This is our moment.
Sometime in the next 11 days, the U.S. Senate will decide whether to go along with the Administration’s plan to strip public media of federal funding or stand in support of free, unbiased news and information.
In its assault on press freedom, the White House is determined to dismantle NHPR, NPR, and the programs you rely on for local, national, and global reporting. It heedlessly seeks to tear apart the infrastructure of public radio and shatter the public-private partnership that has sustained our independent journalism while other news sources have shriveled or disappeared.
With your help, I believe that we can beat back this attack. By standing shoulder to shoulder with hundreds of thousands of Americans who are raising their voices to protect public media, NHPR’s listeners and readers have the power to persuade the Senate to uphold Washington’s 60-year commitment to our public service mission.
NH Sens. Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan have pledged their support of NHPR. Now we need to rally at least four Republican senators to vote “no” on the White House’s rescission bill.
That’s why I’m renewing my request that you call Sen. Susan Collins of Maine today - and every day until the Senate votes. The deadline is July 18. If the Senate and House both pass identical bills slashing $1.1 billion from public media over the next two years, the President’s plan goes through. If they don’t, it dies.
Sen. Collins is the chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee. She’s a longtime champion of public media - and we need her decisive leadership now. Call Sen. Collins at (202) 224-2523, thank her for her past support, and ask her to vote against the rescission bill. You can use this link to email her, too. Ask your friends to call, too, and use social media to spread the word!
Other Republican senators who might be persuaded include Murkowski (AK), Rounds (SD), Fischer (NE), Moran (KS), McConnell (KY), and Capito (WV). If you know them - or know people who do - I can connect you to their offices. Email me: President@nhpr.org.
Now is the time. Speak up for independent, nonpartisan journalism and a free press.
Gratefully,
Jim Schachter, President & CEO
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