[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 17]
[House]
[Page 23081]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




   CANCELLATION OF LIBERAL RADIO SHARE ON AN UNBALANCED ARMED FORCES 
                                NETWORK

  (Ms. WATSON asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Ms. WATSON. Madam Speaker, today our troops abroad have very few 
choices when they turn on their radios. If they are looking for 
political talk on the Armed Forces Network, all they get is the 
conservative spin machine from Rush Limbaugh. That was all supposed to 
change on Monday when liberal radio talk show host Ed Schultz's show 
was set to debut.
  However, 15 minutes before our soldiers could finally hear a 
differing opinion, the Pentagon abruptly cancelled the show. Ed 
Schultz's producer received a call from a Pentagon official informing 
him that the show would not be debuting on AFN.
  Why exactly is the Pentagon keeping our troops from hearing differing 
opinions? Could it be that the Pentagon is a little embarrassed by the 
staging of a Presidential teleconference last week? We see the same 
staffer that informed Schultz of his cancellation was the same woman 
seen coaching American troops last week in what was supposed to be an 
unscripted conversation with our troops in Iraq. Schultz was critical 
of that stage show.
  President Bush says our troops are fighting to bring democracy to 
Iraq. It would be nice if our own troops could exercise some of that 
freedom.

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