We--the US--pay for what??

Listening to KCUR/NPR yesterday, I learned we--the US--pays millions of dollars per year (not that much in the ultimate scheme of things) so "Sesame Street" is produced and played in Israel and Palestine. I thought it stunning and rather silly, really. I'm all about education and exposure to the wider world but I don't think it's the US' duty to "save the world" in this respect. But that's me. Link: http://www.npr.org/2012/01/17/145340572/f-is-for-funding-which-palestinian-muppets-lack