[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 134 (Tuesday, August 8, 2023)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E763]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          HONORING KBBF RADIO

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. MIKE THOMPSON

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, August 8, 2023

  Mr. THOMPSON of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor KBBF 
and the Bilingual Broadcasting Foundation to recognize their 50 years 
of providing reliable, bilingual public radio for the North Bay.
  The Bilingual Broadcasting Foundation was founded in 1971 with KBBF's 
first broadcast airing in 1973. Spurred on by the Chicano movement, 
KBBF's founders pioneered a new model to engage our entire community in 
all public broadcastings benefits of education, culture, and news 
access. KBBF is the first bilingual, bicultural radio station in the 
United States of America. Today, the station reaches five million 
households and specializes in English, Spanish, and several indigenous 
languages. Of their many listeners, one million are from primarily 
Spanish-speaking households.
  Since 1973, KBBF has been primarily run by volunteers. Their team 
remains a critical source of information for many Spanish-speaking 
members of our community. In 2017, when numerous wildfires devastated 
Sonoma and Napa Counties, KBBF was instrumental in helping to translate 
lifesaving evacuation guidance for Spanish-speaking residents of our 
region who were seeking critical public safety news.
  In recognition of their decades of work, KBBF was honored with the 
2020 Silver Heart Award by the Northern California Chapter of the 
Society of Professional Journalists. The station has been a vital 
resource of information and services for the Latino community. KBBF is 
vital in increasing access to information at the local, state, and 
national level.
  Mr. Speaker, it is evident that that, for half a century, KBBF has 
been an outstanding public broadcasting service for our multilingual 
population in Northern California.

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