Senators Cochran and Kennedy Awarded Public Televisions Highest Recognition

For Immediate Release on April 4, 2000

WASHINGTON, DC, April 4, 2000 - The Corporation for Public Broadcasting today awarded public televisions highest honor, the Ralph Lowell Award, to Senator Thad Cochran of Mississippi and Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts. The senators were recognized for their early and ongoing support of the PBS Ready To Learn Service (RTL) and long-standing support of public broadcasting in the U.S. Congress. In 1992, Senators Kennedy and Cochran co-sponsored legislation that led to the creation of the PBS Ready To Learn Service. Ready To Learn is PBSs ongoing contribution to address our nations foremost educational goal: making sure all children begin school ready to learn. RTL seeks to help children - especially those from low-income families - by combining high-quality, educational on-air programs and free off-air services such as community workshops and resources for their parents, teachers and day care providers. "Both of these Senators are staunch allies of public broadcasting. Their leadership has helped public broadcasting expand the scope and depth of our educational programs and services to make a real and lasting impact," said Katherine Anderson, CPB Board Member, in presenting the award. "Since 1995, RTL coordinators at local stations have conducted more than 31,000 workshops for more than 1.3 million parents and caregivers-for the benefit of nearly 12.5 million children. Stations have also given away more than 2.5 million new, free books to children who otherwise would not have them," she added. According to a recent University of Alabama study, parents who attend an RTL workshop read to their children 35 percent more often and 20 percent longer than other parents; their kids watch 40 percent less television, and they make more trips to a library or bookstore with their youngsters. The parents also reported that more of the programs they watch prepare their children for school, encourage reading, help develop character and teach practical life skills. Yesterday, Between the Lions, a new PBS childrens series, funded in part by a Ready To Learn grant from the U.S. Department of Education through CPB, made its national debut. The series combines innovative puppetry, animation, live action, and music to achieve its educational mission of helping young children learn to read. Its companion web site (pbskids.org/lions) is the first of its kind to offer a curriculum of original, educator-approved reading activities. The series is produced by WGBH Boston and Sirius Thinking, Ltd. The Honorable Thad Cochran, the Senior United States Senator from the State of Mississippi, was elected to the Senate in 1978. For twelve years he served as an elected member of the Senate Republican Leadership. He is Chairman of the Senate Subcommittee for Agriculture Appropriations, and second in seniority on the Full Senate Appropriations Committee. He also chairs the Subcommittee on International Security, Proliferation, and Federal Services of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee. He serves on the Board of Visitors of the U.S. Naval Academy and the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution. He is also a member of the Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee and the Rules Committee of the Senate. The Honorable Edward M. Kennedy, the Senior Senator from the State of Massachusetts, has served in the United States Senate for thirty-six years. He was first elected in 1962 to finish the term of his brother, President John F. Kennedy. Since then, he has been re-elected to six full terms, and he is now the third most senior member of the Senate. Senator Kennedy is currently the senior Democrat on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. He also serves on the Judiciary Committee, where he is the Senior Democrat on the Immigration Subcommittee, and on the Armed Services Committee, where he is the senior Democrat on the Seapower Subcommittee. Senator Kennedy is also a member of the Congressional Friends of Ireland and the National Security Working Group, and is a Trustee of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. "Because of the support of Senators Cochran and Kennedy, Dragon Tales exists; Between the Lions exists, and millions of parents, care givers and the children they care for are better off today as a result of this program," said Robert T. Coonrod, CPB President and CEO. "We are deeply grateful for their support." Cochran said, "My State was the first in the country to have a statewide education television network, and my father was the Chairman of our states public television authority at the time. He would be very proud of this award being given to me. I thank the Corporation for Public Broadcasting for this special recognition." "I am proud to accept this award named after a loyal Bostonian. I am also proud that the legislation that Senator Cochran and I co-sponsored has helped public broadcasters link the power of television to the world of books, which has led to more children becoming good readers much more quickly," said Kennedy. The annual Lowell Award honors Ralph Lowell, a philanthropist and banker who was instrumental in the formation of the Carnegie Commission of Educational Television, which led to the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967 and to the creation of CPB. Lowell served as the first president of the WGBH Educational Foundation from 1951 until he became chairman in the mid-1970s. A complete list of honorees follows this press release.

About CPB

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), a private, nonprofit corporation created by Congress in 1967, is the steward of the federal government's investment in public broadcasting. It helps support the operations of more than 1,400 locally-owned and -operated public television and radio stations nationwide, and is the largest single source of funding for research, technology, and program development for public radio, television and related online services.

CPB Media Room