Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), took to the House floor this morning (Feb. 15) to once again speak in favor of public broadcasting on the day that lawmakers will debate the Appropriation bill that zeros out CPB funding. “I fear this reckless partisan assault on public broadcasting will actually hurt our longterm efforts to tame the deficient,” he said. “It would mean the loss of a valuable tool to educate and inform the public through a respected and nonpartisan source. This is exactly how to get information to the public on how to deal with the massive deficit problems that we face.” He added that efforts to extinguish funding “are attacking one of America’s best public-private partnerships.” The Congressman also defended pubcasting on Feb. 11.
The House provides a live stream of floor action, if you want to keep an eye on the debate.