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Tania Panczyk-Collins
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tpanczyk@apts.org

House Rejects Attempt to Eliminate Federal Funding for Public Broadcasting

WASHINGTON—July 19, 2007—The Association of Public Television Stations (APTS) applauds the House of Representatives for overwhelmingly rejecting an attempt by Representative Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.) to eliminate federal support for Public Broadcasting. By a vote of 357 to 72 (see http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2007/roll662.xml), the House defeated Rep. Lamborn’s proposed amendment to the FY 2008 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies Appropriations bill.

APTS President and CEO John Lawson praised the House action. “A bipartisan majority of 230 Democrats and 127 Republicans affirmed the view of millions of Americans that public broadcasting is essential,” Lawson said. “The amendment put forward by Congressman Lamborn would have put our stations in a severe financial bind. There is no doubt that many local stations would go off of the air, and the future of our entire industry would be placed at risk from a very negative ripple effect.”

Representative Earl Blumenauer, co-chair of the 110-member House Public Broadcasting Caucus, said in opposition to the amendment: “Public broadcasting is culture, it is education, it is public safety. Indeed, this is the backbone in many parts of the country of emergency communications network … Public broadcasting is providing a voice for America, a noncommercial independent voice that is too often sadly lacking. It isn't available anyplace else in the gazillion channels on our cable networks.”

Two years ago in June 2005, a bipartisan majority in the House also rejected an attempt to slash funding for grants for local Public Television and Radio station operations and national programming through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. In that vote, 87 Republicans joined 196 Democrats and one Independent in passing an amendment put forward by Representative David Obey (D-Wis.) to restore $100 million in funding for CPB after an earlier cut by the Appropriations Committee.

Yesterday, Rep. Obey said in opposition to the amendment: “If this amendment passes, 1,150 public radio and TV stations will be hurt. That will fall especially hard on rural stations. I don't think that's a good idea. I don't think we ought to do anything that would lead us one inch more toward a world in which the only kind of news we got was from the commercial stations feeding us the latest breathless news about Britney Spears, Donald Trump and Rosie O'Donnell. I would like to see a little bit better than that, and I think we get it from public broadcasting.”