House Democratic Legislators Fight for CPB Funding
Democratic legislators introduced a measure to push back against efforts to eliminate federal support for public broadcasting. Reps. Earl Blumenauer of Oregon, Ed Markey of Massachusetts and other House legislators provided the measure as an amendment to the House Appropriations Committee’s continuing resolution (CR) that proposes zeroing out funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The congressmen were joined at a news conference Wednesday by fellow Democratic Reps. Nita Lowey, Paul Tonko and Bill Owens of New York, Sam Farr of California, Betty McCollum of Minnesota and PBS character Arthur.
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The lawmakers will offer the amendment on the House floor “to restore the full $460 million in funding for public broadcasting,” Markey said. “Republicans have tilted the fiscal scales in favor of big oil at the expense of Big Bird.” They don’t want to cut out the $43 billion in tax breaks for the oil industry, “but they want to cut the budget for children’s TV programming in the country,” he said. To provide the funds that were omitted from the CR, “we're going to find it from parts of the budget that we feel are much less valuable than public broadcasting,” Markey said.
Some legislators said the defunding attempt isn’t about government spending. This is not about balancing the budget, Blumenauer said. This is just part of a recurring, ideological attempt to eliminate public broadcasting, Markey said. Taking away support would be as stupid as treating the Library of Congress as an amusement park, rather than a seat of knowledge, Owens added.
Getting rid of funding will take away suitable daytime content for children, Markey said. A typical public broadcaster provides a daytime lineup “that is a parent or a teacher’s best friend,” he said. Daytime commercial stations provide soap operas, talk shows and other programs, that aren’t suitable for children, he added.
"It is going to handicap the ability to extend this vital service to rural and small town America,” Blumenauer said. While there will be public broadcasting in New York or San Francisco or Boston, it costs his home state “11 times as much to serve remote Burns, Oregon, than the metropolitan area,” he said. The investment from the government makes it possible for public broadcasting “to have a national reach,” Blumenauer added.
The legislators said the content available on the Internet can’t replace public broadcasting services. “The Internet as a substitute in the short run really is not something that most people can take advantage of,” Markey said. Going digital isn’t free, McCollum said. “All the upgrades and technology has come with a cost and it will stop cold … if these funds are diminished or cut off.” “How long will it take for some people to learn that the public wants Congress to focus on creating jobs, not laying off Bert and Ernie with GOPink slips,” said Lowey, who helped beat back similar defunding efforts in 1995 and 2005. The legislators plan to join the Public Broadcasting Caucus, which will be reinstated by Blumenauer, his spokesman said.