WASHINGTON — The House on Thursday voted to end federal funding of National Public Radio. Republican supporters said it made good fiscal sense, and Democratic opponents called it an ideological attack that would deprive local stations of access to programs such as “Car Talk” and “All Things Considered.”
The bill, passed 228-192 along mainly partisan lines, would bar federal funding of NPR and prohibit local public stations from using federal money to pay NPR dues and buy its programs. The prospects of support in the Democratic-controlled Senate are slim. Seven Republicans broke ranks to vote against the bill.
“It is time for American citizens to stop funding an organization that can stand on its own feet,” said Rep. Doug Lamborn, the sponsor and a Colorado Springs Republican. He said it was not a question of content — which many conservatives say has a liberal bias — but whether taxpayer dollars should go to nonessential services.
NPR received about $5 million in federal funding in fiscal year 2010. The House bill would bar public radio stations from using their federal grant money to pay dues to NPR. That total was about $2.8 million in fiscal 2010. The Associated Press
