1. United States
2. Mo.
3. Letter

In his 1969 testimony for the funding of public television, Fred Rogers said, 'I give an expression of care every day to each child, to help him realize that he is unique. I end the program by saying, "You've made this day a special day, by just your being you. There's no person in the whole world like you, and I like you, just the way you are." There is no profit in serving such a mission. No free market with the prescience to recognize its long-term, foundational consequences. Currently endemic of the United States yet a perennial threat to youth, isolation and our misguided priorities are telling children that their place is to be ignored. That their worth is found only in their productivity. That they are unwanted, and unloved. There is no immediate, causal justification for any business to carry this mantle and secure the well-being of American children. And yet every Congress, when faced with this dilemma, has ultimately decided to place their faith on our children and those who serve them. Please continue this tradition and ensure that every child in the United States has every chance to be seen, known, and loved. Please take the longer view, stretching even beyond the horizon of the next election cycle, and ensure the funding of the CPB.