[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 107 (Friday, August 5, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: August 5, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                      UNANIMOUS-CONSENT AGREEMENT

  Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that beginning at 
1:15, the vote on or in relation to the amendment offered by the 
Senator from Arizona [Mr. McCain], commence; that upon the disposition 
of that vote, without any intervening business, the Senate proceed to 
the vote on or in relation to the amendment offered by the Senator from 
Colorado [Mr. Brown].
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, for the benefit of Senators, there will be 
two back-to-back votes beginning at 1:15 then.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Who yields time? The Chair advises the Senator 
from Iowa that he controls 9 minutes. The Senator from Colorado 
controls 5\1/2\ minutes.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, a parliamentary inquiry.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator will state it.
  Mr. LEAHY. Had a time specific been set for the vote on this 
amendment?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Vermont should be advised 
there are two votes that will occur starting at 1:15. On the Brown 
amendment, as the Chair indicated, there are 8\1/2\ minutes remaining 
for the Senator from Iowa, and 5 minutes remaining for the Senator from 
Colorado.
  The Chair will further advise that on the McCain amendment, each side 
has approximately 12 minutes remaining.
  The Senator from Hawaii.
  Mr. INOUYE. Mr. President, pursuant to prior agreement, I am pleased 
to yield 10 minutes to the Senator from Alaska.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, the Senator from Alaska 
[Mr. Stevens] is recognized for 10 minutes.
  Mr. STEVENS. I thank the President and I thank the Senator from 
Hawaii.


                           amendment no. 2461

  Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President. I am opposed to this amendment which 
attacks the forward funding concept that was developed in the Public 
Broadcasting Financing Act of 1975.
  I worked on that measure, as did our former colleague, Senator Barry 
Goldwater.
  The purpose of forward funding is to help public broadcasting raise 
non-Federal funds. Each year, Congress directs public broadcasting to 
raise $2.50 in non-Federal support for every Federal dollar received. 
In recent years, CPB has attracted more than $6 in matching funds for 
every Federal dollar invested.
  Thus, public broadcasting is more than doubling its statutory match, 
making it one of the most successful public-private partnerships in the 
Federal budget.
  Forward funding was also developed to protect public broadcasting 
from politically motivated interference in its programming.
  I know public broadcasting is not perfect. Many of my constituents 
have complained about programs they felt were biased against reasonable 
development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge--I shared their 
concerns. Many, including me, felt a recent Frontline piece of the 1872 
mining law was biased against miners.
  But we should not destroy the system to address an issue. Senator 
Inoyue and I are members of the authorizing committee, as is the 
Senator from Arizona--that is the appropriate forum for complaints 
about objectivity or balance.
  I for one am not going to set myself up as the censor of public 
broadcasting. The law establishing CPB calls for balance in 
programming. I frankly believe CPB should go farther to achieve that 
goal and I stand ready to work with public broadcasting toward that 
end.
  Congress has mandated that public broadcasting expand its signal to 
reach rural and underserved areas. By 1997 we will have more stations 
on-line to achieve that goal. A return to 1995 levels will produce an 
across-the-board reduction in funding. That 5-percent cut does not 
account for inflation.
  Mr. President, the small rural radio stations of my State cannot 
afford such a cut. Some of them have already reduced services because 
of tough economic times in many rural areas of Alaska.
  In Alaska, we have what are called sole service stations. Stations in 
Galena, Unalaska, Chevak, St. Paul, Sand Point, Ft. Yukon, Unalakleet, 
and Talkeetna all provide the only local broadcast service. In most 
instances they are the only daily news service. Public broadcasting is 
the only source of news and official information in these communities.
  Unlike large urban stations, where CPB is a small part of the overall 
economic picture, some of the sole service stations I am talking about, 
whether on St. Paul Island or Zuni, New Mexico, depend on CPB grants 
for up to 50 percent of their total support.
  For rural Alaskans, public broadcasting is not a luxury, it is a 
necessity.
  In the spring of 1991, when the Kuskokwim River overflowed its banks 
and threatened the lives of many people in the western interior of 
Alaska, it was KSKO public radio in McGrath that literally came to the 
rescue.
  Over KSKO, State officials told residents which local roads were safe 
to travel and when emergency supplies would be available.
  KSKO became the 911 service for that portion of my State. I urge the 
Senate not to cut funds to that life-line; a cut in those funds will 
threaten public safety in large portions of Alaska.
  Again, not too long ago, several subsistence walrus hunters from the 
Arctic community of Gambell were lost in a violent storm in the Bering 
Sea. Alaska's Governor was conducting his monthly call-in program on 
the public radio network when the Gambell mayor called-in to alert the 
Governor to the situation of the walrus hunters. Within minutes, the 
Governor dispatched the National Guard to that area and those hunters 
were saved.
  People do not understand the relationship between public broadcasting 
and public service in an area such as ours, one-fifth of the United 
States in areas where there is no other means of communication other 
than public broadcasting.
  Public broadcasting in Alaska also helps preserve a way of life. In 
Bethel, AK, through KYUK the only television station, newsbreaks are 
provided in their Yupik Eskimo language. To do this the station 
maintains two news staff--one English-speaking, one Yupik-speaking. 
That costs money.
  The effect of the proposed CPB reduction would be the almost certain 
loss of Native language news broadcasts in Bethel and elsewhere, in 
places where bilingual programs are absolutely necessary. Those cuts 
cannot be sustained.
  The unintended consequences of cutting CPB further will reduce 
services to rural Americans who are already underserved and some that 
are unserved that the increased financing would provide. These people 
are already denied full access to news and information. The only 
solution is that that CBP provides to these underserved and unserved 
areas.

  So I oppose the McCain amendment.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Who yields time?
  Mr. LEAHY. I ask if the Senator from Iowa will yield me time.
  Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, again, what is the time situation so I can 
know what to yield to the Senator?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the McCain amendment, the Senator from 
Hawaii controls 7 additional minutes.
  Mr. HARKIN. On behalf of the Senator from Hawaii, I yield 7 minutes 
of that time to the Senator from Vermont. How much time is left on the 
Brown amendment?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Iowa has 8 minutes remaining 
on the Brown amendment.
  Mr. HARKIN. I yield 5 of those 8 minutes at the beginning also to the 
Senator from Vermont, to give the Senator from Vermont at least 12 
minutes. If he needs more, I will yield more.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Vermont is recognized for 12 
minutes.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that my remarks 
appear at a different place in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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