[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 25 (Wednesday, February 16, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E250]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             FULL-YEAR CONTINUING APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2011

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                               speech of

                        HON. GERALD E. CONNOLLY

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 15, 2011

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 1) making 
     appropriations for the Department of Defense and the other 
     departments and agencies of the Government for the fiscal 
     year ending September 30, 2011, and for other purposes:

  Mr. CONNOLLY of Virginia. Mr. Chair, I strongly support the 
Blumenauer, Lowey, Markey amendment to restore our commitment to the 
Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Public broadcasting provides an 
essential service, providing millions of Americans with educational and 
cultural programming. In my district, and throughout the entire 
Washington, DC metropolitan region, we have been admirably served by 
public broadcasting stations like WETA on television and WAMU on the 
radio for many years.
  Support for public broadcasting was first provided in 1967, and has 
been maintained for more than 40 years--it is an American institution. 
Whose children have not grown up learning their A,B,Cs from Sesame 
Street? Who has not enjoyed one of the many rich musical performances 
or riveting documentaries, including Ken Burns' historic 1990 series on 
the American Civil War, and a recent series on America's national 
parks, shown exclusively on PBS?
  In America, unlike many countries around the world, the media 
industry always has been a completely commercial enterprise. Public 
broadcasting was not designed to supplant private media--and given the 
explosion of private television channels it clearly has not. Instead it 
merely provides viewers with a broad selection of educational and 
cultural programs that are available for free in every household in 
every community. I myself did not subscribe to cable television until 
just a few years ago and routinely watched PBS using rabbit ears on my 
old television set. Millions of Americans choose PBS, and they support 
it with their own money by donating to local stations during pledge 
drives. This has been a successful partnership, leveraging public 
investment with private funds for decades. That's why the proposed 
Republican cut is all the more surprising, given their alleged 
reverence for respecting the popular will expressed on You Cut. The 
number of Americans who support public broadcasting with their private 
contributions exceeds all of the participation in You Cuts by tens of 
multiples.
  I recognize the need to control federal spending and reduce the 
deficit, and I support responsible reductions to that end. However, 
eviscerating public broadcasting is not responsible budgeting and 
flaunts any pretense of respect for popular support.
  While less than twenty percent of its funding comes from the federal 
government, any reduction in support would result in significant 
degradation of the educational and cultural programming it provides. 
Public broadcasting is an extraordinarily cost-effective investment in 
America's cultural and educational advancement. For more than 40 years, 
PBS has brought the world to our living rooms, regardless of our 
financial means or where we lived. A PBS is to broadcasting what the 
Internet is to the digital revolution, and like the Internet 
democratizes and makes universal access to information. We must not 
sever access to such a unifying public resource at the short-sighted 
altar of fiscal dogma. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting 
the Blumenauer, Lowey, Markey amendment. Support the American 
institution of Public Broadcasting.

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