[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 30 (Wednesday, March 2, 2011)]
[House]
[Page H1494]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          PUBLIC BROADCASTING

  (Mr. BLUMENAUER asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, there is a lot of rhetoric one hears in 
the House about what the American public wants or what the American 
public thinks.
  Well, this week survey research came out commissioned by the Public 
Broadcasting System and conducted by a bipartisan survey research team 
from Hart Research and American Viewpoint that is powerful evidence 
that while Americans are concerned about the budget and budget 
deficits, public broadcasting is a higher priority.
  Support for public broadcasting transcends party affiliation. More 
than two-thirds of all voters oppose elimination of Federal funding for 
public broadcasting as approved by my Republican friends. What is most 
interesting, nearly eight in 10 voters believe that PBS should receive 
the same amount of government funding or more than it currently 
receives.
  It's not just Democrats. Ninety-two percent favor the same amount or 
more. It's not just Independents. Seventy-five percent favor the same 
amount or more. Two-thirds of Republicans favor the same or more money 
for public broadcasting.
  There's still time to climb off the ledge. The Senate should stand 
tall and the House should reverse itself.

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