Texas Republican Reps. Joe Barton and Michael Burgess sent a letter Thursday requesting that the Government Accountability Office investigate whether National Public Radio, which receives federal funds, is using government money to generate content of a specific ideological bent.
The letter, sent on Thursday to Comptroller General Gene Dodaro, cites the October 20 firing of Juan Williams from NPR for comments he made on Fox News’ “O’Reilly Factor.”
“Our concern is that the use of appropriated taxpayer dollars for the production of content could inappropriately involve the government in the promulgation of particular viewpoints and the silencing of others,” the letter explains, “especially since many taxpayers may not share the editorial views of NPR.”
In the letter, Barton and Burgess examine the firing of Williams for saying that he gets nervous when he sees Muslims in traditional apparel on planes, a statement of which the congressmen write, “was used didactically by Williams to demonstrate the need to resist pressures to abridge the constitutional rights of Muslim Americans generally.”
“While we recognize the prudence of a news organization setting ethical standards for the behavior of its journalists,” Barton and Burgess write, “we are deeply concerned that the precipitous action taken to terminate Williams’s contract may reflect a tendency on the part of NPR management to use its ethics rules to silence employees whose greatest offense is contravention of the rules of political correctness rather than to preserve any core ethical or editorial standards.”
In the letter, the congressmen request answers to six questions regarding how NPR receives funding and appropriates funds, as well as the details of Williams’ contract and prior behavior.
This morning, the House voted not to vote on whether to defund NPR.