[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 10]
[House]
[Page 13256]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          PUBLIC BROADCASTING

  (Mr. BLUMENAUER asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, we are facing a storm of controversy 
surrounding public broadcasting. There are ominous signs of 
interference and people concerned about trying to impose their 
political agenda on our independent public broadcasting system.
  We have seen Draconian and unjustified proposals coming from the 
Committee on Appropriations to slash funding for the next year and 
eliminate Federal support altogether in the future.
  In 2001, we formed the Public Broadcasting Caucus in Congress 
precisely for the reason to enable us to come together in a bipartisan 
way to deal with the controversial and complex issues surrounding 
public broadcasting. This would be a great time for Members who have 
not yet joined to become members to enable their staff to take 
advantage of opportunity and information and, frankly, in a small way, 
to show some measure of support.
  I look forward to the debate later this week during the Labor-HHS 
appropriations bill not just to restore critical funding. My hope is 
that as a result of this controversy, we will emerge with a better 
understanding of why we support the public broadcasting. I hope we are 
doing so in a way that provides the continuity and stability so 
essential to the critical service enjoyed by 28 million listeners each 
month and the 70 percent of television owners who watch public 
television.

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