NAfME Joins Nearly 1,500 Organizations in Letter to Congress to Stop Sequestration

Updated January 15, 2015.

As the new 114^th Congress prepares to convene this week, the National Association for Music Education has added its name once again asking Congress to build on the Bipartisan Budget Act and stop sequestration.

Nearly 1,500 local, state, and national organizations have added their names to the letter asking Congress to ensure “any relief from sequestration is the same, dollar-for-dollar, on both the defense and non-defense portions of the budget.” The effort led by NDD United brought together a successful group of organizations last year resulting in a two-year reprieve in the budget deal worked out between Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.)—the Balanced Budget Act of 2013.

However this relief expires this fiscal year 2016. And now groups are gearing up to prevent sequestration from taking effect this upcoming FY2016. In the group letter, signatory groups “strongly urge lawmakers to replace sequestration with a balanced approach to deficit reduction.”

In addition to other vital nondefense discretionary programs, NAfME is particularly concerned with the effect on the quality of our nation’s schools. The deadline for local, state, and national groups to sign on to the letter has been extended to January 19. The goal is to get 3,000 local, state, and national organizations to sign the letter.

NDD United’s Instructions to Sign-On:

This sign-on letter is for national, state, and local signatures ONLY. Individual citizens CANNOT participate and WILL NOT be listed.
When adding your organization’s name, please write it EXACTLY HOW YOU WOULD LIKE IT TO BE LISTED ON THE LETTER. Please double check your spelling before you submit your form. Note that if your organization’s name begins with the word “The,” it will be listed with the other organizations that begin with the letter “t.”
Please confirm that you are in fact authorized to sign on for your organization by checking the appropriate box on the form. Only organizations with authorized individuals completing the form will be listed on the letter.
We have added a section of the sign on form that asks you to identify the nondefense sector with which your organization most closely identifies. While your organization may identify with more than one, please choose the one that is MOST applicable. This question is meant for administrative use and will not appear on the letter sent to Congress.
Due to the large number of signatures, we WILL NOT accept edits. Organizations must sign on to the letter “as is.”
To sign on, click here and complete the form. The DEADLINE TO SIGN ON IS JANUARY 14! We aim to get this letter to the Hill in early February.