[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 8]
[House]
[Page 11565]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          PUBLIC BROADCASTING

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BLUMENAUER. There is a sad, unnecessary battle shaping up again 
over the future of public broadcasting. It's not an exaggeration to say 
that this battle is about the very future, the very existence of public 
broadcasting. You might have thought that we were past this when, 15 
months ago, the Republican House leadership targeted NPR and tried to 
defund the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
  Luckily, last year, the 170 million people who don't just listen or 
watch public broadcasting but depend upon it, unleashed an 
unprecedented show of support. As a result, the Republican leadership 
walked back. They cut, but did not kill, the Federal support for public 
broadcasting despite the rhetoric. And there was actually a 
constructive sign in last year's appropriations bill that requested a 
study to examine alternatives to funding public broadcasting with 
Federal funding so that people would have hard facts to operate on this 
year.
  Ironically, that study--requested by our Republican colleagues--now 
being circulated, clearly shows that there is no viable alternative to 
Federal funding for public broadcasting. Many of the proposals that 
have been suggested would actually end up with less overall revenues in 
the long term.
  The House appropriations bill being marked up this morning would 
slash funding now, defund NPR Federal support, and end public 
broadcasting as we know it, within 2 years. At the same time, we have a 
Republican Presidential nominee who singled out public broadcasting as 
one of the five programs that he would eliminate.
  This is because Governor Romney and the Republicans listen to a tiny 
fraction of the American public that is even a minority in their own 
party. A recent poll showed that two-thirds of the Republicans surveyed 
would either keep Federal funding as it is, or increase it. What 
resonates with Republican primary voters is not what America wants, 
needs, or believes.
  The unprecedented threat comes at exactly the time America needs 
public broadcasting most. NPR News, the object of greatest Republican 
scorn, is the most trusted brand in the American news media. Listeners 
learn something, unlike Fox News viewers, who, surveys show, actually 
know less about the facts than people who listen to no news at all.
  NPR News has again the highest rating for the ninth year in a row. 
PBS shows like ``Sesame Street'' have helped three generations of 
parents raise their children with effective, commercial-free 
educational programing.
  Locally owned news is becoming only a memory for most of America as 
larger corporations buy up radio and television stations and local 
newspapers. There's no money to be made by commercial stations that 
cater to the special needs of rural and small-town America. But public 
broadcasting is there because their mission is to serve, not make 
money. Often, these locally owned and managed public broadcasting 
stations are the only source that is direct news, education, and 
entertainment locally managed for local needs.
  We must stop the attack on this critical service for rural and small-
town America. It's time for the 170 million Americans who depend on 
public broadcasting every month to speak out again and for Congress to 
finally listen.
  The radical proposal to slash public broadcasting, defund NPR, and 
terminate public broadcasting as we know it, is the most powerful 
symbol of how out of step the Republican leadership is from the country 
they are supposed to represent.
  There's no reason to make public broadcasting a partisan issue. The 
American public has broad support for it, Republicans, Independents and 
Democrats alike, especially when PBS and its member stations were named 
number one in public trust and an ``excellent'' use of taxpayer dollars 
for the ninth consecutive year.
  Since I've been in Congress, we've beaten back this destructive 
effort, but our challenge now has never been more urgent. It's time for 
people who believe in public broadcasting to stand up to what can only 
be termed extremism and settle this question once and for all about the 
future of public broadcasting. For unless we fight it now, there may be 
nothing left to protect.

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