WASHINGTON – February 28, 2022 – America’s Public Television Stations (APTS) today presented the Champion of Public Broadcasting Award to Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA).
As a long-serving member of the House Appropriations Committee, Congresswoman Roybal-Allard has helped protect and increase funding for local public media stations through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and ensured that the nation’s children have access to the highest quality educational content through public television’s Ready To Learn program. As chair of the House Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, she has strongly supported public broadcasting’s public safety and homeland security work.
“Chairwoman Roybal-Allard has been a long-time friend of public broadcasting, and has championed our work for decades,” said APTS president and CEO Patrick Butler. “We are especially grateful that, for the last two years, she has proposed $20 million to support upgrades in public media’s public safety infrastructure in the House Homeland Security Appropriations bills.
“Sadly for all of us, Congresswoman Roybal-Allard will be retiring at the end of this Congress. But the impact she has had on local public broadcasting stations, and the lives of all Americans, will be felt for generations to come,” Butler said. “It is my great privilege to present the 2022 Champion of Public Broadcasting Award to the Honorable Lucille Roybal-Allard of California.”
“I am humbled and honored to be the recipient of the 2022 Champion of Broadcasting Award,” said Congresswoman Roybal-Allard. “As the Chairwoman of the House Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, it has been a career-long passion for me to ensure that American children and families have equitable access to meaningful content that prepares them for the world we live in. I strongly believe that American families and children are the greatest beneficiaries of the work that America’s Public Television Stations are able to create and deliver to our homes and communities each day. Collectively, this organization has over 330 public television stations across America and serves more than 97 percent of the American people, providing essential public services in education, public safety and civic leadership. Through your work with member stations, you have made us and our nation better informed and passionate about issues rooted in human and civil rights and educational programing.”
In 1992, Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard became the first Mexican American woman elected to Congress. She has distinguished herself throughout her congressional career as a dedicated advocate for the dignity and well-being of all Americans. The congresswoman is the first Latina to serve as one of the 12 “cardinals,” or chairs, of a House Appropriations subcommittee, as well as the first Latina to serve on the House Appropriations Committee. She is also the first woman to chair the Congressional Hispanic Caucus; the first woman to chair the California Democratic congressional delegation; and the founder of the Women’s Working Group on Immigration Reform.
The congresswoman has been successful in obtaining federal dollars for local education and labor projects, including job training and placement services, arts and vocational education, afterschool care, early education, magnet schools and English literacy programs.
Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard is the eldest daughter of the late Congressman Edward R. Roybal and Lucille Beserra Roybal. She is married to Edward T. Allard III. Together, she and her husband have four children and nine grandchildren. She received her bachelor's degree from California State University, Los Angeles. She also holds an honorary doctor of humane letters degree from National Hispanic University.
The Champion of Public Broadcasting Award was presented to Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA) during the APTS Public Media Summit on Tuesday, February 28, 2022.
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About APTS
America’s Public Television Stations (APTS) is a nonprofit membership organization ensuring a strong and financially sound public television system and helping member stations provide essential public services in education, public safety and civic leadership to the American people. For more information, visit www.apts.org.
Contact:
Stacey Karp
202-654-4222
skarp@apts.org