[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 83 (Tuesday, June 21, 2005)]
[House]
[Pages H4805-H4806]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               CONTINUING FUNDING OF PUBLIC BROADCASTING

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the order of the House of 
January 4, 2005, the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer) is 
recognized during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Madam Speaker, as we watch the ebb and flow here in 
Washington, DC, the controversies, the complexities, there has never 
been a more important time for the thought-provoking service that is 
supplied by Public Broadcasting. The educational, cultural and 
community awareness, together with the politics and policy formats, 
form the framework for citizens to cope with the myriad of challenges 
and demands of today's modern living, much as we are struggling with 
them here in Washington, DC.
  If there has never been a more important time for public 
broadcasting, there has never been a worse time for Congress to be part 
of a campaign against public broadcasting. We formed the Public 
Broadcasting Caucus 5 years ago here on Capitol Hill to help promote 
the exchange of ideas surrounding public broadcasting, to help equip 
staff and Members of Congress to deal with the issues that surround 
that important service.
  There are complexities in areas of legitimate disagreement and 
technical matters, make no mistake about it, and our caucus is a great 
platform for Congress to explore these items and to be heard by the 
various public broadcasting constituencies, their boards and staff.
  Cutting funding, especially the proposals from the subcommittee, are 
the worst approach in dealing with public broadcasting. President Bush 
has requested over $413 million in his budget for fiscal year 2006. The 
subcommittee has recommended that that be slashed to $300 million, 
cutting by almost \2/5\, this year's funding for the Corporation for 
Public Broadcasting and eliminating entirely the President's $23 
million request for Ready-To-Learn.
  Madam Speaker, these are as Draconian as they are unjustified. Every 
week, 82 million people demonstrate the worth of public broadcasting by 
viewing public television and over 30 million people a week listen to 
NPR.
  But the cuts are not only cutting at the fabric of the programming; 
they will devastate small rural markets that are hard to serve without 
the extra resources provided by the Federal Government. Larger 
metropolitan areas will be hurt as well. The area that I represent in 
Oregon will suffer about a 25 percent cut, but ultimately they will 
still have some service. In many small rural areas, public 
broadcasting, which is expensive to provide, is likely to disappear 
altogether, because the sparsely populated communities are not able to 
make up the gap.

[[Page H4806]]

  The good news is that the public outcry is being heard. Already the 
full committee has voted to reverse its decision to completely 
eliminate the advanced funding for fiscal year 2008. That reversal is 
an important step to provide certainty and continuity, to give a hint 
of stability for Public Broadcasting and keeping our commitments.
  There will be an amendment to reverse the $100 million rescission for 
fiscal 2006, and I strongly support that effort. In the meantime, I 
would urge my colleagues to become involved with the public 
broadcasting issues, to join over 100 other Members of Congress who are 
members of the Public Broadcasting Caucus and engage in its activities. 
It is important to show the same bipartisan support for public 
broadcasting as we have in other controversial matters in recent weeks. 
The American public deserves no less.

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