Luján Statement on Major Public Broadcasting Shutdown Announcement Following GOP Funding Cuts

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Ranking Member of the Commerce Subcommittee on Telecommunications and Media, issued the following statement in response to the announcement from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) that it will begin shutting down operations after Congressional Republicans voted to gut its funding:

“For decades, CPB has built and delivered reliable, trusted public media to communities across New Mexico and the country. Despite the CPB’s work to educate, inform, and provide emergency communications through public media, Congressional Republicans voted to pass a reckless spending cuts package that slashes funding for CPB and threatens public safety.

“When disaster strikes, public media is often the only source of evacuation notices, shelter locations, and updates from first responders and law enforcement. CPB built and supported the operations of the very public television and radio stations that connect Americans to emergency alerts, and with just one vote, Congressional Republicans stripped CPB’s ability to provide information that educates, informs, and keeps us safe.”

Senator Luján offered a motion to the Republican recissions package to protect public broadcasting and the lifesaving emergency alerts it provides. Senator Luján also took to the Senate floor to call out the Trump administration’s plan to defund public radio and television stations nationwide following deadly flooding in New Mexico and Texas. Additionally, Senator Luján joined Senate Democrats in continuing to sound the alarm on the dangers of cutting previously allocated federal funding for public broadcasting.

###