Video of Congressman Sherman in Action
Washington, D.C. – Congressman Brad Sherman on Thursday voted to restore $100 million that a committee tried to cut from the budget for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
The full House voted 284 to 140 in favor of an amendment to keep the public broadcasting appropriation at $400 million.
The proposed 25 percent reduction, according to the Association of Public Television Stations, would have severely impacted every public television and radio station’s ability to provide educational, cultural and informational programming in local communities and throughout the nation.
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting is the taxpayer-funded agency that provides critical dollars to public broadcasting across the country.
The corporation supports television stations that offer important public affairs programs, such as The News Hour with Jim Lehrer. The cuts also would have eliminated the successful "Ready to Learn" program, which supports children's shows, including Arthur, Sesame Street, Dragon Tales, and other popular educational programs.
The corporation also supports radio stations that carry National Public Radio programs. Corporation grants account for a substantial portion of member stations’ operating budgets. The grants support local program production and help pay day-to-day bills. “While I have voiced concerns about the fairness of NPR’s coverage of issues in the Middle East, I nevertheless believe that public broadcasting provides a valuable national service,” Sherman said.
According to a survey by the nonpartisan Roper polling firm, Americans rank PBS as the second “most valuable” service taxpayers receive, outranked only by national defense.
