- 2 days ago
During remarks on the Senate floor Wednesday, Senate Democrats criticized President Trump's proposed rescissions to public broadcasting.
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00:00President. Senator from Illinois is recognized. Mr. President, let me begin by joining the
00:04Senator from Alabama in expressing my concern with her of what happened in Texas Hill Country,
00:12the flooding over the weekend. It was a sad chapter in our nation's history and a tragic
00:18chapter in the history of these families. Our hearts and prayers are with them. Mr. President,
00:23on a different topic. July 4th was the signing of the big, beautiful bill. That's what President
00:31Trump called it. Congressional Republicans celebrated. I did not. I oppose this legislation
00:38because what it did, I think, is going to hurt a lot of families. Taking health insurance away from
00:4517 million Americans, taking food assistance away from millions as well, is no way for the United
00:54States to act when it comes to needy families. Have you ever been without health insurance?
01:01Ever been at a point where you went to a hospital and didn't have health insurance? I have. I was a
01:07law student here in Washington. My second year, God sent my wife and myself, a beautiful little baby
01:13girl who had a serious health condition. I ended up at Children's Hospital in D.C. here, in a waiting
01:20room, not knowing who was going to walk through that door, what doctor would come into that room
01:25and treat my child. I didn't have anything to say about it. I had no health insurance. I was at their
01:32mercy. Good people responded, but it's a time in my life I will never, ever forget. For the President to
01:40sign a bill on the Fourth of July that takes health insurance away from 17 million people
01:45is just plain wrong. Obamacare, the medical program that was initiated under President Obama,
01:55extended health insurance coverage to more than 20 million new families, gave them peace of mind
02:00of knowing they were covered if something serious occurred, a cancer diagnosis, a serious trauma.
02:06They were covered. This President celebrates taking away health insurance from 17 million people.
02:14To cut Medicaid like that is to cause terrible personal consequences to a family. But it's more
02:21than that. Make no mistake. A family without health insurance in a desperate situation is going to do
02:27two things. Postpone medical care that is needed because they can't afford it, or show up in an emergency
02:34situation at a hospital and beg for coverage and care. That's going to happen. So what happens to the hospital
02:42that provides that care? In most places in America, the hospital will do its best to help the family.
02:49But the net result is the hospital is not going to be paid because there's no health insurance plan.
02:55And if they're not paid, what do they do with the expenses of that treated patient?
02:58They pass them along to other families. So this big, beautiful bill the President signed takes health
03:06insurance away from 17 million families under Medicaid and raises the cost of health care for
03:12the rest of us. How can that be a good idea? And why would we do such a thing? Well, the reasoning was
03:19very simple and direct. The President wanted to renew tax cuts for the wealthiest people in America.
03:25The wealthiest people. Oh, Durbin, you're making that up. You're a Democrat. You're just going to say
03:30that no matter if it's true or not. Here's what it boils down to. Elon Musk got a $346,000 tax break
03:37by President Trump signing this bill into law. Do you think he noticed a man who's a multi-billionaire?
03:46Probably didn't. Didn't change his life one bit. But the family without health insurance? You change
03:52their life a lot. This time, President Trump has come back with a new idea that I want to discuss here
03:57today. The President has come to Congress doorstep with a bill called a rescission bill. One of my
04:04colleagues at lunch said, we need a new word. I know what rescission is. He knows what rescission is. But
04:09the American people may not. It sounds like a foreign word, he said. It does in a way. But it's a
04:16legal term. And it's a request to cut funding already appropriated. So money appropriated by
04:22Congress, signed by a president, sent to the administration. They decide they're not going
04:27to spend. They're going to rescind it. A rescission bill. So here comes President Trump's first rescission
04:33bill in his second term. And what does he come up with? This request would cut $1.1 billion from the
04:42Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Do you listen to public radio, public TV? Are you aware of what
04:49it does for your community? This would eliminate any federal assistance for a Corporation for Public
04:55Broadcasting. It includes $700 million that's eliminated to provide critical funding for local
05:02public media. This would devastate more than 1,500 public radio and TV stations across this country.
05:10Bottom line, do you think we're better off with less information as Americans or more? Bottom line,
05:16do you want a choice to pick your own source of information? Do you want that choice to include
05:21Corporation for Public Broadcasting? The president says that no. We're not going to provide the assistance
05:27for that to continue. What it means is for small towns in downstate Illinois all the way up to Chicago
05:35and the classrooms there, public media stations provide essential non-partisan news coverage,
05:42life-saving emergency and weather alerts, and educational program for our kids.
05:48I don't know the circumstances in Texas for this terrible flooding, and I don't want to presume
05:53anything. But as a general rule, more emergency information available to American families is
05:59better than worse. President Trump wants to eliminate this source, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
06:06And that means in many communities in my state of Illinois and around the country, the radio will be
06:12silent when it might be giving a warning, a warning that extreme weather is out of the way. For most rural
06:17communities, this local broadcasting is especially crucial. Rural public broadcasting stations are often
06:26the only source of local news, the only source of emergency alerts in the region. These local stations
06:34also are truly independent. They reflect the needs of their community and the people that they serve.
06:40They go out of their way to be non-partisan. I know because I've dealt with them for decades.
06:44For example, let me tell you one station. WTVP, local PBS affiliate serving central Illinois.
06:52They have a program called A Shot of Ag, which shares stories and perspectives on farming,
06:58farm life, and the rural-urban divide in my state. I am proud to be a downstater. I'm proud as well to
07:04represent the city of Chicago. Why would I want to cut off information for the downstate farming community
07:10that is available through public broadcasting? Right now, in my home state of Illinois, there are five
07:16counties out of the 102 counties that are news deserts. 40 other counties have one news source
07:22left for broadcast. This rescissions package would eliminate $700 million in support of local radios and
07:30TV stations, forcing many of these rural stations with small donor bases to close, turn them off,
07:37be unavailable to the people who live in the community. In these remote Illinois counties,
07:43these stations deliver critical services that commercial broadcasters have abandoned in less
07:49profitable markets. What does it mean? Once these stations are gone, they're gone. It changes the
07:57culture, the information, the future. And in times of crisis, that could mean in the extreme,
08:04the difference between life and death. Let me explain. Radio stations in Alaska rely on Corporation
08:11for Public Broadcasting to fund 98% of their operations. They will lose the ability to share
08:18information about terrible weather conditions that are threatening the people of Alaska. In Alabama,
08:25a senator was just here from Alabama, folks will go without emergency alerts during tornado scares.
08:30And just this last weekend, as I mentioned, a deadly flash flood took the lives of over 100 people,
08:37and counting, sadly, in rural central Texas. While we don't know exactly what procedures were in place,
08:44we do know that this funding is vital for emergency alerts, especially when disasters happen in the
08:50middle of the night. These are critical services, but President Trump doesn't agree. In his request to
08:57Congress, he justified cutting Corporation for Public Broadcasting. And here's what he said,
09:03Federal spending on Corporation for Public Broadcasting subsidizes a public media system
09:09that is politically biased and is an unnecessary expense to the taxpayer.
09:16If your family is warned of an extreme weather condition on the way and you find a safe place,
09:22it is necessary and is essential as part of your responsibilities to your family to protect this
09:28source of information. These public funded local stations educate our kids, deliver emergency alerts,
09:35and inform our democracy. They're not an unnecessary expense by any measure. They're a lifeline.
09:42I'd like to share a story about the NPR affiliate WGLT, a public radio station owned by the Illinois State
09:48University serving normal Illinois. WGLT hosts candidate events and forums ahead of each election.
09:57Their mission is to keep neighbors connected and talking to each other. Its goal is to keep
10:02polarization out of local government, and it does just that. WGLT had 100% bipartisan participation,
10:11from candidates in McLean County municipal election event. And McLean County municipal voter turnout has
10:18increased in local elections thanks to this Public Broadcasting station. For the president to say they're
10:24politically biased is just plain false. Another station, WQPT, Quad Cities in Illinois, only locally owned PBS
10:33station serving Iowa and eastern and western Illinois. It is more than just a TV station. WQPT's
10:41first book club outreach program provides five free books every year to at-risk kids by partnering
10:48with Title I classrooms. They ensure the kids whose families can't afford to buy books or might
10:53otherwise not have access are given the opportunity to read and learn just like every other kid.
10:59Since the start of the program, WQPT has given away 400,000 free books to kids from low income,
11:08English and second language, rural and special needs families. That is what Donald Trump calls a
11:13quote, unnecessary expense to a taxpayer. It could be life-changing for that kid. While Donald Trump says
11:20these rescissions, this rescission request is in the spirit of improving government efficiency,
11:26I ask, is there anything efficient about denying information to American citizens, about not giving
11:32American citizens a choice when it comes to broadcasting? I'll tell you what this request really
11:37is. It's an attack on rural America, just like the big beautiful bill. Because let's not forget, thanks to the
11:44big beautiful bill the president just signed into law. 300 rural hospitals could close around this
11:50country, closing their doors and critical services they offer. With this rescission request, small towns
11:57and rural communities are going to hit again and set to lose their only access to trusted local media in
12:03many instances. These cuts could irreparably harm communities across America who count on public media
12:10for 24-7 news, music, education program, and emergency alert services. I urge my Republican colleagues,
12:17privately they tell me they don't want to see Corporation for Public Broadcasting go away.
12:22The question is, will they step up next week and vote that way? Many of them represent rural areas,
12:28a small town of America, to stand up for these people and vote down this request to cut funding that has
12:34long enjoyed bipartisan support. I believe that there will be bipartisan support for this. I urge my
12:40colleagues to come to the floor today to speak on the subject, and I'm now going to yield the floor
12:44to one of my colleagues. I believe Senator Wyden of Oregon is next. Senator Wyden, take it away.
12:49Mr. President, before he leaves the floor, let me just thank Senator Durbin for his leadership on this
12:57and so many issues exactly like this. What Senator Durbin's career has always been about is making sure that
13:07communities are stronger, more inclusive, and give everybody a shot at getting ahead.
13:14And I just want to thank him for doing this and all the times over the years
13:21that we've had a chance to work together. Now, as Senator Durbin has indicated a few days ago,
13:28Republicans rammed their budget bill through the Senate. In the coming weeks, they'll force a vote on yet
13:34another dangerous piece of legislation. Any day now, the Senate is going to vote on a bill that will
13:41let Republicans revoke previously approved federal funding for key services and key programs that our
13:50people rely on, all so they can follow through on Donald Trump's illegal and disastrous funding freeze
13:57he tried to implement earlier. Under their bill, Republicans want to gut over 70%, 7-0, 70% of funding for
14:09public broadcasting. Now, when you hear the words public broadcasting, a lot of people, of course, think about the
14:18beloved characters Elmo and Big Bird, who are wonderful. I remember that with our kids. And at the same time,
14:26public broadcasting is a lot more than that. Over the last several years, local newspapers and radio
14:33broadcasters have been sidelined in many parts of the country. They just don't have the funds to keep
14:41their doors open. Many are getting bought up by private equity funds and corporate media conglomerates
14:49that sanitize and repackage local reporting to fit their own media narrative. Oftentimes, these new owners
14:58close the doors of local papers altogether. This is especially true, as Senator Durbin eloquently mentioned,
15:08the challenge in rural areas. Their broadband access is often unreliable and often too expensive
15:16to get out far into these communities. Meanwhile, news is increasingly driven by the interests of big
15:25cities sitting behind paywalls or requiring high-speed broadband to access it. Now, this issue is a personal
15:34one for me. I'm a journalist kid. I grew up with a front row seat, seeing the importance of protecting
15:42reporters and the vital work they do. That work is central to our democracy. And my home state hasn't
15:50been immune to the changes in the media landscape. More and more Oregonians turn to public TV and radio
15:57programs like Oregon Public Broadcasting for news and information. And in some of my state's most rural
16:04areas like, say, halfway in eastern Oregon, Oregon Public Broadcasting is the only broadcast station
16:11residents can access. These programs are literally a lifeline for Oregonians during a time when local
16:19journalism is dying off. Not only do these programs provide news that's trustworthy, they also serve as
16:27as lynch pins in state and local emergency alert programs. Oregon Public Broadcasting is a state
16:35primary station for our state's emergency alert system. The broadcasters work closely with Oregon's
16:44Office of Emergency Management and other first responders to monitor and alert residents about
16:50statewide, regional or national emergencies. In 2024 alone, Oregon Public Broadcasting helped
16:57notify Oregonians about child abductions, severe storms, and flash floods. Unfortunately, just this past
17:05weekend, we saw the devastating impact of underfunded emergency alert systems with the deadly flash flooding
17:15in Texas. As more details emerge, there's one area that seems to be to be clear. More could and should have been
17:24done to bolster the local emergency alert system to help avoid and limit the horrendous tragedies
17:33that we have watched nightly for the last few days. As extreme deadly weather, events like this become more
17:39and more common, local, state, and federal governments need to be investing, not shrinking, systems like public
17:46TV and radio. These programs play such an important role in emergency situations, helping to get the most
17:53up-to-date information to their viewers and listeners. Instead, Republicans are watching the catastrophic
17:59situation unfold in Texas and still plow ahead with plans to essentially defund these local emergency alert
18:09systems. Anyway, cutting off this funding is going to be a death sentence for one of the most
18:16reliable sources of news and information that our people rely on. And rural areas that aren't served by big
18:24corporate media companies are going to be hit the hardest. Defunding public broadcasting is going to take news even
18:31further away from local communities. And I know the people of my state don't want to be dealt with by
18:39somebody from a town on the eastern seaboard in a high rise. I'm going to close with this. Everything
18:49Republicans have done since gaining their trifecta of power has been with the goal of helping corporations
18:57consolidate power and profits on the back of everybody else. And for me, this is a regular
19:04reality, Mr. President, because I see it as the ranking Democrat on the Finance Committee, which has
19:10jurisdiction over taxes and trade and business and health care. This bill is no different from what we
19:17have seen over the last few weeks in terms of corporations consolidating power and benefiting from
19:25federal legislation. If it passes, this bill is going to take a wrecking ball to the services that
19:30Americans across this country rely on. It's going to make communities less safe, just so Republicans
19:38can brag about another partisan ideological trophy. So that's what we're dealing with here. When Donald
19:46Trump says we're going to do this, Republicans say how high should we jump? By passing this legislation,
19:52Republicans would send a message once again that they are willing and eager to give up their
19:57congressional power to the executive branch. I so appreciate Senator Durbin bringing this issue
20:05to the floor of the Senate to open a lot of eyes on what's on the line, because I know he, and we've talked
20:12about this before, we believe in a government that gives everybody a fair shot, gives everybody a chance to get ahead.
20:18You've made that point today that government's not just supposed to be about the mighty and the powerful
20:24and the people with money. And I thank you for this and all your wonderful service. And I yield the floor.
20:32Mr. President. Senator from Vermont is recognized. I want to join my colleagues in supporting the
20:38Corporation for Public Broadcasting. I want to talk about two things. One, the people we represent and why
20:46it's so important that we maintain this service that's so essential to their well-being. And second,
20:55I want to speak about the institution we're part of and why it is an absolute betrayal of this
21:02institution's values and procedures to try to cut this program in this way and at this time. I mean, first of
21:12all, all of us have public broadcasting in our communities.
21:18And one of the biggest challenges, especially in our rural communities,
21:23is all the forces that are fraying the bonds
21:26that have been so central to the quality of life in those communities.
21:31It's our community hospitals that are under such financial stress.
21:34It's the lack of manufacturing that we're trying to have come back where there's good jobs.
21:41It's the depopulation where we can't get folks, there's not enough folks to serve on the volunteer
21:47fire departments. These are real challenges to what I think all of us here who represent rural folks
21:56appreciate are really among the best folks that we have in this nation.
22:00You know, it's rural folks who sign up and enlist in the military in a far greater percentage than
22:06other parts of America who pay the price of the wars in Iraq or Afghanistan or wherever it may be
22:15that the commander in chief in Congress send them. And we have had a discussion in here that I do believe
22:22is bipartisan about the importance of strengthening rural America and how to do it.
22:28is a topic of ongoing conversation and it should be. But one of the institutions that has served
22:37your constituents in Ohio very well, Senator Durbin's in Illinois, Senator Wyden's in Oregon, Senator
22:49Cantwell in Washington and me in Vermont, is public broadcasting. It's the radio and the television.
22:58One of the things that allows us to be united, despite our differences,
23:06is a shared understanding and knowledge of what is going on in our communities. That's what the news is
23:12about. It's not a propaganda machine. It's not advocating the point of view of the president or the
23:19point of view of the senator from Vermont. It's giving information. At its most elemental level,
23:26it's giving dire information that's desperately needed when we have a natural disaster. We in
23:31Vermont had a flood on this day in 2024. We had a flood this day on 2023. And the institutions that was
23:43so essential to response to information that was really vitally necessary, that allowed people to share
23:51the experience and figure out what to do was Vermont public. It's important. It is not about politics. It's about
24:03the shared experience that people in a community and have a sense of place need to help them have
24:11confidence that they can count on one another, that they know where they live and they care about it.
24:17So the question I have for us in respect to the responsibility that you have and I have
24:24to the people we represent is when we know that there are these extraordinary globalizing pressures,
24:32the demographic changes that are occurring in our communities that are weakening the bonds of
24:41brotherhood. Why would we compromise an institution that have served so many so well for so long?
24:54It weakens that sense of community. So why would we do that? There is not a good reason that we would do that.
25:03There's not a budgetary reason why we would do that. This is $1.60. If we wipe out everything,
25:10it's about $1.60 for every taxpayer in the country. Seriously? A cup of coffee? What's that cost?
25:16A cable TV subscription? What's that cost? And at what price? That capacity to share information,
25:28to understand the experience, to appreciate the challenges that you face and your neighbors face,
25:36that is so essential to being able for people to have the strength to carry on.
25:41You know, Vermont Public started just around the time I went to Vermont. And it was in a third floor
25:50of an aging building, the Windsor Constitution House. And it was started by four, five people who
25:56knew, they just didn't know better. They thought they could start something that would last. And they
26:02had no reason to think that other than they knew that it would be beneficial to the folks in their
26:07community. And those five people who started from nothing included classical music, but news, right in
26:15the beginning, Vermont news. That has become a statewide news source that folks in Bennington up to Derby
26:28the line. That folks working in the barns, milking cows, to folks on a factory floor, all have on as I visited them.
26:40And they might have Fox News on. They might have MSNBC. But the news they all had on was Vermont Public.
26:47And that has been so beneficial to Vermont. And by the way, these news deserts that are afflicting all of us,
26:59what has helped us so much is that many of these extraordinarily gifted reporters who care about a
27:04sense of place, who've been on community newspapers, have now become the talent that has created this
27:13extraordinary institution of Vermont Public. Great reporting. So in a democracy, we all know we need
27:22this. And it's not because it's going to be an agent for our point of view, but it's going to be a cohesive
27:34force in the community to help people figure out the path forward.
27:38We've got to keep this. You know, in Vermont, we've got pretty generous folks.
27:47The drives that we have to raise money is pretty successful. And we get about 90% of our funding
27:55through that. That's a lot higher than most states. But the 10% we'll lose,
28:00it'll cost us about $4.5 million. That's real money for us.
28:04So I just asked myself the question, when I know that the things I'm saying about our appreciation
28:17of people in rural communities is something that every single one of us, Republican and Democrat,
28:23know is true. And every single one of us, Republican and Democrat, would assert
28:28that we want to strengthen those rural communities because we have direct experience with how powerful
28:34and wonderful the people in those communities are. They don't complain. They work hard. They face adversity.
28:42They somehow toggle it together when it's always tough to pay your bills at the end of the month.
28:49And then they have this one news source
28:54that helps them so much, be good neighbors to people that they disagree with on many other things.
29:02And our Vermont Public Television has also been tremendous. And it works. Vermont Public is both
29:10what was public broadcasting and the public radio. They work together. And how many of our kids
29:15benefited from the extraordinary programming that helped kids share the values that are independent
29:26of what your political point of view is? Values like goodness. Values like tolerance. Values like acceptance.
29:38Tolerance. That's what the program is about. It's values. Shared values. And what you can be the most
29:47conservative person in the world. You can be the most liberal person in the world. You have no right
29:53to be disrespectful because you are quote right politically. This is an institution that has
30:00served us well at very little expense. It would be heartbreaking for us in Vermont to see the United
30:07States Senate give the back of the hand to those folks who over 50 years ago inspired by a commitment to
30:18their neighbors throughout the state of Vermont and tell them that we want to take away their funding.
30:26And the second point I want to make is about the institution we're part of.
30:33We passed the budget.
30:34We appropriated money for this. 53 Republicans supported. Right? That was three months ago.
30:49What's changed? Nothing has changed.
30:55Doge came. Trump came. They're looking for scalps. Cut funding. Get rid of USAID.
31:05But we as an institution have the power of the purse. We had a negotiation.
31:14We came to a mutual decision that spending public dollars on public broadcasting was a good thing.
31:23And that was a negotiated outcome that now is being torn up. Torn up. So what does it do
31:32for the budgetary process? Where? We have to go through a process that is extremely difficult because
31:40there are extremely different points of view about how best to spend money and where to spend it.
31:48But an institution can't survive if at the end of that process, the agreement made becomes the
31:57agreement that is broken. It erodes trust. It demeans our institution. It makes weak the bonds of trust
32:07that we must have amongst us to come to resolutions and defend them and carry them out. So, Mr. President,
32:17we must not abandon the people we represent and the right they have to public broadcasting.
32:28And we cannot abandon the trust we must have in one another to keep our word. An agreement made must
32:37be an agreement kept. I yield back.
32:40I recognize the senator from Washington. President, I rise to join my colleagues. I want to thank the
32:47senator from Illinois for helping to organize us today. My colleague from Oregon, my dear colleague
32:52from colleagues from the Commerce Committee, Senator Welch and Senator Baldwin. But we're here today to talk
32:59about an essential safety issue. It's really public safety and somebody's trying to masquerade it as a
33:06fiscal responsibility issue. The proposed rescission of $1.1 billion from the Corporation of Public
33:13Broadcasting isn't just an attack on NPR and PBS. It's a reckless, reckless endangerment of 13 million
33:21Americans who depend on these stations for life-saving emergency information. When the floods rise in the
33:28southwest or wildfires rage in the west or hurricanes barrel down on the Atlantic or Gulf Coast,
33:35public broadcasters are often the only lifeline connecting families in rural communities to the
33:42crucial emergency information. This isn't hyperbole. These are the facts. Consider what happened in
33:49Kentucky during the historic tornado of December 2021, when that devastating storm carved one of the
33:58longest tornado tracks in our nation's history. WKMS public radio was often the sole source of news as the
34:07community suffered widespread power and communications outages. So families huddled in the dark, relying on
34:16battery-powered radios to receive life-saving information. Without WKMS, many would have been completely shut off.
34:27Or look at Hurricane Helen just last year. Half a million Americans lost power across the southeast.
34:34The internet failed. Cell phone towers went dark. But Blue Ridge Public Radio kept broadcasting,
34:42providing the most reliable information when alternative sources simply would not function without electricity.
34:51Even in the aftermath of the unthinkable situations that happened this past week in Texas, Texas Public Radio
34:58stayed on the air to provide updates on severe weather alerts, recovery efforts, and helping a community
35:03mourn and rebuild together. The numbers are a sobering story. 79 radio stations, 33 TV stations across 34 states will
35:17probably have to shut down if these cuts are enacted. This chart shows the impacts that people are saying
35:25we have from fire. Our most vulnerable fire situations coming up. I think these are this year's numbers.
35:33That's in red. Our most vulnerable tornado. Well, the senator from Illinois knows this well.
35:42All of this in the light color in the green, very high, relatively high tornado risk. And then the last,
35:51our blue coastal areas, relatively high or high risk for hurricane. And what do the black dots represent?
35:59What do the dots represent in each of these areas? Radio stations that will no longer exist if this
36:05rescission comes into power. If you cut these programs, you are going to lose the revenue from
36:12these radio stations and risk them being shut down. Now, why would we do that? For me, in this part of
36:18the central part of our state, I guarantee you, I don't want to do it. I don't want to do it in Yakima,
36:22Washington, where KDNA serves the surrounding community that has high risk of wildfires.
36:30Northwest Public Broadcasting maintains a 24-7 fire coverage from May through October,
36:36tracking blazes that threaten lives and property. And they've expanded coverage, especially to address
36:42wildfire communication gaps for Spanish-speaking Northwesterners. This is a big agricultural section
36:50of our state, and we want to ensure that everybody receives the alerts, regardless of language.
36:57What the president's rescission ignores is that public broadcasters serve as the official
37:02resource in at least 20 states' emergency plans. The NPR manager, they manage the public radio satellite
37:11system, receive emergency alert systems that are fed directly from FEMA. So that means they're part of our
37:18emergency response. PBS operates the warning alert and response network, which transmitted over 11,000
37:27emergency alerts last year alone. That's 33% increase from the previous year. Let me repeat that. 11,000
37:35emergency alerts went out. That's 11,000 times that these radio stations in these areas I'm talking about
37:42warned people about the dangerous and life-threatening arrests. In Oklahoma this March, public broadcaster
37:49issued 65 fire alerts across 13 counties in just 10 days. Six evacuation orders were transmitted.
37:58KOSU operates this system at a cost of $751 annually, with the CBP providing the crucial support.
38:08This is similar to funding like local-focused media in the Alaska Rural Communications Service,
38:15Northwest Public Broadcasting, or Harvest Media in the Great Plains. It would cost local broadcasters more
38:22than double of CPB's current contribution to replace these critical services. So this isn't smart budgeting.
38:30It is definitely pennywise and pound-foolish. These will cost lives instead of saving dollars. Rural
38:37communities face the greatest threat. We know that. We just learned this even more this past week in
38:43these horrific tragedies. When a severe storm knocks out power, when tornadoes approach, when cell phones
38:49fail, when battery power and car radios don't work, we need to make sure that there are radio stations
38:55that do. Since 1975, Congress has recognized that public broadcasting requires stability to serve
39:04communities effectively. So this isn't a partisan issue. It's a practical issue. We need to say that we
39:12are going to save public radio. When the next disaster strikes, and trust me it will, I live in a very
39:18disaster-prone part of the United States with all sorts of issues from fires to volcanoes to tsunamis to
39:26floods to lots of things. We need to access and save potential, we need to access potentially life-saving
39:35information. So I urge my colleagues to reject these dangerous rescissions and make the investment here
39:42that is helping us save lives across the United States. I thank the President and I yield to my colleagues.
39:55Mr. President. I recognize the Senator from Wisconsin.
40:00I rise today in strong opposition to President Trump's plan to claw back funding that Congress approved
40:08on a bipartisan basis. Not only does this so-called rescissions package defund critical programs that
40:18Wisconsinites rely on, it fundamentally undermines the ability of Congress to write and pass bipartisan
40:28appropriation bills. To my colleagues who push for more bipartisanship,
40:38in our work here, passing rescissions packages like this will only make that bipartisan work harder.
40:47It will mean more partisanship, more deadlock, and ultimately greater risks of government shutdowns.
40:55And that's why we have not passed a partisan rescissions bill like this package before.
41:02Like any bipartisan agreement, there are always things in annual appropriations bills that
41:11we don't like or we would write differently, and things that my Republican colleagues don't like or
41:18they would write differently. But how can one party negotiate and make concessions as a part of
41:26bipartisan annual appropriations bills if the majority party can just walk back those agreements months
41:35later? I'd like to start by calling out the harm this package will do for Wisconsinites in the short term,
41:44in particular cuts to public broadcasting. One in four Wisconsinites live in rural communities,
41:53and many rely on public broadcasting for local news, emergency alerts, and free educational programming,
42:02especially for children. Wisconsin Public Radio is the primary broadcast relay for Wisconsin's emergency
42:11alert system, including amber alerts and life-saving weather alerts like tornado and flash flood warnings.
42:20We need to look no further than the absolutely devastating news out of Texas to see that access to high quality
42:30and timely information can be the difference between life and death. Access to local news from reporters and
42:39sources that community members trust is more important than ever. Stripping this funding would endanger local news
42:48news that's already disappearing in so many Wisconsin communities. In 2024, almost one in five newspapers in
42:58Wisconsin shut down, according to a recent study. That same study found that Wisconsin's northernmost county,
43:07Bayfield County had no local news sources, while 22 counties across Wisconsin had just one local news source.
43:19That's where public media plays a critical role in keeping Wisconsinites connected with their communities.
43:26Stations like WXPR in Rhinelander would be under threat if this package advances.
43:35One of the few news sources producing local reporting in Wisconsin's Northwoods and Michigan's Upper Peninsula.
43:44Or Radio Milwaukee, which, because of public funding, can broadcast local school board meetings for
43:51parents and families to stay in touch with what's happening in their schools. Without federal support for
43:58public media, this critical information could disappear for Wisconsin families. The president's effort to take
44:07this funding from local communities and endanger vital information that Wisconsinites need to stay safe
44:14is all because he's trying to desperately pay for his deficit bomb of a bill that just got rammed through
44:22Congress. That bill gives huge tax breaks to the wealthy and big corporations. And President Trump and
44:31Republicans are paying for some of it by gutting Medicaid and kicking families off nutrition assistance,
44:40and now taking away access to public media. But beyond the clawbacks included in this package,
44:48the second point I want to make is about what these proposed cuts mean for Congress and our
44:55ability to write bipartisan appropriation bills going forward. It is clear to me that President Trump
45:04does not respect the separation of power. And I remain hopeful that my Republican colleagues will stand with
45:12the Democrats to protect the Democrats to protect the powers given to Congress by our Constitution.
45:20With this recession package, House Republicans bent their knee to the King and, once again,
45:29green-lighted Trump's wishes. I'm asking my Republican Senate colleagues not to follow suit,
45:36because the future of bipartisan compromise depends upon it. The package that the White House proposed and the
45:45House approved claws back billions in funding that Republicans and Democrats approved on a bipartisan basis.
45:55If Republicans approve this package on a party-line vote, it will fundamentally undermine Congress's
46:04ability to set funding levels. If Senate Republicans allow this bill to pass, we know that the administration
46:13will keep sending us new rescission packages. And the President has already put a target on the bipartisan
46:21investments he wants to claw back. We've seen his funding freezes, from cuts to cancer and Alzheimer's
46:30research, to withholding funding for after-school programs, to slashing workforce training programs. This
46:39White House froze funding that was approved by this very body, written and passed by both Republicans and Democrats.
46:50If my Republican colleagues approve this reversal, then what's next?
46:55What's to stop every future majority party from throwing away months of bipartisan work?
47:05What incentive will minority parties have to come to the table to get a bipartisan funding bill over the
47:13finish line if the party in power can turn around and go back on their word?
47:19I ask my Republican colleagues to consider what advancing this package will mean for the next round of
47:28negotiations that we're about to enter for fiscal year 2026. I believe the future of bipartisan compromise
47:38hangs in the balance here. And I urge you to vote no on this rescissions package. And I yield.
47:46Mr. President. I recognize the Senator from Minnesota. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the
47:53following Senator be permitted to speak prior to the scheduled vote. Myself.