taxpayer dollars. that's the bottom line. nobody's on a rampage. nobody is trying to say that we don't like n.p.r. for n.p.r.'s sake. we've seen how they spend their money. it's time to prioritize. it's time to reflect the common sense of the american people, and that's why the bill takes the form that it does. it says that we've got to go, number one, listen to the exutives at n.p.r. that says they don't need taxpayer funding. well, listen, we are all about looking for ways to cut right now and save on both sides of the aisle. we ought to take that advice for what it is. but we also know that n.p.r. takes its fnding and benefits from taxpayer dollars through the payments of local stations across the country. so what we're saying by this bill, those stations are not going to be starved from

corporation for public broadcasting grants, unlike the lady indicated. what they are going to be told is you are not going to be using those taxpayer dollars for programming because we've seen how n.p.r. has used that funding and the kind of funding that's beennvolved. we are trying to find commonality. our country is made up of much diversity with people of a lot of differing opinions. why should we allow taxpayer dollars to be used to adcate one ideology? why should we? we shouldn't. we should insist that our taxpayer dollars are prioritized and the people's interest of this country are honored. that's why i urge my colleagues to support this bill, and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady reserves the balance her time. the gentlelady from california.

ms. eshoo: mr. speaker, i'm pleaseto yield to congresswoman doris matsui. the speaker pro tempore: for ow long? ms. eshoo: for two minutes, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for two minutes. ms. matsui: thank you. i thank the gentlelady for yielding me time. mr. speaker, i rise in strong opposition to h.r. 1076. i can't believe what i'm hearing from the other side of the aisle. it's not a lefty hyped organization. this bill would prevent public radio stations from using -- from purchasing programs. mr. speaker, this would be a huge disrupon to our nation public radio system economy and most importantly the intellectual content and news that so many americans rely

upon. according to a recent study, n.p.r.'s overall audience grew last year to over 27 million weekly listeners. that's over 60% overall since 2000. and this is when most other media markets or outlets are struggling. i was a former board chair of sacramento's local pbs tv station, and i was chairman of a tv station. however, i can attest to the value the national public broadcasting programming offers to my constituents. mr. speaker, thousands of my constituents rely on local n.p.r. stations to get their news, and this is a very divse group. in fact, since this bl was introduced, i've received a significant number of calls from them voicing very strong support for our n.p.r. and very, very strong opposition to this legislation.

one of constituents told me that listening to n.p.r. makes him a more informed -- certainly more engaged citizen. moreover, this bill will not produce any savings for the taxpayer and will not reduce the deficit. to my constituents, it's a simple equation of value for money. and also, this is about jobs. we need to talk about jobs. public radio stations employ over 9,000 workers across the country, including 40 from sacramento. mr. speaker,hese are jobs we cannot lose. i urge my colleagues to vote against this harmful legislation. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back the balance of her time. the gentlelady from california reserves the balance of her time. the gentlelady from tennessee. mrs. blackburn: thank you, mr. speaker. at thipoint i'd like to yield two minutes to one of our new freshman members, mr. crawford from arkansas, who is a

broadcaster and brings that expertise to this chamber. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. crawford: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise in support of h.r. 1076. as a broadcaster shes i understand the -- i understand the freedom to express yourself but to do it on your own merit. i brought an idea to the marketplace to develop a rao news network. started with four stations and within four years was able to grow that with 50 stations serving five states. i did not ask for one single dime from the federal government. i think the freedom to succeed in this country needs to exist also with the freedom to fail. we have an open marketplace. we have an opportunity to sell advertising around the ideas that which express on the radio. i'm a success story in using the open marketplace with frdom to succeed. it also comes with the freedom to fail. earlier in the year or last year, rather, i started a radio station. a small venture. i populated that to staff with

folks that were on unemployment. so i know what it means to create jobs. and certainly this is not about further burdening our taxpayer with support of an industry that is perfectly capable of supporting itself. and with that i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentlelady from tennessee reserves the balance of her time. the gentlelady from california. ms. eshoo: mr. speaker, i'd like to now call omr. weiner from new york and also inquire how much time we have on this side, how much time is left. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from california has 21 minutes remaining. the gentleman from new york is recognized for -- ms. eshoo: he's recognized for two minutes. the speaker pro tempore: two minutes. mr. weiner: crisiaverted, ladies and gentlemen. what a relief. what a relief. i'm glad we got the economy back going. i'm so glad we secured our nuclear power plants. so glad american are back to work. we discovered a target we can all agree upon. it's tse guys. this is a problem.

it's clicking cadillac. -- it's click and clack. now, let's look at the record here. for one, they talk in that boston accent. "car talk." it's a car, congessmen. second, they talk about master cylinders. it's kinky. i am glad my republican friends are finally getting to the bottom of this. and then with all the giggling and snorting they do every weekend on their show, it's got to be some kind of a code. they're clearly talking to the russians or chinese with all that giggling and snorti. i am so relieved we had this emergency session that we waived the rules of the house that requires 72 hours so we can finally get these guys off my radio. click and clack. i know it. these guys are political. they make no sense about most

of what they say. you know what, i'm glad we are not going to have to listen to them. i'm said the republicans said enough of click and clack. that's what they said in campaign 2010. it's a contract with america, get rid of click and clack. it's about time. the last thing we want is informative solutions to how we talk about cars and think about all the people they are going to put out of work. you know, your customer service. and the director of ethics. all of these guys that finally are going to be taken off the public peril, the republican party, no one can say they are not in touch. they get it. they understand where the american people are. the american people are not concerned about the economy around the world. they're staring at their radio station saying, get rid of click and clack.

finally my republican friends are getting rid of them. kudos to you. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady reserves the balance of her time. the gentlelady from tennessee. mrs. blackburn: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady reserves. the gentlelady from california. e chair will remind all persons in the gallery that they're here as guests of the house and that any manifestation of approval or disapproval of the proceedings is in violation of the rules of the house. the gentlelady from california. ms. eshoo: mr. speaker, i'd now like to yield two minutes to a highly respected member of the energy and commerce committee and the telecommunications and internet subcommittee, mr. mike doyle from pennsylvania. mr. doyle: how long are you yielding? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. doyle: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. saker, today the house republicans want to eliminate funding for n.p.r. some because they think the

government should not operate a new service and some because they think the reporting is biased. i believe they're wrong on both counts. public radio plays an important role in our communities as a source of news and inter-- entertainment. n.p.r. listeners are unaware of indisputable -- are aware of indisputable facts. even glen beck's website, the blaze, explains that the video is neither fair nor balanced, how it's basically a lie. and my colleagues should consider the fact that many n.p.r. programs have nothing to do with news or politics. where's the bias in "car talk"? there might be a bias between pintos or pacers but not a political bias. what about music broadcast? there might be a bias against wachovia but not platecal bias. even so, if this bill were

simply to defund n.p.r.'s direct public contribution then at least it would only impact the organization with the alleged political bias which is again based on a lie. but this bill goes further. it hurts local public radio stations and tens of millions of listeners from across the country. if this bill is enacted, communities across the country will be denied programming that their residents want. whatever happened to the philosophy that more choice is better? my colleagues, this is bad public policy. this is a terrible bill. this is a terrible waste of our time. and i urge my colleagues to reject it. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentlelady from california reserves the balance of her time. ms. eshoo: does the gentlewoman have speakers? mrs. blackburn: yes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from tennessee. mrs. blackburn: thank you, mr. speaker. and i want to clear up what i think is probably a couple of misunderstandings that my colleagues have across the

aisle. one of the things i think it's important for everyone in this chamber to realize, and i know some are -- want to make fun of the fact that we are here talking about $100 million, $92 million, $67 million, different funding that goes in and through n.p.r. mr. speaker, every single nny that comes from the taxpayer is important, and every single penny that we appropriate comes from those taxpayers, and we are charged with being good stewards of that money. changing the structure in which n.p.r. does their business. as mr. lamborn said, looking at this business model this is a step we can take to save those taxpayer dollars. this is a step that is going to

change that business model and free n.p.r. now, contrary to what some across the aisle are saying, this doesn't take n.p.r. off the air. what this does is to say, n.p.r., you goto get out of the taxpayers' pocket because the taxpayer is not going to allow those taxpayer dollars to be sent to pay those n.p.r. dues and to buy that n.p.r. programming. now, another misconception that seems to be out there is about jobs. and saying that programming is going to be denied because these stations won't be able to use taxpayer money to acquire some of this government n.p.r. programming. let me tell you, what we're doing is empowering these local radio stations, and i hope, mr. speaker, that our colleagues understand this.

we are turning to these local affiliates and saying, look, there are still going to be grants out there. you can create your own progrming. this is a great jobs program for these local radio stations. this is telling them you don't have to buy programming you don't want and that your listeners don't really want to listen to. we are saying, get creative. get that american spirit back to work, just like mr. crawford was talking about, find a niche in your marketplace and create a program. you want to talk about the jobs that are created? every time you create a new radio show you've got a writer, an editor, a producer, a sound engine, assistant engineer. you have postproduction to take place. you got a host. you got a call scrner. you got a board operator. you got a research assistant working with that writer and working with that editor.

you've got a sales an marketing teamworking. you've got advertisers that are looking. of course, n.p.r. call them sponsors. you have affiliate relation teams working and you have attorneys who are working on the intellectual property to make sure they protect that content. so i would just encourage my colleagues across the aisle to remember this is about freeing up those local radio stations. it is about getting n.p.r. out of the taxpayer pocket. it is making certain that we are good stewards of the taxpayer money, and i reserve the balance of my time. . the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from california. ms. eshoo: i would just like to add something here. that is that one of the mantras of our friends on the other side of the aisle was, read the bill. if the gentlewoman from tennessee would read the bill, she would know that there's not one dime, not one cent that is saved in this bill.

what this bill does, you can talk all you want about how much you love n.p.r., what you are doing is killing off the local station from being able to have the money to buy n.p.r.'s programming. so you are hurting local broadcastsing. i now would like to call on the distinguished woman from california from the santa barbara area, valued member of the committee, congresswoman lois capps. the speaker pro tempore:or how long? ms. eshoo: two minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for two minutes. mrs. capps: i thank the ranking member of the committee. mr. chairman, i rise in strong opposition to this effort to defund public radio. right now millions of americans tune in to n.p.r. stations across the country for one reason. the consistency of the high quality of its programming. in a world awash by off ill informed and sensationalist cable news and ever louder

voices, public broadcasting provides thoughtful evenhanded alysis of the issues of the day. and they do it every day. the bill before us seeks to end that. it is nothing more than an effort to cripple n.p.r. by crippling our local public radio stations. the bill would decimate local n.p.r. statis by restricting their ability to choose programming best suited to their community. in my district n.p.r. stations provide valuable international and domestic news. they bring all things considered, "morning edition" and "car talk" into our cars and living rooms. these stations also cover local news, concerts, and shool events. they produce shows like "yours on the arts," "community calendar." the bill throws all that out of the window. n.p.r. reports and media coverage are consistency evenhanded driven by aigh standard of journalistic ethics.

they are not politically biased. they let the stories do the talking. appantly the public, tax paying public, likes that. according for the project in excellence and journalism, in the last year the television network audience slipped 3 1/2 minutes. newspapers down 5%. radio fell 6%. magazines down 9%. n.p.r.? up %. since 000, n.p.r. audience is up 58%. 5.7 million unique monthly visitors to the website, up more than five million. this is a reflection of the quality of its program and dedication to its ission. public broadcasting helps educatour society, celebrates the arts, education, respectful debate, and civil discourse. n.p.r. and the 900-plus local stations are a valuable resource for our country. i urge my colleagues to stand up for public broadcasting and oppose this legislation. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from california

reserves the balance of her time. the gentlelady from tennessee. mrs. blackburn: thank you, mr. speaker. i would like to take just a moment and since the preous speaker talked a little bit about n.p.r. and its listening audience. i would like to make certain that the record reflects a little bit about that listening audience. we know that more men than women listen to n.p.r. except for the classical music which is 48% female. baby boors are a big part of their audience. we also know that n.p.r., according to their website, says that their audience is extraordinarily well educated, nearly 65% of all listeners have a bachelor's degree, compared to only a quarter of the u.s. population. we also know that they are wealthy listeners, mr. speaker. n.p.r. households tend to be more affluent than otr households primarily as a result of their educational retainment. the medium household income of an n.p.r. news listener is about

86 -- $86,000, compared to the national average of about $55,000. we also know that when it comes to geography, more than 99% of the u.s. population has access to at least one n.p.r. station. when it comes to employment the majority of n.p.r. listeners, 63%, are employed full-time. mr. speaker, again i repeat the point. the object of this today is to get n.p.r. out of the taxpayers' pocket. it is time for us to do this. it is time for this structure to be changed. it is time for us to be good stewards and save the money of the american taxpayer. this is another step toward that goal. i reserve the balance of my me.

the speaker prtempore: the gentlelady reserves the balance of her time. the gentlelady from california. ms. eshoo: mr. speaker, i'd now like to recognize for two minutes congresswoman tammy baldwi from wisconsin, a valued member of the committee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentledy irecognized for two minutes. ms. baldwin: i thank the gentlelady. mr. speaker, i rise today in strong opposition to this bill which prohibits federal funding of national public radio. and the use of federal funds to acquire radio content. i'm iredibly disappointed in my republican colleagues for this needless attempt to cripple n.p.r. and threaten thousands of jobs in the public broaasting community. without so much as single hearing on the subject, this bill dissolves a vital public radio system dependent upon by millions of ericans across the country. 27 million americans listen to n.p.r. each week. and back home in wisconsin

nearly 450,000 people listen to wisconsin public radio weekly. over a three statewide network. in addition, 2.3 million visitors visited the wisconsin public radio website in 2010. those who listen to wisconsin public radio know how much there is to love. wisconsin public radio provides over nine hours each week day of interactive radio programming engaging wisconsin residents and experts from around the world in public policy, culture, arts, and educational discussions. and because wisconsin is largely a rural state, our citizens rely over-the-airbroadcasting more than almost any other state. this means that wisnsin audiences significantly rely on public radio. not only would this horrible bill rushed before us today cripple local radio stations and

programming that we enjoy in wisconsin, it severely harms listeners access to national shows like morning edition, all things considered, this american life, a prairie home companion, and one of my personal favorites, what do you know, among many others. mr. speaker, the republican majority is clearly not interested in creating jobs or dealing seriously with the deficit. despite all of the talk, we are here today considering legislation that attacks pubc radio. i strongly oppose this bill and i strongly urge all of my colleagues to do so, too. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from california reserves the balance of her time. the gentlelady from tennessee. mrs. blackburn: thank you, mr. speaker. at this time i yield two minutes to the gentleman from iowa, mr. king. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. king: thank you, mr. speaker. i thank the gentlelady from tennessee for yielding time. i come to the floor to rise in

support of this bill. in tha the -- the federal government has a few constitutional duties, and we seem to have taken on a lot of federal responsibilities. and as time goes o, every time we see a need, we think we have to tap into the taxpayers and create another government function. but this is not one of those functions that is an enumerated power of the united states congress. it is not something that we are compelled to do. it is something that we -- it is discretionary. we are in the operations of a time of austerity. a time when we see what's happened as a prelude to the american economy if we just look over to europe and places like, portugal, ireland, italy, greece, spain for example. that's the direction we are ading with our economy. and as we see this discretionary spending grow, along with our entitlements grow, and our economy contract, we also need to look at these items that are

-- at our discretion as to whether or not to fund. and i think that the image that we have seen on the videos tells us something about the internal culture of n.p.r. and if you haven't seen the videos or if you have just seen a little text in there, that doesn't give you the real sense of what was going on in that conversation with mr. scller at that table for two hours that day. if you look at the whole video, you'll see the cast and character and the content reflected the culture of n.p.r. in the same way in my view that the videos of acorn reflected accurately the actual internal culture of acorn. we shut off the funding to acorn for that reas. of all the data we put out on acorn, you couldn't be convinced to shut off the funding until you saw the reality of the video, and then we looked into planned parenthood, of all the data that was brought out here to the floor of the house, mr. speaker, and i compliment my friends for doing so, and all

those who stood with him, still the american people didn't understand the real culture of planned parenthood until they saw the video. . of all the data we have seen, we still have not absorbed the real culture of n.p.r. until we saw the video of those two hours that day. and so i stand in support of this act and this resolution and i believe it's time for us to draw a line in our budget and cut this funding. i'll be voting to adopt the cutting of the funding as will my colleagues. i thank you very much. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance his time. the gentlelady from tennessee reserves the balance of her time of the the gentlelady from california. ms. eshoo: may i inquire how much time we have left on our side? the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from california has 13 minutes remaining. the gentlelady from tennessee has 11 minutes. ms. eshoo: thank you. i now would like to call upon

congressman ed markey. who i think possesses the broadest and deepest knowledge of telecommunications in the congress. the speaker pro tempore: how much time? ms. eshoo: two minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. markey: i thank the gentlelady. in an era when edwardian drama is the only way to characterize the way in which cable news deals with the public affairs of our country, there is an owe kaycies of real news that begins with "morning edition" goes right through the day to "all things considered" which focuses on that most unusual of all subjects, hard news. that the american people can use to make judgments about the affairs of our country and the affairs of the world. it's an owe kaycies of information -- owe waycies --

oasis of information. "on point," other programs that raise the cultural level but serve as a place where people, 170 million americans, can go to get real information. now, what is this debate all about? it's really about an ancient an mossity which the republican -- animosity which the republican party has had to the very creation of n.p.r., through newt gingrich, through the early years of the 21st century, right up to today, where it's on a list of grievances which they have about this ability of n.p.r. to provide this news and information. that's what the debate's about. it's not -- you don't have to be dick tracy to figure out what this debate is all about. they have right from the very

beginning of the creation of this network wanted to destroy it. and i think that they are going to run into a razor blade sharp edge reaction from the american public as they find that in place of "morning edition" and "car talk" and "all things consideredthey want to move to dio silence. when the american people find out about that, they are going to be outraged. i would vote no and urge strongly a no vote for all members of this body. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from california reserves the balance of her time. the gentlelady from tennessee. mrs. blackburn: thank you, mr. speaker. i want address one thing. if this is not an ancient animosity -- i don't think i'm quite that old and i don't think you have to be dick tracy

to figure out what this debate iabout. it's about saving taxpayer money. we do not have a revenue problem in this town. we have a spending problem in this town. the federal government does not have the money to fund these programs. we are borrowing 42 cents out of every single dollar that we spend. we have to get the spending under control. we have to create an environment where the american people can get back to work, and we're talking about funding for n.p.r. i just gave the demographic. it is a wealthy, educated listening audience. if people want this programming, mr. speaker, they are going to be willing to pay for it. but the american taxpayer has said get n.p.r. out of our pocket. now, i pulled the sponsors for n.p.r., and i think my colleagues would be interested n this. when you go to the n.p.r.

website and you start pulling the sponsors -- they don't sell advertising but they do ha many sponsors. they have some sponsors that land in the $1 million-plus category. $1 million-plus. and then they list sponsors all the way down to $5,999. this is how wealthy the sponsorship base and the subscribership base is for thm. it is time for us to remo the federal support system that they have relied on. they have told us they do not need the money. we need to cut the umbilical chord. we need to see what n.p.r. can do on their own and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentlelady reserves the balance of her time. the gentlelady from california. ms. eshoo: i yield two minutes to the dean of the house, mr. dingell from michigan. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. dingell: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. dingell: i thank the gentlelady from california for yielding me this time and i commend her for opposing this legislation. i rise in strenuous opposition to h.r. 1076. hastened to the floor in defiance of the commitments of the speaker and without any hearings or consideration by the committee on energy and commerce. no opportunity for the public to speak or be heard what we're ing. the majority continues to force members of this body to waste time and energy of the house, a critical asset of this nation, on political witch-hunts with respect to health care and the environment. now we're adding public badcasting to this list.

public broadcasting is a national treasure. it provides us impartial, honest coverage of facts and news. it provides information not available elsewhere and, yes, it sheds a little bit of culture on our people, something that my republican colleagues find offensive. it has done so at veryow cost to the public. with huge contributions from the people for the suppt of -- in support of this. this legislation is going to prohibit local stations like michigan radio in ann arbor and in your own districts and in your states from using public -- from using money from corporation of public broadcasting from producing any public radio programs. as regards to process, we are completely evading the processes and the commitments thaare -- can be found in the rules and pronouncements of the leadership on the other side. and we are finally -- finding

that the htory of this, which goes back to the 1934 communications act in the commerce committee has been grossly disregarded. some for regular order and so much for transparen that the majority made such a big fuss about at the beginning of this year. what's next? are we going to amend the endangered species act on the floor to declare an open season on the big bird or upon programs which educate our kids or which contribute to the advancement of our society? i urge my colleagues to oppose h.r. 1076. it's a bad bill. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady reserves the balance of her time. the gentlelady from tennessee. mrs. ackburn: reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from california. ms. eshoo: i'm pleased toyield one minute to the gentleman from oregon, mr. blumenauer, who is the chairman of the

house caucus on public broadcasting. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. blumenauer: i thank the gentlelady. i want to make five basic points. number one, there are no savings to the taxpayer in this bill. it simply passes ohigher costs and fewer choices to local stations. second, it's not going to stop n.p.r., which will go on in new york and los angeles and even portland, oregon. what it will cripple is what happens in smaller local stations around the country who rely on n.p.r. and other public broadcasting entities for their content. my good friend from tennessee just went through all the steps that are necessary to produce local content. that's complex and it's expensive. that's why they voluntarily buy "morning edition" or "prairie home comnion" or "car talk."

n.p.r. never said it didn't need the money. they're relying on a discredited video that was exposed by glen beck's website of all places. our friends should talk to the thousands of volunteers at home who rely upon public broadcasting resources to provide the content that americans love. reject this travesty. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman reserves the balance of her time. the gentlelady from tennessee. mrs. blackburn: thank you, mr. speaker. in response to this there are no savings, and may i point my colleague to a report on the corporation for public broadcasting, federal funding and issues. and i will be happy to submit this for the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mrs. blackburn: thank you, mr. speaker. and reading from that n.p.r., incorporated which oversees the n.p.r. systems states that n.p.r. receives direct funding in the range of $1.5 million to

$3 million from three federal agencies and the corporation for public broadcastinging. those are the national endoufment for the arts, department of commerce's -- endowment for t arts, department of commerce's department of public education. now, mr. speaker, what we're sang is you can't do that anymore. this is one of the steps that we have to take in order to straighten out this budgeting process. our country does not have the money to spend on this. n.p.r. does not need the money. they will not be able to get these grants. we will save those dollars. the american taxpayer has said, get your fiscal house in order. this is a step in that process. i know they don't like it, but you know what, this is something we can do. this is something we will do. this is something the american people want to make certain

that we do so that we get this nation back on a firm, fiscal and sound fiscal policy. the y has come that the out-of-control federal spending has to stop. a good place to start is by taking n.p.r. out of the taxpayer pocket, and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman reserves the balance of her time. the gentlelady from california. ms. eshoo: mr. speaker, i'd like to yield one minute to the gentleman from rhode island, mr. cicilline. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman isecognized for one minute. mr. cicilline: i thank the gentlelady from california. i rise in strong opposition to h.r. 1076, to defund national public radio. overwhelming rhode island constituents agree this legislation is no more than an ideological attack on public broadcasting. mass can raiding as a fiscal issue. -- masquerading as a fiscal issue.

it is .003% of the national budget. this legislation will not reduce the deficit by a single penny. without as much of a hearing, this legislation undermines public broadcasting, assisting 3,4 americans turn to weekly and americans across the mittcal spectrum place high trust. the funding restrictions will devastate public radio, the economy of the public radio, it will harm local stations, it will inhibit their ability to get audiences, most importantly, their ability to continue to produce local programming. national public radio gives voice to the smallest communities in our country. i know the high quality that n.p.r. provides in rhode island and all across this country. it would also endanger 9,000 jobs at local public radio stations in communities across the country. i urge my colleagues to vote against this assault on the free exchange of ideas and instead support a democracy that continues to listen carefully to its people.

i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady reserves the balance of her time. the gentlelady from tennessee. mrs. blackburn: reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from california. the gentlelady from california is recognized. ms. eshoo: mr. speaker, i'm very pleas to yield a minute to the gentlewoman from new york, congresswoman nita lowey, who is one of the great advocates of public bradcasting in the congress. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. mrs. lowey: i thank the gentlelady. and, mr. speaker, i rise in strong opposition. 170 million americans use public media for vital news. 61% of voters who support deficit reduction also support funding for public broadcasting. yet, the assault on public broadcasting continues. whejobs and the economy should be our top priority.

this outrageous ll would prohibit public radio stations from using funds from using any radio programming from any outside source. that means that your local radio stations may not be able to air quality programming. we were not sent here to silen "prairie home companion," "car talk." let's try to stop putting diane ream out of work and try to focus putting more americans back to work. reject this bill. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. the gentlelady from california reserves. the gentlelady from tennessee. mrs. blackburn: reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from tennessee reserves. the gentlelady from california. ms. eshoo: mr. speaker, i like to yield a minute to the distinguished gentleman from connecticut, mr. larson, the chairman of the house democratic caucus. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. larson: i thank the gentlewoman and wish her a happy st. patrick's day.

mr. speaker, there's a pattern here. americans are seeing through what it amounts to an ideological purge. in wisconsin, under the guise of dealing with the deficit, they're taking away collective bargaining rights. in washington under the guise of dealing with the deficit they are cutting planned parenthood and taking away women's rights. under the guise of dealing with the deficit, they are planning to privatize social security and voucher medicare as if they had anything to do with causing the deficit and the problem we're in. and under e guise of saving taxpayers dollars, what they're doing is silencing n.p.r., not because it saves money but because it is not on the same ideological freak wednesdayy of the extreme -- free against -- frequency of e extreme right.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from tennessee. mrs. blackburn: reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from california. ms. eshoo: i yield to ms. woolsey. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. ms. woolsey: the reaction to the plan is so be it. the reaction to an immoral afghanistan withdrawal is a shrug. but defunding national free programming, now, that's a national crisis. i figure they think if they can't catch bin laden then they ought to go afte "prairie home companion." n.p.r. provides a vital function in a democracy. it's also twice as popular as the afghanistan war. and it supports 21,000 jobs. that's 21,000 jobs more than

the republican agenda would create. vote against h.r. 1076. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back the balance of her time. the gentlelady from california reserves. mrs. blackburn: reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from tennessee reserves. the gentlelady from california. ms. eshoo: mr. speaker, i'd like to yield one minute to the gentleman from texas, mr. doggett. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. doggett: while republicans insist today that n.p.r. is a four-letter word, the real attack is on k.u.t. and similar public radio. texans rely on kut. the only biased on those who begin with "morning edition" is a biased for truth. my constituents turn to kut because they want fact-based, not fox-based coverage. liktheir continued assault on

pbs, these republicans just can't tell the difference between big government and big bird. while they pander to wall street, they continue to want to terminate support on "sesame street." all things considered, their attack really has nothing to do with balancing the budget it is an ideological crusade against balanced news and educational programs. cutting access to public knowledge decreases our ability to hold our government accountable. don't weaken our democracy by weakening this vital source of reality-based journalism. don't cut kut, public radio serves the public's interest. i yield back. . the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from tennessee. mrs. blackburn: at this time i yield one minute to one of our freshmen members from the florida pan handle, mr. southerland. the speaker pro tempore: the geleman is recognized for one minute. mr. southerland: i ask unanimous

consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. susterland: -- mr. susterland: we talk about big bird and that sounds wonderful. we had a couple of big bird in my family. we have four small children and they love big bird. i'll tell you this when the c.e.o. of "sesame street" is compensated, $956,000 in 2008 compensation, that's over double what the leader of the free world makes. think about that. $46,000 -- $956,000, when in the same year "sesame street" received $211 million in toy and consumer product sails. so -- sales. to stand here and say we have the luxury at this incredibly critical crisis moment in our deficit struggles that we have the luxury, the luxury of making sure that pbs can pay $632,000

in salary and the corporation for public broadcasting can pay its president and c.e.o., $300,000 a piece, i mean, really. are we serious? are we serious? we can do better. we must do better. madam chair, i yield back my time the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from tennessee reserves the balance of her time. the gentlady from california has three minutes remaining. the gentlelady from tennessee has six minutes remaining. ms. eshoo: did you say three minutes? the speaker pro tempore: correct. the gentlelady from california. ms. eshoo: at this time i'd like to yield one minute to the gentleman, great irishman, from virginia, mr. moran. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. moran: mr. speaker, natial public rad has the strongest intellectual artistic and informational in-depth content of any radio network in this country. because its content is not compromised by corporate ownership. i love it, but i won't lose it. it's the rural stations that

depend on n.p.r. for half their budget. they can't afford to lose this national asset, nor can the 36 million people who rely on emergency alerts from n.p.r. in times of crisis. the commercial market won't do that because there's no profit in it. nor can the visually and hearing impaired afford to lose the technology n.p.r. developed. this has nothing to do with the deficit. it's a fraction of our national debt. it jeopardizes 9,000 jobs and distracts us from solving the real problems that this nation faces by trying to destroy one of the primary sources of an entighlened -- enlightened electorate. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from california reserves the balance of her time. the gentlelady from tennessee. mrs. blackburn: thank you, mr. speaker. you know i think that this is one of those things that's what did he -- that's kind of what's wrong around here. don't do this, that's not much money. that's not much money. you know what, mr. speaker? it all adds up. and the american people have had

it with the federal government spending money they do not have. with that i want to yield one minute to a wonderful new member who has joined us from dunn, north carolina, miss ehlers. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. mrs. ellmers: this legislation would simply prohibit direct federal funds, taxpayer money, from being made available to the national public radio, or as we know it, np.r. and would prohibit public radio stations from using federal funds to pay for their n.p.r. dues. the bill would also prohibit public radio stations from using federal funds for the production or acquisition of programming. i want to be very clear. i am in support of the arts. however i do not believe that n.p.r. has the right to public funds from our hard-earned taxpayer dollars.

when they receive plenty of funding from private sources. these prohibitions would not affect a local radio station's ability to use the federal funding for their operations or for the production of their own programming. n.p.r. already receives direct federal funding through the corporation of public broadcasting. the department of education, department o commerce, and the national endowment for the arts. they also get a considerable amount of money from local radio stations. why do they need more? thank you. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from tennessee reserves the balance of her time. the gentlelady from california. ms. eshoo: i would like to inquire how much time we have left. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from california has two minutes remaining. the gentlelady from tennessee has 4 1/2 minutes remaining. ms. eshoo: how many sakers does the gentlelady from tennessee still have? mrs. blackburn: mr. speaker, once they finish their speakers,

then i will close for our side. ms. eshoo: how many speakers do you have? mrs. blackburn: once they finish with their speakers ail -- i'll be ready to close. ms. eshoo: i reserve my time. the speaker pro tempore: i believe the gentlelady from tennessee is prepared to close. so the gentlelady from california is recognized. ms. eshoo: i yield one minute to the gentleman, the brilliant, brilliant gentleman from new jersey, mr. holt. the speaker pro tempore: for how long? ms. eshoo: one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. holt: i thank the gentlelady. n.p.r. provides news and cultural enrichment. yes, enrichment that adds value to the lives of millions of americans. and it reaches into all parts of our country. even into that fact-free universe where the other side seems to be living saying that factual information is somehow a liberal thai ass.

you know -- bias. we talk about the need for a well-informed public. just this morning we had a reminder of the benefits that n.p.r. brings to america. today there was a news report on the slow progress the u.s. army is making towards seeing that wounded soldiers get the purple hearts they deserve. the army's second in command remarked in this story that it was previous reporting by n.p.r. that was removing the confusion and misunderstanding that had prevented the serving soldiers from getting the purple heart recognition. this is good reporting. the other side seems to think that this is -- wait, wait, don't tell me. biased reporting. we need n.p.r. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from california. has one minute remaining. ms. eshoo: reserve. the speaker pro tempore: is the

gentlelady from tennessee prepared to close? mrs. blackburn: mr. speaker, once they have finished with all of their speakers, i will have the right to close on the bill. i continue to reserve our time until such time as they have exhausted their speakers. the speaker pro tempore: that is correct. the gentlelady from california has one minute remaining. ms. eshoo: mr. speaker, i'm pleased to yield one minute to the the gentlewoman from new york, mrs. maloney. mrs. maloney: mr. speaker, a study conducted by the center for international and security studies found thathose who said they received most of their news from n.p.r. were only about 1/4 as liky to hold a demonstrably false belief about important issues relating to the iraq war, as those who primarily consume news from our colleagues' favorite news channe.

a similar study conducted last year on mainly economic issues produced similar results. those who primarily listened to n.p.r. were considerably less likely to hold demonstrably false beliefs. so now our colleagues across the aisle want to pull the plug on n.p.r. one of the most accurate sources of demonstrably true news and information. our colleagues want to fire the messenger. this is not a move to create jobs or save money. this is a move to save face. athe expense of truth. and i believe that such a move comes at a price that we simply cannot afford to pay. this country needs n.p.r. vote against the republican bill. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. the gentlelady from tennessee is recognized. mrs. blackburn: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself the balance of

our time. i do think that our colleagues across the aisle are missing the points on this. we are responsibleor making certain that this fiscal house ts in order. this is just another of those attempts. this is not about taking n.p.r. off the air. there's nothing here that says you will take n.p.r. off the air. what it simply says is if you are an affiliate station and you want to pay n.p.r. dues, you can't use taxpayer dollars. if you want to buy n.p.r. programming, you cannot use taxpayer dollars for that. the taxpayers want n.p.r. out of their pocket. now, there is plenty of popular programming out there, and if the listeners want to hear that, we are not trying to disenfranchise those listeners. indeed if listeners like the n.p.r., they can have -- that they have, they can keep it. but what we are saying is they

need to raise the money for this. we went through the demographics for n.p.r. college educated 63% have full-time jobs. their average household income is upwards of $86,000 a year. they have a list of sponsors that give over $1 million a year to n.p.r. n.p.r. itself has said they do not need our taxpayer funding. so this is a place that we can go and save some money. to those that say it is a job killinprogram, may i remind you indeed to develop local programming, i artilated 17 different positions attached to creating even one radio show. and unlike some of my colleagues, mr. speaker, i fully believe there are talented people, talented writers an editors and programmers all across this great nation who would love to hav a platform for the great ideas and the

content that they would like to create. i want to encourage all of my colleagues to take a step in the right direction in getting our fiscal house in order. the time has come for us to claw back this money. the time has come for us to send a message. we need to get n.p.r. out of the taxpayers' pocket. i encourage a yes vote on h.r. >> international forces in

afghanistan is in washington this week. on monday he met with president obama and later in the week he testified on capitol hill. this morning he'll talk more about the progress and challenges he sees in afghanistan. he's speaking at an event hosted by the national journal and museum. that's live at 9:00 a.m. eastern on c-span 2. >> the president of the administration believes we have to be looking very, very closely at the events in japan. >> the energy secretary and nuclear commissioner chairman were on capitol hill testifying on the energy departments fiscal year 2012 budget and nuclear power safety issues following the earthquake and tsunami in japan. watch the complete hearing now online at the c-span video library. search, watch, clip and share. it's washington your way.

>> "washington journal" is next. we'll take a look at the news and take your calls. today at noon eastern, a discussion on white house transparency. we'll hear from watch dog groups and members of the obama administration. president obama will travel to brazil today later in the weekend. secretary of state clinton will preview the trip this afternoon and talk about u.s. relations with south and central america. that's live from the center for strategic and international studies at 2:00 p.m. eastern. coming up in 45 minutes, we will talk with patrick butler of the association for public television stations about yesterday's house vote to