[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 42 (Tuesday, March 7, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E543]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


           THE VOICE OF AMERICA: 53 YEARS AT THE MICROPHONES

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                       HON. ESTEBAN EDWARD TORRES

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, March 7, 1995
  Mr. TORRES. Mr. Speaker, as the Voice of America [VOA] steps up to 
its 53d year at the microphone, it is talking to nearly 100 million 
people each week in 46 languages plus English--and its listeners are 
talking back.
  With the end of the cold war and the advent of interactive 
technology, VOA has engaged in a dialog with its listeners, many of 
whom are living under very different circumstances than just a few 
years ago. To that end, the Voice of America is experiencing a renewal, 
or perhaps, more appropriately, a change in its tone of voice to 
accommodate the many new missions it has to perform, to fulfill the 
changing needs and interests of its worldwide audience and to take 
advantage of new technology to allow for better reception and an 
increasingly vast global reach. Yet despite these changes, VOA remains 
evergreen, ever retaining its freshness, relevance and diversity--and 
its importance as America's voice to the world.
  As changes continue to occur in many parts of the world with 
lightning speed paving the way for the information superhighway, VOA 
has adapted its programming and how it delivers its message to meet the 
challenges of the competitive global marketplace with innovation and 
fervor. VOA has initiated a series of exciting broadcast ventures 
inviting its listeners to be active participants in the new generation 
of international broadcasting.
  With the placement on the Internet of a text version of VOA's English 
language programs and VOA audio in 15 languages, listeners can connect 
with VOA instantaneously, 24 hours a day, to offer feedback on its 
programming. VOA listeners not only want credible and reliable news of 
happenings in their country, the United States, and the world, but also 
practical information on how to build and maintain new democracies and 
free market economies. They look to the United States, the most 
powerful and successful example of a working democracy, to learn about 
its institutions, policies, and way of life. They want to know how to 
set up a city council, how to start a newspaper, how the stock market 
works, how to organize a school system, how to get a bank loan, and how 
to write a constitution. And VOA's programs are there--in their living 
rooms and grass huts, in their castles and caravans--to provide these 
new societies with the guidance and support to secure their new-found 
freedom and independence.
  VOA now gives its listeners the opportunity to participate regularly 
in its programming through a new live international call-in show, 
``Talk to America,'' which receives calls in English daily from 
listeners spanning the globe. VOA listeners want to take part in an 
open forum to voice their views on the foremost issues affecting the 
world today--AIDS, drugs, human rights, population, and the environment 
to name a few--and VOA invites their discussion and debate. VOA has 
also rolled out a series of bold new programs to East Asia in eight 
languages through a $5 million enhancement from the Congress. In 
addition, VOA has launched five new thematic programs exploring 
regional and global economic trends: political and social issues of 
concern in the United States; the impact of international developments; 
major news stories from a reporter's perspective; and religion, 
spirituality, ethics and values.
  Mr. Speaker, the Voice of America marked its 53d year milestone on 
February 24, I hope you will join me in paying tribute to its past 
success and its bright future as one of the largest and most respected 
newsgathering organizations in the world. Although we wish that 
governments that censor the news and miscommunicate the truth would 
disappear, history has shown us that there will always be a need for a 
service like the Voice of America--evergreen, ever present, and ever 
truthful. Through crisis and calm, discovery and disaster, victory and 
celebration, VOA has continued to uphold its mission established by the 
intrepid broadcast pioneers who founded America's voice 53 years ago: 
``The news may be good. The news may be bad. We shall tell you the 
truth.'' And VOA, we shall salute you.


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