Watch Kennedy’s comments here.

WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) argued that the federal government should not continue to use taxpayer dollars to subsidize the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CBP), including the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and National Public Radio (NPR), on the Senate floor.

Key excerpts of the speech are below:

“It might have made sense many, many, many years ago for the federal government to subsidize and fund public broadcasting. Fifty years ago, that might have made sense, but the ability of the American people today to access whatever news they would like to hear from whatever form of media they choose is no longer limited. It is virtually unlimited—only by the imagination.

“So here is my question, Mr. President. . . . If all this is true, if media has changed and it is accessible to everyone, why is the U.S. Congress still spending half a billion dollars a year—not half a million a year—half a billion dollars a year to fund the Corporation for Public Broadcasting? It makes no sense.”

. . .

“Congress does not send taxpayer money to the most popular podcast host in America. We don’t. The anchors on Fox News, the anchors on CNN, the anchors on MSNBC, nor their stations—they don’t get any taxpayer dollars. Nor do any of the journalists that ask me questions every day in the hallway in this building—unless they work for NPR or PBS or their affiliates or the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Congress should not be picking winners and losers in the news media, but that is what we are doing.” 

. . .

“President Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency is looking for fat to trim, Mr. President. As far as I am concerned, this gravy train—this gravy train with biscuit wheels called the Corporation for Public Broadcasting—is the perfect example of a project the American people no longer need and should not fund.”

Watch Kennedy’s full speech here.