[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 85 (Thursday, June 23, 2005)]
[House]
[Pages H5077-H5078]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 THE CORPORATION FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING--PROVIDING INDEPENDENT FAMILY 
                              PROGRAMMING

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Schiff) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my strong support 
for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and its contributions to 
our shared American experience.
  On November 7, 1967, President Lyndon Johnson signed into law the 
Public Broadcasting Act of 1967, creating the Corporation for Public 
Broadcasting and bringing about the genesis of one of our Nation's most 
cherished educational and cultural institutions.
  Before signing the bill, President Johnson presented his vision for 
this new public communications enterprise, stating that the ``time had 
come to enlist the computer and the satellite, as well as the 
television and the radio, and to enlist them in the cause of 
education.''
  Since Congress created this not-for-profit entity, it has become one 
of the most relied-upon sources of news and educational programming for 
all Americans, especially for our children.
  Mr. Speaker, as the father of two small children, I can speak 
directly to the love that our kids have for educational programming, 
such as Sesame Street, Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood, Arthur, Clifford the 
Big Red Dog. They have captured the imaginations and challenged the 
minds of our children for decades. In fact, these programs are also a 
hit with parents, and often present the only alternative to 
inappropriate daytime programming that is available on network and for-
profit television stations.
  The mission of the Public Broadcasting Act was realized when the 
Corporation for Public Broadcasting, CPB, created the nonprofit Public 
Broadcasting Service in 1969 and the National Public Radio in 1970. 
American families now had television and radio stations they could call 
their own.
  Much like the Chamber in which we stand, the people's House, these 
airwaves and programming supported by the CPB also belong to the 
individuals we have the privilege to represent in Congress, and I have 
heard from hundreds of my constituents who have shared personal stories 
of the impact of PBS and NPR on their lives and the lives of their 
children.
  KPCC, for example, in my district is just one of the many superb 
affiliates of NPR around the Nation. My constituents rely on KPCC, as 
they do on public broadcasting generally for news, informational 
programming, and educational programming for their kids;

[[Page H5078]]

and I applaud the significant contributions they have made and others 
and the individual public broadcasting stations.
  The legislation brought before the House today would have effectively 
gutted this fine institution of critical funding necessary to 
accomplish the vision laid out by President Johnson. The base bill 
would have cut a staggering $100 million, stripping the Corporation for 
Public Broadcasting of one-quarter of its funding.
  Critics maintain that the CPB has strayed from its mandate of 
independence and impartiality. In fact, polls show a large majority of 
Americans think that the news and information programming is more 
trustworthy, more independent than that of network and cable 
programming. A majority of viewers also think PBS is a valuable 
educational and cultural resource. A poll commissioned by the board of 
directors confirmed that 48 percent of those surveyed believe that 
funding for public broadcasting should be increased, not decreased.
  Mr. Speaker, I, too, am concerned about the independence of the 
Corporation for Public Broadcasting; and today, I reluctantly join with 
many of my colleagues in calling on the President to ask for the 
resignation of chairman of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting 
Kenneth Tomlinson. Mr. Tomlinson has actively sought to undermine, 
underfund, and ultimately dismantle the very organization he has been 
appointed to lead.
  As the leader of CPB, Mr. Tomlinson should be advocating for the 
continued vitality of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Instead, 
he seems bent on politicizing its content, undermining the objectivity 
of its news analysis, and turning it into yet another partisan organ. 
Mr. Tomlinson has withheld publicly funded polls that show strong 
support for public broadcasting, and more recently, expressed his 
desire to nominate Patricia Harrison as the new president.
  The nomination of Ms. Harrison, a former cochair of the Republican 
National Committee, further calls into question the impartiality of the 
Corporation for Public Broadcasting and flies in the face of the 
mandate of President Johnson that the corporation was to be carefully 
guarded from government and party control. Mr. Tomlinson, regrettably, 
has not proved to be a good steward of the immense public trust placed 
in his charge.
  Mr. Speaker, on that day in 1967, President Johnson had high hopes 
for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and said, ``Today we 
rededicate a part of the airwaves, which belong to all the people, and 
we dedicate them for the enlightenment of all the people.''
  Today, I am proud we have beaten back this assault on public 
broadcasting and taken an important step to renew our commitment to 
public broadcasting and restore the funding and independence necessary 
to ensure that our children and their children will continue to enjoy 
quality, independent public broadcasting.

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