President Trump Moves to Eliminate Sesame Street, Suppress Emergency Alerts

WASHINGTON — House Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro (D-CT-03) issued the following statement in response to the Trump administration’s executive order to block federal funding for the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and National Public Radio (NPR):

“Instead of focusing on the cost-of-living crisis, the White House is back to targeting President Trump’s enemies—this time it is Elmo and Big Bird. His latest executive order threatens beloved PBS KIDS children’s programming like Sesame Street and Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, and endangers entire communities at risk of severe weather events. In rural communities, public television and radio stations are often the only trusted and reliable news source available. This is not just an attack on educational content and the First Amendment – it is an attack on working families, parents, teachers, and anyone who relies on public media for learning or life-saving emergency alerts. Instead of helping families keep up with soaring grocery prices, he is eliminating the very programs that educate our kids and protect our communities.”

President Trump’s executive order would:

• Eliminate federal funding for public television and public radio, including funding that is allocated directly to more than 1,500 locally-owned public television and public radio stations;
• Harm millions of preschool-age kids and their families that currently benefit from educational programs that improve children’s literacy and math skills;
• Hurt rural communities, as locally-owned public television stations and public radio stations are often the only media outlets that cover local news and events; and
• Threaten public safety and disaster response, as public television and public radio provide emergency alerts even when other communications systems go down.

Eliminating funding for public television and public radio would harm communities in all 50 States. More than 70 percent of funding for public broadcasting goes directly to locally-owned public television and public radio affiliates, while the remaining funds are used to support shared infrastructure and resources that benefit all public television and public radio stations.

Information released earlier this week by House Appropriations Committee Ranking Member DeLauro and Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chair Patty Murray on the wide scope of frozen and canceled federal funding is here.

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