Bill would block funding for Voice of America

Rep. Matt Salmon (R-Ariz.) has introduced a bill that would block federal funding for Voice of America.

Salmon said that broadcasts from Voice of America (VOA), which was founded in 1942, were no longer necessary in the current media environment.

{mosads}”Cold War relics, such as VOA, have been rendered obsolete with the rise of the Internet and social media, especially in closed countries which have connected our world in ways we could have never imagined,” Salmon said. “With the success of social media and other U.S. taxpayer-funded broadcasting programs, it makes fiscal sense to eliminate this superfluous federally funded entity.”

The VOA is part of a group of federally funded broadcasting institutions under the Broadcasting Board of Governors. Its charter states that the VOA will provide a “clear and effective presentation of the policies of the United States” in programming outside the country.

Public broadcasting has long been a target of GOP ire. Republicans have also frequently tried to eliminate federal funding for National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting Service.

The VOA received about $200 million in fiscal 2014 under the omnibus appropriations bill.