions are increasingly merging these two seemingly separate spheres. This
shift is magnified in the New Economy, where the raw materials of the public sphere and the
market are the same - ideas, speech, and expression - but continue to serve different purposes.
Sidebar [The WTO protests in Seattle, Washington and Washington, DC were a public outcry
around many issues: human rights, the environment, and domestic labor protection. While
protests against corporate consolidation did not make the front pages of national news dailies or
the nightly news, a wealth of independent media were born out of concern that coverage of trade
and private sector issues would get biased, preferential treatment.
The Independent Media Center coordinated reporting efforts and scooped lots of mainstream
media. It produced a newspaper, distributed throughout Seattle and to other cities via the
internet, as well as hundreds of audio segments, transmitted through the web and Studio X, a 24-
hour micro and internet radio station based in Seattle. The site, which uses a democratic open
publishing system, has since logged more than 2 million hits, and was featured on America
Online, Yahoo, CNN, BBC Online, and numerous other sites. Through a decentralized and
autonomous network, hundreds of media activists have now setup 32 independent media centers
in London, Canada, Mexico City, Prague, Belgium, France, and Italy, with more to come. ]
6
Intellectual Property
The U.S. Constitution provides the basis for current intellectual property protections. The
founders fashioned incentives to spur creators to innovate, but also understood that creation itself
is collaborative and compounds over time. The Constitution grants creators limited monopoly
over their creations, to remunerate them for their time, energy and materials, and to give them
opportunity to profit from the usefulness of their creations.
The 1998 Copyright Extension Act increased the term of a copyright holder's protection to 95
years or 70 years after the death of the creator, a serious benefit to the original creator, his/her
heirs or corporate rights holders, but not without consequence to the public interest. The Digital
Millennium Copyright Act grants copyright holders the indirect ability to control not only the
content of their intellectual property but the means by which it can be communicated and
transmitted.
Given the ease with which copyrighted materials can be copied and distributed freely over the
Internet, a conflict exists between copyright holders and those who believe in a free and open
online environment. The infamous Napster case in the summer of 2000 is but the tip of the
iceberg. How Congress and the Administration deal with Constitutional questions surrounding
the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, international copyright, and intellectual property rights
will determine what sort of order, if any is possible, transcends the info-chaos.
Future policy decisions should consider the original Constitutional balance between return on
investment and resource provision for future innovation. Most experts strongly oppose
immediate overhaul of copyright regulation until assessment of technological development and
its effects on innovation can be examined. An overzealous intellectual property code, leaning in
favor of right holder protections or public domain access, can impoverish the culture that created
it.
Sidebar - [From 1978 to 1998, the copyright industries grew almost three times as fast the
economy as a whole, contributing more than $400 billion to the national economy, and becoming
the single most aggregate export in the U.S. The film industry alone is the nation's second
largest balance of trade export, while foreign films account for less than 3 percent of the U.S.
market.]
First Amendment
In contrast to the language of intellectual property that defines an area for regulation, First
Amendment language creates positive rights, freedom from regulation. Recent First Amendment
cases such as Rust V. Sullivan, Rosenberger V. Rector and Visitors of University of Virginia, and
National Endowment for the Arts V. Finley stake out the contours of the legal terrain for the arts
and culture and create a framework with which the Supreme Court continues to resolve free
expression disputes.
7
In the past, when governments sought to control content, the main means was the regulation of
suppliers or distributors. In the digital age, such intervention will become less feasible because
there are too many providers of cultural content. The Communications Decency Act attempted
to control content, but the courts have consistently held that when it comes to the Internet any
regulation to block "harmful content" can also block good content, and is therefore ungovernable
through content regulation. Community standards are hard to apply when the "community" is
everyone with Internet access.
Policymakers need to tread carefully in any attempt to use "public funding," as a mask to restrain
expression by America's increasingly diverse populations, even when such expression is
different from established standards. The First Amendment was not designed with a federal
litmus test for propriety or general agreeableness. The real crisis today is not whether the
government has funded something that an individual may find objectionable, but whether the
government, through its policies, prevents people from assembling, speaking or expressing
themselves. What is central to cultural ecology may be the significance of the arts to those who
receive artistic messages, as much as to those who transmit them.
Anti-Trust & Corporate Consolidation
Antitrust laws or principles, however, may be one line of defense against stifling of creative
expression and homogenization of culture. If a huge percentage of the culture that reaches mass
audiences passes through the filters of a single corporation, the ownership of various levels in the
chain of distribution and production may be used unfairly to eliminate competitors.
The by-product of this competition has been consumer choice. The loosening of trust laws and
the concurrent vertical integration of media companies is cause for alarm for many cultural
advocates. A debate in media rages about whether corporate consolidation is a homogenizing
force or whether corporate consolidation allows for a broader range of niche content. Those who
agree that there is a broader range of content available may also argue that this has negated the
existence of a shared "American experience." The question becomes: too much choice or not
enough? [sidebar chart of U.S. presses and corporate owners]
In the decade ahead, the nation will evaluate intellectual property rights and obligations, free
expression and social responsibility, and balancing the good of the public against the good of
industry. As we order the info-chaos through the power of the law, policymakers would be wise
to consider how creativity and the cultural sector may prosper or suffer, depending upon their
decisions.
8
IV. Promoting Access & Equity
All Americans should have fair access to our nation's cultural resources. Although laws
safeguard this ideal, many people find themselves disenfranchised from the social, economic and
cultural resurgence of the early 21st century. New technology has created a digital divide
between the "wired" and the "information poor."
Access to Culture
According to the 1990 Census, there are 54 million people with disabilities in the United States.
While many cultural organizations have plans for enabling people with disabilities to participate
in their programs, little is known about the effectiveness of such efforts, what the economic
impact of people with disabilities might be, or any baseline information on the potential of
making physical and programmatic access to the arts and culture more consistent. The
Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act require public access,
but after years of 'good-faith' inquiries, expectations, and requirements of granting agencies, little
is known about actual progress relating to these policies.
People in rural areas face a different sort of problem altogether - a lack of diverse and nearby
cultural resources. While some Federal grantmaking programs address this need, much more can
done to bring the arts and culture to rural areas. Other citizens, whose primary language is not
English, face obstacles to full participation in our national cultural life. Age discrimination is
another hidden barrier to equity and access.
Many people simply cannot afford to participate. Fortunately, several free or low cost options
exist. Over 16,000 public libraries serve communities from coast to coast, and thousands of
museums offer patrons free or minimal admission. Touring exhibitions and performances go on
the road to bring the arts and culture to communities small and large, and local cultural
organizations often offer subsidized discount entrance fees for those that may not be able to
afford full cost, such as senior citizens, students and other earmarked populations.
The media make some cultural resources available more widely and inexpensively. Ninety-eight
percent of American homes have a television, and radio reaches nearly everyone. Film, video,
cable, digital broadcasting and other new media, along with the old media of newspapers, books
and magazines, music recording and others provide literally tons of information, entertainment,
art, scholarship, criticism and other aspects of culture for relatively low cost to consumers.
While estimates diverge as to the penetration of the personal computer in the United States, the
trend toward Internet usage continues to grow.
Sidebar [The NUA Internet surveys estimate that about 147.5 million people in North America
are online at work or at home, a little less than half of the 333 million people online around the
world. CyberAtlas and Telecommunications Reports International contends that in the first
quarter of the year 2000, each minute 38 new users go online]
9
The Digital Divide
As remarkable as the growth of new media has been, not all Americans have access to these
resources. Too many minority populations, particularly African-American men and boys, are not
part of the technology revolution.
[The size and scope of the information poor were captured in various studies conducted by the
private sector and highlighted by the 1999 National Telecommunications and Information
Administration's report Falling Through the Net.
Households with incomes above $75,000 are more than 20 times likely to have access to the
Internet than households at the lowest income levels.
Black and Hispanic households are roughly two-fifths as likely to have home Internet access
as White households and one-third as likely as Asian/Pacific Islander homes.
Americans living in rural areas are lagging behind in Internet access.] - sidebar
Early in the 21st century, television, radio, our bank account, our phone, our email and Web
access will be applications running on a broadband platform. Those citizens without broadband
access will fall further behind, and questions about the openness of that platform are crucial to
the public interest. Clearly, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has a role in
requiring open access to broadband services across platforms, and the Department of
Commerce's Technology Opportunity Program (TOP), which encourages noncommercial
creativity in networking applications, can stimulate the creation of new content.
Other federal programs have been established to provide access to new media, particularly the
Internet. The e-rate, or education rate, was created by the Telecommunications Act of 1996, to
help K-12 schools and libraries defer costs associated with accessing the Internet. In its first
funding cycle, more than $1.7 billion in discounts were awarded to over 25,000 applicants.
While the e-rate is helping many communities have a central hub to "go online," a need exists for
places where citizens can go to create content and participate more fully in the cultural resources
available through new media. Just as space should be reserved on the Internet for open discourse
and free discussion (digital village greens), so too should ordinary people have the capacity to be
content producers. [sidebar on NTIA e-rate report findings]
Because they lack the financial resources, cultural organizations have lagged behind the
commercial sector in taking advantage of the Internet's capabilities, and few have a deep
understanding of how technology can help them reach and extend their audiences. Open Studio,
a cooperative program of the Benton Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts, was
designed to enable "artists and nonprofit arts organizations to use communications media to
gather resources, strengthen ties with the communities they serve, and build new audiences."
Since 1997, more than 1,000 artists and organizations in 28 states have received training.
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No national field-wide survey has been conducted to assess what cultural organizations are doing
to address the digital divide or to capitalize on the opportunities to improve access. Efforts such
as TOP, the Institute of Museum Services leadership grants for museum and library
collaborations, and other federal programs are making inroads. Two themes emerge in the public
interest:
A level playing field - government must protect the shrinking "public space" on the Internet so
that commercial interests do not displace the non-profit arts and creative sector. The creation of
an incentive program similar to the e-rate subsidy for museums, arts and cultural organizations
would promote the provision of new cultural resources online.
Disseminate best practices -bring together the public and private sectors in new collaborative
models for producing, distributing and using digital creative resources. Support for assistive
technologies for the disabled would make access to the Internet more equitable, and the
government should continue to ensure that its own information is accessible through due
diligence of its recently agreed-upon standards.
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V. American Legacies and National Memories
Our past is critical to our sense of who we are today and where we shall go tomorrow. Saving
the physical artifacts of our past and our living cultural traditions is a national public
responsibility.
Demolition by Neglect
The Federal government is the largest conservator of our American legacies and national
memories through the built environment and natural landscapes. Over one million historic
buildings and sites are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and since 1968, over
$800 million in grant funds has been awarded to 59 states, territories, Indian Tribes, local
governments, and the National Trust for Historic Preservation. While the cumulative total is
impressive, the fact remains that many properties languish.
Founded in 1949, the National Trust relies on funding from the public and private sectors, and
supports the Save America's Treasures program, which is dedicated to identifying and rescuing
the enduring symbols of American tradition. In the past two fiscal years, Congress has allocated
$60 million, and these funds have been matched by more than $45 million in private
contributions. But those funds barely begin to meet the need. The National Trust has already
designated some 570 sites as urgent preservation projects that would cost at least $2.6 billion to
save. [chart]
Public stewardship of Federal buildings - from national monuments to small town post offices
and courthouses -- faces the same fiscal constraints. Without resources for preservation, many
Federal buildings face a kind of demolition by neglect.
Disappearing Documentation
As with historic preservation, stewardship of the documents and archives of our national memory
is spread throughout a number of Federal agencies and occurs in concert with a network of
libraries, museums and other cultural institutions. Over the past two decades, funding for
Federal document and archive preservation, when adjusted for inflation, has been significantly
cut. [chart]
In addition to the printed and paper records of our national memory, a great deal of the history of
American culture in the 20th century has been captured through recordings, film and video.
Tens of thousands of these archives are in danger of being lost because of the instability and
deterioration of magnetic media, and if these recordings of dance, folk music, oral histories, and
feature films are not "migrated" to more permanent storage material, they will be lost forever.
[Historical newspapers, the daily record of the times, are being thrown away by the truckload as
their contents are shifted to microfilm, losing much of the inherent quality of the original artifact.
12
In some instances, conserving the microfilm itself proves to be more problematic than finding
room for the actual newspapers.] sidebar w/ illustration
One solution to the preservation of documents and artifacts may well be digitization, scanning
the contents of the artifact and saving the bytes electronically. The long-term stability of digital
media is untested, however, and software and hardware become rapidly obsolete. Digitization is
also a slow process and horribly expensive. [In the National Archives' Electronic Access Project,
which included manuscripts as well as graphic and photographic materials, image acquisition
costs averaged $7.60 per image. These figures go up when one considers high-end imaging
projects of museum holdings; the reported production rates to create 70-100 MB files range from
15 to 70 images a day. There are literally millions more to go.] - sidebar. Private funding for
preservation of archives and documents has always lagged behind the need to save these
components of our historical heritage. In addition to capturing the past, we must also arrange for
the preservation of and access to materials that are "born digital," created on a computer. The
timeline for preservation has shifted to the present.
Individual agencies within the Federal government support cultural websites -- from American
Memory at the Library of Congress to the National Exhibit Hall at the National Archives and
Records Administration, from ArtsEdge at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts to the
Smithsonian's popular site. However, there is no single electronic gateway on the Internet to
Federal holdings of American cultural heritage.
Vanishing Cultural Property
Over a dozen Federal agencies are responsible for more than 730 million acres of land (about 32
percent of the U.S. land mass), and each year they report substantial amounts of looting of
cultural property. In one county alone, San Juan County, Utah, looters have disturbed 20,000
known archaeological sites on Federal land.
The government's role in cultural property protection is to formulate policy and procedures for
identification, assessment, scientific excavation, analysis, curation, exhibition and publication of
sites and artifacts on Federal land. Recognizing the rights of landowners to legally excavate on
their own property, government is often called upon to balance the competing interests of
property holders, local residents and archaeologists.
The government is also responsible for repatriation of cultural property and human remains from
Native American tribes. Little is being done to preserve Native American cultural landscapes.
Only 12 places on the National Register relate to Native Americans -- two are archaeological,
and the rest are forts and trading posts. In the context of the Register, "historic" continues to be
understood as the history of settlers, settlements, and to some extent, settlers' dealings with
indigenous peoples.
Other ethnic, religious and social groups face the loss of indigenous knowledge and artistry.
Since 1982, the National Endowment for the Arts has had National Heritage Awards to honor
living American folk artists. The cultural traditions these artists embody cannot be replaced
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easily. Greater support of all of our Living Cultural Treasures will prevent those traditions from
disappearing as a generation of artists and artisans ages. Similarly, the humanities have been in
the midst of a quiet but deep crisis since the 1980s. Scholarship, knowledge, memory and skills
in the are in danger in fields that literally help to define what makes us human, as fewer and
fewer young men and women pursue humanistic interpretation.
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VI. Strengthening America's Communities
Art and culture improve the quality of life within our communities, serving as bridging
institutions that help forge social capital - the networks and trust critical to social well being and
stability. Communities are re-discovering how the arts and culture can play a part in economic
revitalization and in the health and integrity of neighborhoods. The Federal government,
primarily through tax incentives and economic development funding, is a key partner in
recovering our towns and cities as more livable places.
Culture and the City
Preservation has brought new life to residential and commercial neighborhoods, and historic
buildings saved from the wrecker's ball serve as constant reminders of the best of civic tradition.
By offering tax credits for renovating historic buildings and building low-income housing,
incentive programs have generated private investment estimated to range from $17 to $20 billion
in more than 25,000 projects since the mid-1970s. One urban planner calls the credit "one of the
most successful urban reinvestment tools implemented by the federal government." Urban
economists estimate that more than 40,000 housing units affordable to low and moderate income
families have been made available in historic buildings and areas. Renovations to historic
structures represent an annual investment of more than $2 billion.
Cities across the country are turning to cultural projects as part of their local development
strategies, not just designed to bring enlightenment or acclaim to the city, but to help revitalize
its economy, most often its neglected downtown. New Empowerment Zones and Enterprise
Communities are drawing strength by adding a cultural dimension to economic development.
[The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, for example, conducted a sophisticated
analysis of the impact of the arts on the New York metropolitan area. The "culture industry" was
of greater economic significance to the region than advertising, management consulting, or hotel
operations.] - sidebar
The construction of new cultural and performing arts centers are often part of broader plans to
create districts for the arts and culture. More than 90 cities in the United States now have a
designated district of "cultural vitality" designed to expand the "cultural infrastructure,"
revitalize city core areas, and potentially generate both local consumption and long term
development prospects. While cultural districts or general cultural investment can never be seen
as a simple substitute for the previous dominant economic force in a city, it does make a
difference economically and in the quality of life. [map showing 90 cities]
Culture and Rural Areas
According to the 1990 census, about 1 out of every 4 Americans live in rural areas, towns with
fewer than 2,500 inhabitants. While the challenges facing cultural institutions in the rural United
States are distinct from those in urban areas, the benefits to communities are the same. Federal
programs such as the New Market Venture Capital Companies of the Small Business
15
Administration that help provide investment in rural areas, the American Folklife Center at the
Library of Congress and public-private partnerships like the National Trust for Historic
Preservation's Main Street Program support the rural arts and cultural programs that the
Department of Agriculture has described as "invaluable
contributions toward meeting the
needs of citizens concerned with saving America's unique native and multi-cultural perspectives.
and revitalizing their local economies by sharing their heritage with others."
America's rural communities are rich in history and tradition, but the transmission of this cultural
wealth is hampered by continuing inequalities in telecommunications support, small business
opportunity, and occasion for artistic and cultural exhibition and performance. Organizations
like the National Association of Counties are bringing communities and their leaders together to
address these issues at a national level. Continued attention at the Federal level should be paid to
the cultural infrastructure of rural communities.
Sidebar - [The Colorado Rural Development Council and other organizations were "interested in
providing a forum to raise the level of understanding and debate about key issues in public land
management in the West." Using theater as a device to illuminate ideas and emotions, an unusual
coalition of rural development councils, agriculture, timber, and mining groups, environmental
groups and federal and state agencies developed a one-hour play, The Public Lands Theater
Project, to be followed by a facilitated discussion to broaden public understanding." The play
toured for four months in Colorado alone.]
Culture Improves Community Life
In the last 20 years, communities have partnered with arts and cultural organizations to stimulate
the economy, solve social problems, and extend services to reach all populations. Community
development corporations see culture as a resource for economic, human, physical and social
development. The President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities published dozens of
stories in Coming Up Taller, which clearly demonstrate the impact that cultural organizations
have on improving community life. [sidebar - list of some great partnerships] Creative
initiatives such as those in the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention in the
Department of Justice highlight the role the Federal government can play in community
improvement.
In recent years, several U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development programs have
provided the funding for a variety of community cultural organizations and projects. For
example, in 1999, Pima County Community College received a Hispanic-Serving Institutions
Assisting Communities Program grant of $400,000 to help revitalize the city of South Tucson. A
portion of the funding was used to link the community through fine arts activities including
community murals, mosaic art, and a dramatic production facilitated by students in the College's
Center for the Arts. Over $4 billion in Community Development Block Grants is available for
decent housing and suitable living environments for persons of low and moderate incomes.
Historic preservation is another tool for community improvement. The gentrification of
neighborhoods, however, often causes displacement of low-income households and small
16
businesses, so government may wish to impose limits on tax credits to minimize such
displacement. The Historic Homeownership Assistance Act, for instance, would extend Federal
tax credits to homeowners who renovate houses in historic districts, giving residents of older
neighborhoods incentives to stay and invest in their community's future while luring others to
move back.
More and more, Americans are forming associations and relationships through digital wires
rather than across the street or down the block. Several hundred online community networks
connect residents of a specific place with one another and with local institutions, services, and
businesses. Most community networks offer services including a forum for ethnic, religious, and
neighborhood interest groups, a repository for community traditions, information on community
events, on-line educational assistance, information and links to elected officials and basic facts
about municipal legislation, health and environmental information, and links to employment
opportunities. As the concept of community extends increasingly to the digital frontier, the
significance of arts and culture to physical communities will surely be felt in the virtual world as
well.
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VII. Beyond the Market: Our Unique U.S. System
["Creativity, that link between art and science is already the currency of the 21st century." --
Peter Hero, head of the Community Foundation Silicon Valley] - sidebar
We are all stakeholders in American creativity and culture. Commercial sector interests extend
beyond the boundaries of the creative industries -- publishing, popular music, film, television,
advertising, graphic design, architecture and the like -- to virtually every enterprise. Creativity is
a highly sought-after characteristic for individuals in every enterprise, from the innovative
scientist to the intuitive CEO, from the pre-school teacher to the politician. Creative government
makes the most of limited resources; creative civic institutions improve the quality of life in our
towns and cities; creative religious and social organizations go beyond the letter of the law to
reach the spirit. As individuals deal with the complexities of life in the digital age, creativity will
be our most valuable asset.
["Creativity in its broadest sense, the sense of discovery and inquiry, should be considered
inclusively as technology becomes evermore intrusive in our lives." -- Mary Schmidt Campbell]
sidebar
Culture and the Public Sector
From the birth of the Library of Congress two centuries ago through the establishment of the
National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities a generation
ago, the government has a long history of direct public support for the arts. Over two dozen
current Federal cultural programs of the Federal government are overseen by different 13 Senate
and 16 House Congressional committees. In 1997 the various Federal cultural agencies
expended $1.3 billion. [TABLE Mulcahy]
While direct expenditures from the Arts and Humanities Endowments are a fraction of the total,
those agencies are a lynchpin for public cultural support at the regional, state and local level.
The state arts agencies receive annual, formula-driven grants amounting to 40 percent of the
Endowment's budget in addition to funds appropriated by state legislatures which in FY 2000
were $396.5 million.
Of the 3,800 local arts agencies, nearly three-fourths are private, not-for-profit organizations, and
about one thousand operate with a professional staff. Total spending by local arts agencies in
1997 was estimated at $700 million, more than double that of aggregate state arts agencies and
seven times the direct Federal grantmaking investment.
In comparison to the arts, the humanities have a much smaller Federal-state structure. The 55
state humanities councils receive almost all their funding from the NEH, and unlike state arts
councils, the state humanities councils are independent 501(c)(3) organizations. Of NEH's
$110.7 million budget in FY 1998, state humanities councils received $28 million and raised an
additional $16 million from state and private sources.
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Public Incentives
Relative to the size of the national economy and the impact of the non-commercial side of the
arts and culture, public funding is exceedingly small. Support for culture is a mixed system
based on earned income, public funding and incentives. Commercial entities produce cultural
content on the basis of earned income and private investment, which are effected by Federal tax
policies.
Not-for-profit, tax exempt 501(c)(3) cultural organizations benefit from the provisions allowing
corporations, foundations and individuals to deduct charitable contributions made to them. Not-
for-profit cultural organizations generally do not pay local property taxes, Federal taxes, nor
local sales taxes on income that is related to their mission. Most, but not all, states that impose
sales taxes have provisions under which "charitable" not-for-profits are exempt from some sales
taxes. Not-for-profits also receive subsidies through preferential postal rates.
The future of indirect subsidy via tax exemptions and deductibility is a concern not only for the
cultural sector. Giving levels will be effected by legislation such as elimination of state tax,
deductibility of IRA gifts, and deductions for non-itemizers. Major reductions in tax rates,
which raise the after-tax price to the donor of the gift, would have a desultory effect on giving.
Because contributions have continued to grow despite large reductions in marginal income rates,
it is quite likely that the positive 'income and wealth effect' on giving simply overwhelmed the
negative 'price effect' of lower tax rates. Cultural nonprofits benefit from current tax
deductibility for gifts and should be part of the dialogue on any tax reform legislation.
Sidebar [Contributions made directly by individuals to nonprofit organizations amounted to
some $105 billion in 1994, far outweighing corporate contributions ($6.1 billion) and charitable
bequests ($8.8 billion).]
Culture and the Private Sector
Half of the not-for-profit arts, culture and humanities revenue comes from earned income and
investment income; the rest comes from the private sector (35-40%) and from government (10-
15%).
Private funding of the arts and culture is crucial to the financial health of the not-for-profit
sector. In 1999, Giving USA reported that individual contributions to the arts, humanities and
culture reached $11.07 billion, nearly 5.8 percent of all individual giving to the nonprofit sector.
Corporate contributions, as collected through the Business Committee on the Arts' sampling
technique, is estimated at $1.16 billion to cultural organizations with budgets over $1 million.
Foundation support, according to the Foundation Center estimates, was an aggregate $9.2 billion
in 1998 to the arts, culture and humanities.
The decline in Federal spending for the Arts and Humanities Endowments has been met with an
19
increase at state and local government levels and in the amount of private sector contributions,
although private support for culture as a percentage of all charitable giving has declined.
[TABLE]
The Right Funding Mix
The commercial sector accepts a market determination of cultural values and is necessarily
concerned with profitability and popularity. Nonprofit organizations depend upon the right mix
of earned income, tax exemptions and revenue from other funding streams. Public funding of
culture through direct support and wise tax policies will continue to be a catalyst for creativity
and growth in the number and quality of cultural organizations.
In a system of mixed funding, public cultural agencies exist to nurture groups and cultural
activities that contribute to individual definition and community development and to offer means
to achieve greater cultural equity. Federal money leverages other public and private sector
financing. The imprimatur of the Federal government, backed by a rigorous "peer review" panel
system of checks and balances, has been a signal to private funders.
While aggregate state appropriations to the arts have increased over the last decade, fluctuations
occur in individual states. Similarly, while overall giving in the private sector is up, the arts,
culture and humanities have not kept pace. Part of this is due to the reduced budgets of the
Endowments, but the private sector is changing as well. A generational shift in individual
donors coupled with a reluctance to encounter difficult new projects may be at the heart of the
matter.
A number of proposals have been broached to stabilize public funding of culture, including the
creation of cultural trusts, revisions in tax policies to increase incentives for charitable
contributions from individuals and corporations, various employment programs for artists,
partnerships among government agencies and with the private sector, and more creative
philanthropy, such as online giving. As these new ideas are tested in the national arena, it is
important to keep paramount our traditional mixed funding system to ensure continued
achievement in the arts and culture while fulfilling the public interest in creativity.
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VIII. Enhancing International Dialogue
The creative revolution has gone global. Communications technology has changed how people
around the world live with and understand one another. A key challenge for the United States
will be to become a more active partner in the global structure of creativity. If we make a truly
creative transition, government policy will address a range of international issues including
cultural diplomacy and educational exchange, the global infrastructure of the creative economy,
and the conflicting pressures of open markets and cultural sovereignty.
Global Structure of Creativity
The central question for all nations in the Information Economy is how to stimulate innovation
and originality in ideas. Cultural wealth can no longer be regarded as simple common
understanding, but as a measure of the vitality, knowledge, energy and dynamism in the
production of ideas. Nations that fail to meet the challenge of fostering a creative environment
run the risk of becoming passive consumers of other cultures and their products.
The economics of ideas are not the same as the economics of other commodities. Information
and cultural products are not consumed one unit at a time, but are valued based upon repeated
usage, which is accelerated in a network environment on the Internet. The current regulatory
framework, based on trade agreements, may not be enough to protect or encourage creative
diversity.
In the past decade, international negotiations have evolved into legally binding commitments
under categories such as trade in services, global standards conferences, telecommunications
licensing rules, investment agreements, rules on foreign ownership, content liabilities,
intellectual property laws and other supranational regulations. The political reality of the
emerging Information Society requires that more careful attention be applied to the design of an
open and accessible creative economy. The info-chaos of the domestic sphere is increased
exponentially on the global stage.
Cultural Diplomacy and Educational Exchange
U.S. government-sponsored exchange programs seek to facilitate a better understanding of
American society and values. In 1938, the Division of Cultural Relations was set up in the
Department of State. Cultural diplomacy began to be conceived as a means to persuasively tell
the American story abroad and, secondarily, to promote greater knowledge of foreign cultures
within the United States. As a strategic instrument of statecraft, the evolution of cultural
diplomacy continued with the birth of the Peace Corps, USAID, the Inter-American Foundation,
and the National Security Educational Program.
One of the major proponents of cultural diplomacy, the United States Information Agency, was
formed in 1953 and was folded into the State Department in 1999. The cultural exchange and
21
information functions have been incorporated into the Bureau of Public Affairs and the Bureau
of Informational Programs and International Exchanges in the Department of State, and in the
Independent Broadcasting Bureau, home of the Voice of America radio network.
Other American initiatives such as the Fulbright Program for international scholarship and the
International Visitors Program for foreign leaders have managed to survive and retain their
identities, but other cultural tools have not fared as well. All but a few American libraries
abroad have been closed, most English-teaching activity has ceased, many programs in the
performing and visual arts have been dropped, cultural centers receive considerably less support,
and the U.S. has pulled out of most international expositions and world's fairs. [Budgets have
declined by some 27.6 percent over the past 30 years for educational and cultural exchange
programs.] sidebar
Decreasing opportunities for such exchanges affect the public good. Cultural diplomacy and
international exchanges have helped U.S. arts and humanities institutions develop the capacity to
internationalize their operations and promote cross-cultural literacy for their audiences.
America's political projection abroad is reinforced through the exercise of its "soft power"
intellectual and cultural assets. As public opinion counts increasingly in countries that are
becoming more educated, democratic and connected, the nexus between public awareness and
cultural policies grows progressively more critical.
The Market and Culture
The United States continues to enjoy prominence in the international market for cultural goods.
Film and movies, for instance, are the second largest export surplus of the United States. While
imports of feature films have decreased globally in the past 15 years, the U.S. presence has
increased, accounting for 80 to 90 percent of the films screened around the world. Magazines,
television programs, books and other media are experiencing a great boost in sales in the
international market, yet all this American product in foreign markets has led to consternation
among our allies.
Perhaps no trade issue is as sensitive as this one. Culture is the core of identity. It matters to
French people that McDonald's franchises are rapidly replacing cafes, to the British that their
citizens say "guy" instead of "bloke," or that American popular culture dominates Canadian
media. This collective angst about social change has translated into a genuine fear of American
cultural imperialism. To counter this trend, many countries have implemented policies to protect
their domestic markets through quotas -- the "cultural exception" -- and by subsidizing their own
nation's cultural production.
Trade in cultural products has become a sticking point in trade agreements from GATT to
NAFTA. While in the U.S., the Federal government has virtually no specific role in the
production and distribution of cultural goods, it does play a role when U.S. producers encounter
government-imposed barriers in foreign markets. The advent of new technology compounds this
delicate situation. Direct broadcast satellites, television on demand, digital compression and
other distribution systems may allow people from all over the world inexpensive content at any
22
time. Under those conditions, national cultural quotas become virtually meaningless.
Global Opportunities
The next President and the new Congress have a singular opportunity to enhance foreign affairs
through judicious investments in culture. As the new century opens, the cultural arm of our
diplomatic corps should function more like commercial and agricultural attaches, overcoming
information gaps to enhance the effectiveness of established cultural organizations and help new
ones grow past the initial costs of international involvement. Fostering non-profit and private
sector participation through sensitive guidance can ensure greater variety in cultural exchange.
Cultural diplomacy complements traditional foreign policy. An emphasis on the mutuality
involved in true exchange programs would serve to counter charges of cultural imperialism. Our
objective should always be not the Americanization of other nations, but the internationalization
of communication about culture. The arts and humanities can facilitate understanding among
nations. As we acknowledge the value of other cultures to the United States, our cultural
diplomacy must be distinguished from information diplomacy by allowing American cultural
activities, leaders and artists to speak for themselves abroad. Free expression in cultural
exchange is the best advertising for the virtues of an open society.
We have no counterpart to foreign Ministers of Culture in the United States, and there is no need
or desire to have a highly centralized cultural czar in the Federal government. [insert sidebar on
UNESCO] Given that international trade in culture is increasingly about ideas and not goods,
there is no one place within government for discussion with other countries. A counterpart for
foreign cultural representatives within the Department of State would provide an appropriate
level American participant in the growing international conversation about cultural matters.
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IX. American Creativity in the New Century
The arts and culture will play an ever greater role in the creation of a civil society. Two vital
matters of public interest emerge: support for the people who work in the creative sector and an
educational system that values the arts and humanities as fundamental. American creativity in
the new century will change the nature of our everyday lives, and in the public interest,
government should focus on how the American cultural sector reflects our democratic values.
The Creative Worker
When we talk of the creative worker in the context of the Information Age, we speak not only of
the "content producers" - the artist, the scholar, the entertainer - but of all those who have come
to rely upon the Web as a business communications tool. From international corporations to
freelance consultants, businesses rely upon those workers who can analyze and interpret the
steady stream of information available via the Internet and other media. The creative thinker is
able to sort through the data smog to find the most innovative ways of distributing goods and
services to end customers in an extremely competitive environment. Those who are the most
creative in satisfying market expectations are the most successful. Creativity becomes a
currency of exchange, a sought-after organizational asset, and an investment.
Those who work directly in the creative sector have the same set of demands as the rest of
American society, but the particular needs of artists and scholars have direct implications for
future government cultural policies. Despite wavering government and private support, creative
workers continue to be among the fastest-growing occupational categories in the U.S. labor
force. Data on artist employment are notoriously sketchy because of the way the Census Bureau
classifies and defines an artist and the definition of a principal occupation. Given the
vicissitudes of the arts professions, a person who holds more than one job or works in several
disciplines may qualify as an artist one week and as a waiter the next. [sidebar: what's an artist]
Given those caveats, we know that artists in the labor force grew from .74 percent in 1940 to
1.47 percent in 1998. Unemployment among artists has been consistently higher than that of
comparable professionals, and roughly equal to the labor force as a whole. To some degree this
is due to the openness of artist labor markets, but another contributing factor is the transitory
nature of artist employment, particularly in the performing arts. Earnings of artists have been
consistently lower than other professionals and technical workers, ranging from 71 to 89 percent
of mean professional salaries. As in most other occupations, there are significant differences in
earnings between men and women artists.
While demographic and earnings statistics exist, most information on artists' needs and concerns
still tends to be anecdotal. Artist surveys show that the biggest need is for affordable health care.
With the relatively high proportion of self-employed artists - over 60 percent among visual
artists, for example - it is often difficult for them to take advantage of group insurance rates, and
many artists work in what are viewed as high-risk occupations, with dangerous materials or
unhealthy working conditions. Scholars and creative workers who belong to professional unions
24
or are associated with educational or professional organizations fare better with their health
insurance needs.
Other concerns include the need for ongoing training and re-training throughout the course of
their careers. Age discrimination and lack of artistic opportunities occur in some of the
performing arts, and as recently as 1999, boycotts of television and film were suggested by some
civil rights advocates as a remedy for the under-representation of African Americans and other
ethnic groups on those media. New funding sources, legal advice on copyright issues and other
matters, the availability and affordability of workspace, exhibition space and performance space
are ongoing concerns, and many artists are deeply aware of the profound social and cultural
changes brought about by the Internet and new technology. [A recent survey of artists in Rhode
Island, nearly one-quarter of all artists felt they had been discriminated against in some fashion
in being hired as an artist.] - sidebar
Given the broad concerns of health, education and training, housing, safe working conditions,
and economic development aid in the form of direct government subsidy, as well as indirectly
through tax breaks and incentives, creative workers are not different from professionals in other
sectors. The Federal government has a number of agencies and programs to deal with aspects of
these concerns, and with some fine-tuning and strengthening of existing programs to
acknowledge the impact of the creative economy, the government can take a giant step forward.
The big distinction among the various labor sectors may be in the large number of freelance
workers in the arts field. If, as some prognostications suggest, more workers from other sectors
will become free agents, rather than working directly for one company (or the government itself),
then now is the time for Congress and the Administration to take a closer look at the plight of the
individual artist. In dealing directly with artists' issues, government can learn how best to assist
one of the fastest growing sectors of the U.S. workforce - the independent creative worker.
Cultural Citizenship
"It is nothing short of a miracle that the modern methods of instruction have not yet entirely
strangled the holy curiosity of inquiry. " -- Albert Einstein in 1949] sidebar
Contrary to the popular myth, creativity can be taught and nurtured, and while genius and
originality are necessarily limited to a few, all citizens benefit from an education that emphasizes
imagination, innovation and social awareness that the arts and humanities endow. Such learning
about creativity forms the foundation not only for individual economic success in the new
century, but exposure to the arts changes behavior.
An education in the arts and culture helps people develop their own innate creativity and
imagination while fostering a deeper awareness of others. The broad aim of all schooling is not
merely to enable students to learn how to make a living, but how to make a life. Fundamental to
creating a civil society, the study of arts and culture initiate a life of good cultural citizenship.
25
Research has shown that the arts play significant roles in the development of the mind and
encourage ways of cognition that correspond to independence, respect for others, self-expression
and other tenets of the American democratic ideal. The forms of thinking the arts promote allow
us to deal with ambiguity and complexity, to treat situations flexibly and form imaginative
responses. These creative skills, whether or not an individual ever pursues a vocation in the arts,
are essential to people who can use their minds nimbly and who can respond to rapidly changing
contexts.
Unfortunately, the arts and culture are not high on the agenda of many schools, and few fully
integrate the arts across the curriculum. In his book, The Basic School, the late Ernest Boyer,
president of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, argued that children
think more broadly in terms of their innate curiosity and that a connective language -- one that
includes words, numbers, and the arts - is necessary to build a more thorough and cohesive
curriculum.
[At first blush it may seem odd to refer to mathematics and the arts as languages (and
stranger still to suggest that they are connected). But consider how the pattern of a
grandmother's exquisite quilt is both geometric and aesthetic. Consider, too, how the
rhythmic beat of music also involves measurement, how opera is a blend of song and
speech, and how the magnificent double helix, a discovery that broke the genetic code, is
not only rational, but beautiful as well. -- Ernest Boyer] - sidebar
Bill Ivey, Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, argues that the arts will "equip our
children with the skills necessary to speak, interpret, and create in this new language of the 21st
century. A language that engages layers of sound, text, music and moving images, photographs
and spoken voices, layered and blended at blinding pace. Our children must navigate, decode
and create in this digital age and nothing confers this new literacy better and more completely."
Such education, of course, does not end with graduation, but is a lifelong process, and much of it
takes place outside of formal school settings. Community arts centers, museums, schools and
adult education settings should be involved in the creation, appreciation and understanding of
objects and images that are part of the American experience and that encourage civic
engagement and practice.
Federal government education programs can help foster a re-culturalization of education.
Separate programs at the Department of Education, the Endowments and other agencies should
work together to support teacher training, research, assessment practices, summer institutes for
administrators, and leadership institutes to explore the ways in which the arts, when well taught,
can serve as models for other forms of education. Partnerships and collaborations among
schools, the arts sector, and civic-oriented organizations should be supported to strengthen and
sustain appreciation, understanding and participation as cultural citizens of a civil and global
society.
An old cartoon published in the New Yorker shows two dogs at a computer terminal, and one
says to the other, "On the Internet, nobody knows that you're a dog." The truth to that punchline
is that the Internet allows a degree of anonymity for users and that new technology can erase
26
superficial distinctions of race, gender, age or social class. One becomes judged by the quality
of the content produced, the intelligence behind the e-mail, the merit of the idea. Art and culture
tend toward those same egalitarian ideals, and of greater consequence than economic growth is
the creative sector's insistence in a natural cultural pluralism based on respect and interest in
other points of view.
["I assumed that free citizens cultivated their responsiveness to works of art in order to mitigate
their narcissism and fuel their imaginative grasp of that which is irrevocably beyond themselves,
to transform their anxious discomfort at not-knowing into a kind of vertiginous pleasure." --
Dave Hickey] - sidebar
27
Recommendations
Old conceptions about the role of the arts and culture have been challenged by a remarkable shift
in power. In the 21st century, power that once came from resources now comes from ideas.
Creative Transition has explored the connections among culture, technology, globalization,
commerce, trade, law, communities, preservation, education and the emerging new workforce.
The new leadership within the Federal government has a singular opportunity to embrace a
vision of America that ties together these cultural dimensions of our national life at the beginning
of the 21st century.
Our recommendations are broad and structural.
1. Establish a Cultural Advisor to the President in the Executive Office of the President.
Culture and creativity, and the policies across government that impact upon them, deserve
holistic consideration. The next President will want to tie together Administration directions on
cross-cutting cultural issues. Rather than another layer of regulation or bureaucracy between
independent Federal agencies and the White House, the Cultural Advisor could advise the
President of existing resources and help provide vision, leadership and guidance. The creation of
this position within the Executive Office is a strategic response to the growing importance of
culture and creativity in a rapidly changing world.
2. Establish a Joint Congressional Committee on Creativity.
A Joint Committee on Creativity would provide a forum for Members to consider issues beyond
the dozens of committees and subcommittees that currently handle legislation impacting the
creative and cultural sector. A bicameral committee, including membership of both parties,
would allow Congress a means to increase the integration of cultural matters in the established
legislative structure, and reinforce its commitment to how culture and creativity impact upon the
public interest here and abroad.
3. Establish an Under Secretary for Cultural Affairs in the Department of State.
In an increasingly wired and connected world, the United States of America's formal
commitment to international cultural affairs should be renewed and redirected. Old conceptions
of cultural diplomacy must be updated for the global society in the Internet Age. We
recommend that the Department of State deploy significant resources to international cultural
exchange, trade, intellectual property, diplomacy and to update practices rooted in the Cold War
paradigm. In coordination with a cultural advisor at the Executive Office of the President, the
Department of State should engage and consult with cultural ministers of other nations on
matters of mutual concern.
28
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11/08/2000
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COLLECTION:
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First Lady's Office
Melanne Verveer
OA/Box Number: 23247
FOLDER TITLE:
[Letters 1999-2000: Last Names Starting With "B"] [2]
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THE white HOUSE
washington
December 5, 2000
Ms. Rose Marie Battisti
Executive Director
Asian Children Services
153 Church Street
Little Falls, NY 13365
Dear Ms. Battisti,
On behalf of the First Lady, thank you for your thoughtful
card and the beautiful box.
Mrs. Clinton was SO pleased to meet you in Hanoi and to
see so much of the important work that is taking place in Vietnam.
Please accept the First Lady's appreciation for you and your
colleagues' vital work for children, along with her very best
wishes.
Thank you for your leadership and all you do.
Sincerely,
Mary Assistant to the President and
Melanne Verveer
Chief of Staff to the First Lady
THE WHITE HOUSE
washington
December 4, 2000
Ms. Rose Marie Battisti
Executive Director
Asian Children Services
153 Church Street
Little Falls, NY 13365
Dear Ms. Battisti,
On behalf of the First Lady, thank you for your thoughtful
card and the beautiful box.
Mrs. Clinton was so pleased to meet you in Hanoi and, ok sorry!
during her visit, to see so much of the important work that is taking
place in Vietnam. Please accept the First Lady's appreciation for
you and your colleagues' vital work for children, along with her
very best wishes.
Thank you for your leadership and all you do.
Sincerely,
Melanne Verveer
Assistant to the President and
Chief of Staff to the First Lady
ASIAN CHILDREN SERVICES
Cong No.4, Vi
Mailing address
Rose Marie Battisti
Ba Team Dinh 24 Dist.
New York (Residence)
Fax : 844.8341809
Tel : 844.8341809
Fax : 01-315-823-2008
Tel Tel :
:
Maxine B. Baker
Vice President, Community Relations and
President and CEO, Freddie Mac Foundation
(703) 918-8840
Fax (703) 918-8895
Email: [email protected]
8250 Jones Branch Drive
McLean, VA 22102-3110
June 26, 2000
DO58403-19A
11/19/97
Eric Woodard
Freddie
Office of the First Lady
Mac
White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC 20500
We Open Doors"
Dear Mr. Woodard:
At the suggestion of Kerry Marks, I am writing you for assistance with
obtaining a photograph that captured the First Lady and me at an event on
November 17, 1997. The photo was taken immediately after the signing
of the Adoption Act and I was one of the first 10 people in the receiving
line. During that event, I wore a navy blue suit and a pink blouse with
blue polka dots.
I have enclosed a picture to assist you in this effort and I sincerely
appreciate your help.
Sincerely,
Mapine BBaker
MBB/tt
Enclosure
cc: Kerry Marks
-
8250 Jones Branch Drive
MCLEAN
McLean, VA 22102-3110
Freddie
JUN 27'00
E0.33E
Mac
PR
"D METER
VA
7079744
U.S. POSTAGE
Return Service Requested
Eric Woodard
Office of the First Lady
White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC 20500
20500-0003
I
THE WHITE HOUSE
MCLANNE-
Nov. 21
THIS is A GIFT THAT A FRIMS of mine in Hano,
WANTED me To PASS ON To THE FIRST LADY. She
Runs A US/Vietnamese adoption frogram to LIVES
PART-TIME IN Hanol and part-time in LITTLE FALLS,
NY. She is actually creating jobs (2-3) in NY thru
this program. Rese Marie had a chance to meet the
FIRST LABY AT THe embassy event in Hanor.
IT WOULD Be GREAT IF SHE COULD GeT THE sTandard
THANK you NOTE, Thx- Kais BALLERSTON
AND
them
L
Dear Senator Jodham- Clinton
as New Yorkers who have been
working in Vietnam for are eyth
years we are delighted to welcome
you to Hanoi
Clease accept this hand camed
box made by your long in a
special program for children in
difficult circumstances.
I hopest will change remind you
of the warm welcom you have
received in Hani!
Gore Mani Better Bruce
asian Children Services
Herri -
PHOTOCOPY
PRESERVATION
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
January 9, 2001
Ms. Kathy Bonk
Executive Director
CCMC
1200 New York Ave., NW #300
Washington, DC 20005-1754
Dear Kathy:
Thank you for your many kind words and the copy of
CCMC's twelve-year report, which I have shared with my
colleagues.
You have achieved so much and you should take great
satisfaction in knowing that you and your colleagues' vital work
has made a difference for so many. Thank you for your leadership
and all you do.
Very best wishes and stay in touch!
Sincerely,
The
Melanne Verveer
Assistant to the President and
Chief of Staff to the First Lady
January 7, 2000
Ms. Kathy Bonk
Executive Director
CCMC
1200 New York Ave., NW #300
Washington, DC 20005-1754
Dear Kathy:
Thank you for your many kind words and the copy of
CCMC's twelve-year report, which I have shared with my
colleagues.
you have
and
It is heartening to know CCMC has achieved so much! You
you
should take great satisfaction in knowing that you and your
colleagues' vital work has made a difference for so many. Thank
you for your leadership and all you do to make sure those in need
have a voice.
Very best wishes and please & stay in touch!
Sincerely,
Melanne Verveer
Assistant to the President and
Chief of Staff to the First Lady
R
R
CCMC
Communications Consortium
MEDIA CENTER
December 4, 2000
Melanne Verveer
Chief of Staff
Office of the First Lady
Old Executive Office Building
Room 100
Washington, DC 20500
Dear Melanne:
We are delighted to send you a copy of our new report, Communicating for
Change: Our First Twelve Years. Many of our friends and supporters have
asked us to write about CCMC's history, and this report describes what we have
achieved with the help of dozens of funders and allies like you.
As we look back, it is hard to believe that when CCMC opened its doors in 1988,
the fax machine was state-of-the-art technology in the nonprofit world. Advances
since then, almost too numerous to count, have enabled us to refine our
approach to national communications campaigns and to work on a global scale
with partners everywhere. Our report chronicles these efforts.
Now, as CCMC enters the new millennium, we remain enthusiastic about our
task and steadfast in our commitment to making democracy work by promoting
informed debate on the critical issues of our time.
In closing, we would like to note that because of the collaborative nature of our
communications campaigns, CCMC's story is really a collective story. We owe
everything to the many dedicated nonprofit groups that have been our partners
over the years, and we want to thank you all for these contributions and for your
confidence in us.
Sincerely,
Kathey Kathy Bonk
Emily Tynes
Emily Tynes
Executive Director
Vice President
Many thanks For all 8 your help
over these past years
1200 New York Avenue, NW, Suite 300 Washington, D.C. 20005-1754
Phone: 202/326-8700 Fax: 202/682-2154
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