Hearing: Broadcasting Board of Governors: An Agency “Defunct”

Chairman Royce on the hearing:  “International broadcasting is a key tool of U.S. diplomacy.  Unfortunately, it’s broken.   As Secretary Clinton rightly pointed out earlier this year, ‘the BBG is practically defunct in terms of its capacity to be able to tell a message around the world.’  It is time to take a hard look at the BBG and ask if our resources, nearly $750 million annually, are being spent wisely – are we getting what we need from these broadcasting efforts?  We aren’t, and it is time for broad  reforms;  ‘tinkering’ and ‘band-aid’ solutions are not an option, because the stakes are too great.” The Honorable James K. Glassman Founding Executive Director George W. Bush Institute (Former Chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, and Former Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs)The Honorable S. Enders Wimbush Executive Director for Strategy & Development National Bureau of Asian Research (Former Governor of the Broadcasting Board of Governors)The Honorable D. Jeff Hirschberg Chairman The Northeast Maglev, LLC (Former Governor of the Broadcasting Board of Governors) ***Any changes to witness list will be reflected above.