WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), a senior member and former chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee’s Communications, Technology and the Internet Subcommittee, released the following statement after Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney announced in last night’s presidential debate that he would cut funding for public broadcasting in an effort to reduce the federal deficit. The federal subsidy for the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is $444 million, roughly 0.012 percent of the federal budget.
 
“Mitt Romney says he loves Big Bird but its Big Oil that gets his affection. In a budgetary blow to children and parents everywhere, Mitt Romney would take an axe to PBS while shielding billions in taxpayer subsidies to big oil companies. Mitt Romney’s budget priority is to protect $40 billion in subsidies for the most profitable oil companies on the planet but put an end to Elmo’s World.”
 
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