Chuck Schumer Drops The Hammer On Republicans Over Proposed Cuts To Public Broadcasting

During remarks on the Senate floor Tuesday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) spoke about proposed cuts to public broadcasting.

Transcript

00:00Now on cuts. Fresh off handling billionaires their largest tax break in

00:06modern history and fresh off passing the most devastating cuts to health care and

00:11good-paying jobs ever, Republicans want to do it again. While Republicans roll

00:18out the red carpet for billionaires and special interests, they want to cut

00:22funding to local news and cut funding for critical foreign aid that keeps China

00:28and Russia at bay. Americans rely on public broadcasting for weather alerts

00:34and these cuts couldn't come at a worse time. The disaster in Texas reminds us

00:40that accurate and speedy forecasts are vital to protecting our country and the

00:45lives of Americans and public broadcast is vital and often the only way to get

00:56the word out, particularly in rural America. So why the hell is the

01:00administration so obsessed with cutting these life-saving services when they

01:04are critical for keeping people safe when we saw when we didn't have those

01:09services working full steam ahead how many people's lives are endangered and

01:16lost in Texas and around the country. Public broadcasting does more. It is

01:23crucial for Americans to receive the local news, for keeping track of City Hall, for

01:28understanding what's happening in their local school boards, for updates on

01:32public events, festivals for educational programming when we know that

01:36traditional television is having a lot of trouble. And to be clear, it's not just

01:41local news and public radio stations at risk. This package endangers national

01:47security, our own national security. American aid is vital for preventing pandemics

01:53and diseases throughout the world. Foreign aid helps farmers. It helps American

02:02researchers. It helps U.S. businesses. And more importantly, American aid is vital to

02:07holding the line against the Chinese Communist Party and Vladimir Putin. If

02:12Republicans eviscerate foreign aid, our adversaries will celebrate America's

02:18retreat and move to fill the vacuum. The worst part is that these recession cuts

02:24are the beginning only. This package, as bad as it is, is a piece of a larger puzzle

02:31for Republicans. Their goal is to use rescissions, impoundment, and pocket

02:37rescissions to eradicate any bit of bipartisanship out of appropriations, and

02:42will pave the way for deeper and even more serious spending cuts on things like

02:48health care, food assistance, energy, and so many other areas. In fact, many in the

02:56Freedom Caucus claim that Donald Trump and Republican leaders promised these deeper

03:01cuts by these means in exchange for their vote on the big ugly bill.

03:07We know that Donald Trump and Russell Vogt want to send another rescissions

03:11package later this summer. Are they going to make more cuts to Medicaid? Are they

03:16going to make more cuts to education or nutrition services or aid for veterans?

03:21Republicans didn't bat an eye when adding four trillion dollars to the debt to

03:26lower billionaires taxes, but suddenly when it comes to local news and rural radio

03:31stations, they suddenly balk. They say it's waste. That's disgusting.

03:37Thanks, sir.

03:38Thanks for the opening of strategy.