Rep. Sanders Votes to Protect Public Broadcasting in Vermont and Across the Nation

Rep. Sanders Votes to Protect Public Broadcasting in Vermont and Across the Nation
6/23/2005

"I voted today in support of an amendment, which successfully stopped an attempt by the Republican leadership to drastically cut funding for public broadcasting, including Vermont Public Radio and Vermont Public Television. Under the proposed Republican cuts, Vermont Public Radio would have lost hundreds of thousands of dollars that help pay for national programs like Morning Edition and All Things Considered, as well as locally-produced programs, including Switchboard and Camel's Hump Radio. The proposed budget would also have seriously impacted Vermont Public Television's programming and services with cuts of $175,000 to $200,000. I am extremely pleased that we were able to stop these draconian cuts and restore the critical funding that our public broadcast stations need to continue to offer quality educational and cultural programming.

This attempt to cut funding-coupled with Administration efforts to inject partisan politics into station programming-demonstrates a dangerous disregard by the Republican leadership for this important institution. Public broadcasting plays a vital role in providing objective, community-oriented programming and it is critical that we continue to work to make sure it has the funds and the freedom to continue."

http://bernie.house.gov/statements/20050623175420.asp