[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 83 (Thursday, May 18, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1071-E1072]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                          PUBLIC BROADCASTING

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                         HON. MICHAEL G. OXLEY

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 18, 1995
  Mr. OXLEY. Mr. Speaker, 30 years ago, the creators of public 
broadcasting proposed funding it through a trust fund capitalized by 
various fees and taxes on commercial broadcasters. The proposal went 
nowhere.
  Like other government-funded agencies today, public broadcasting is 
being asked to [[Page E1072]] reinvent itself. The leaders of CPB, NPR, 
and PBS have been specifically challenged to come up with new sources 
of funding to replace tax dollars. Given the realities of the deficit, 
public broadcasters were strongly encouraged to be innovative and far-
reaching in their thinking, to take full advantage of the tremendous 
changes now taking place in the telecommunications marketplace and the 
resulting opportunities to get public broadcasting off the Federal 
dole.
  And what have they come up with? PBS has proposed a trust fund 
capitalized in part by fees from commercial broadcasters and in part by 
allocations from the Government's sale and auction of spectrum, and CPB 
says that ``no combination of cost savings and new sources of revenue 
can fully `replace' the Federal subsidy.''
  Anyway you look at them, the plans rely on Government funding, 
slightly repackaged and devoid of a marketplace solution. Where is the 
vision so desperately needed in order to reinvent public broadcasting 
for the 21st century? Where is the innovative thinking in proposing an 
idea that died 30 years ago? Why should commercial broadcasters 
subsidize public radio and television when they themselves are faced 
with an increasingly competitive marketplace?
  It is time for public broadcasting to reach beyond the tired 
proposals of bygone days and look for truly bold solutions for 
replacing Federal funding. It is time to look to the marketplace for 
ideas, alliances, and opportunities. Public broadcasting is a valuable 
network of local community institutions which has an intensely loyal 
audience. Surely this presents opportunities for more innovative 
solutions.
  I believe we can find a way to preserve the educational mission of 
public broadcasting in the context of today's telecommunications market 
without relying on Federal funding, whether is direct appropriations or 
redirecting Federal revenues into a trust fund. For public broadcasting 
to remain viable, its leaders must first recognize that the congress 
will cut the umbilical cord to the Federal Treasury.


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