mr. chairman , i yield myself such time as i may consume . 
mr. chairman , congress created the corporation for public broadcasting in 1967 to encourage the development of a public broadcasting system , and just as importantly , to shield public broadcasting from any political interference . 
despite this clear directive , kenneth tomlinson , the chairman of the corporation , has engaged in a deliberate campaign to politicize public broadcasting and interfere with the content of public television and radio stations across the country . 
mr. tomlinson is essentially warning public broadcasters , conform to his ideology or he will cut off their funding . 
this is political intimidation in the truest and worst sense of the term , and we must stamp it out today with this amendment . 
this amendment would prohibit mr. tomlinson , who is considered a part-time government employee because of his position as chairman of the board of broadcasting governors , from exercising direction , supervision , or control over the content or distribution of public telecommunications programs and services . 
it also prohibits the cpb from violating the policies set forth by congress , which include a prohibition on outside interference . 
the united states of america is already suffering from a shortage of independent voices in the media . 
public broadcasting remains one of the outlets available that offer high-quality , unbiased , independent reporting , which is why we must ensure its independence from political tampering . 
it is a shame that this even has to come up . 
but the actions of kenneth tomlinson demand that this amendment be brought before the house . 
at the rate tomlinson is going , it is only a matter of time before he changes pbs ' name to fox-2 , and starts forcing big bird and elmo to talk about the merits of the war in iraq or the value of privatizing social security . 
we must have independent public broadcasting that reports the facts and holds both democrats and republicans accountable for their actions . 
mr. chairman , i urge the adoption of this amendment . 
mr. chairman , i reserve the balance of my time . 
