Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR.), founder and chairman of the Congressional Public Broadcasting Caucus, issued a statement Thursday slamming the proposal to stop federal funding for National Public Radio, H.R. 1076.

He also criticized James O'Keefe directly, describing his recent videos as a “dishonest hatchet job.”

His statement is below:

Washington - Today Rep. Earl Blumenauer, founder and chairman of the bipartisan Congressional Public Broadcasting Caucus, condemned H.R. 1076, a bill to prohibit federal funding for National Public Radio and block local public broadcasting stations from buying any radio programming with federal funds.

“The majority is breaking its own rules on transparency to rush this bill to the floor before the American people have time to make their voices heard,” said Blumenauer. “Polls show that a vast majority of Americans, including two-thirds of Republicans, want funding for public broadcasting to remain in place or even increase. This bill clearly goes against their wishes.

”What is particularly disappointing is the role being played by a dishonest, doctored video that is very clearly edited to trick viewers into thinking NPR is a partisan news outlet. James O'Keefe's dishonest hatchet job has no place in this discussion over the future of one of America's most important national treasures.

“The bill does not save a penny from the deficit, but it does hurt every single small, locally-owned public broadcasting station in America. Public broadcasting reaches over 30 million listeners a week, and now is the worst possible time to attack a successful enterprise that is growing and supports 21,000 jobs at local stations across this country. The notion that these small local stations can create their own content to replace what this bill takes away betrays a shocking lack of knowledge about the media business. No local outlet has the capacity to replicate the high-quality programming that is supported by federal funding."