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<p>With apologies for cross-posting:</p>
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<p><span style="color: rgb(29, 33, 41); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">As many of you will know, the draft FY2018 budget prepared by the White House eliminates all funding for IMLS. Recently, a "We the People"
petition was created urging the White House not to cut this funding. As of today it had 1,500 signatures. By comparison, the equivalent petitions for NEH and NEA had around 200,000 signatures. A link to the petition is pasted below. Please take a moment to
sign it. While I realize the petition refers only to libraries, this year IMLS will award over $20 million through the Museums for America program alone. Many of us of have received vital support from this agency over the years. It's worthy of our support.</span><br>
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<p><a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__petitions.whitehouse.gov_petition_do-2Dnot-2Deliminate-2Dinstitute-2Dmuseum-2Dand-2Dlibrary-2Dservices-2Dfy2018-2Dbudget&d=DwMFAw&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=CLFZJ3fvGSmDp7xK1dNZfh6uGV_h-8NVlo3fXNoRNzI&m=7ekupnLgGbvLKPxb4YgTOrEuMk1r_DuP1dneZWJlcAk&s=T1rAAun7gCoeFWV8SwSfvybNv9voWZqab11tOLdYEio&e=" class="OWAAutoLink" id="LPlnk796946" previewremoved="true">https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/do-not-eliminate-institute-museum-and-library-services-fy2018-budget</a></p>
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<a id="LPImageAnchor_14907265881260.24966725771268905" href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__petitions.whitehouse.gov_petition_do-2Dnot-2Deliminate-2Dinstitute-2Dmuseum-2Dand-2Dlibrary-2Dservices-2Dfy2018-2Dbudget&d=DwMFAw&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=CLFZJ3fvGSmDp7xK1dNZfh6uGV_h-8NVlo3fXNoRNzI&m=7ekupnLgGbvLKPxb4YgTOrEuMk1r_DuP1dneZWJlcAk&s=T1rAAun7gCoeFWV8SwSfvybNv9voWZqab11tOLdYEio&e=" target="_blank" style="display: table-cell; text-align: center;"><img aria-label="Preview image with link selected. Double-tap to open the link." id="LPThumbnailImageID_14907265881260.5953264491125858" width="250" height="131" style="display: inline-block; max-width: 250px; max-height: 250px; height: 131px; width: 250px; border-width: 0px; vertical-align: bottom;" src="https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/profiles/petitions/themes/petitions_responsive/images/fb_share.jpg"></a></div>
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<div id="LPTitle_14907265881270.9908204928311359" style="top: 0px; color: rgb(40, 109, 192); font-weight: normal; font-size: 21px; font-family: wf_segoe-ui_light, 'Segoe UI Light', 'Segoe WP Light', 'Segoe UI', 'Segoe WP', Tahoma, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21px;">
<a id="LPUrlAnchor_14907265881270.8388740805688746" href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__petitions.whitehouse.gov_petition_do-2Dnot-2Deliminate-2Dinstitute-2Dmuseum-2Dand-2Dlibrary-2Dservices-2Dfy2018-2Dbudget&d=DwMFAw&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=CLFZJ3fvGSmDp7xK1dNZfh6uGV_h-8NVlo3fXNoRNzI&m=7ekupnLgGbvLKPxb4YgTOrEuMk1r_DuP1dneZWJlcAk&s=T1rAAun7gCoeFWV8SwSfvybNv9voWZqab11tOLdYEio&e=" target="_blank" style="text-decoration: none;">Do not eliminate the Institute of Museum
and Library Services in the FY2018 budget. | We the People: Your Voice in Our Government</a></div>
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petitions.whitehouse.gov</div>
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<div><font size="2" face="Tahoma">=============================</font></div>
<div><font size="1" face="Tahoma">Dr. Christopher A. Norris</font></div>
<div><font size="1" face="tahoma">Division of Vertebrate Paleontology</font></div>
<div><font size="1" face="tahoma">Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History</font></div>
<div><font size="1" face="tahoma">170 Whitney Ave.</font></div>
<div><font size="1" face="tahoma">PO Box 208118</font></div>
<div><font size="1" face="tahoma">New Haven, CT 06520-8118</font></div>
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