Washington – The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday
voted to end federal funding to National Public Radio, passing the
Republican-supported bill, 228-192 count, mainly along party lines. The bill,
which faces a much tougher road in the Democrat-controlled Senate, also would
prohibit local public stations from using federal funds to acquire NPR
programming, which many Republicans believe has a liberal bias.
"In an era
of 500-channel cable TV and live streaming video over the Internet, there is no
need for taxpayer subsidized media," said Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-Col.), the
bill’s sponsor.
In response, NPR expressed "grave concern" about the
bill’s approval, calling it "a direct effort to weaken public radio that
would ultimately choke local stations’ ability to serve their audiences."
Related Links:
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c112:H.R.1076
http://tinyurl.com/4q7va3r
(NPR)
http://tinyurl.com/4zzkp2l
(Rep. Lamborn statement)
