More than a quarter of the Senate has now signed on to a bill to protect AM radio.
The Senate’s AM in Every Vehicle Act, S1669, continues to gain momentum with an additional eight senators signing on as cosponsors before the August break. That brings it to 27 cosponsors, including 14 Republicans, 12 Democrats, and one Independent. Senator Kevin Cramer of North Dakota was an early supporter and cosponsor of the bill.
“I get it, the automobile industry. I get the whole technology thing. I get that there are apps that you can download on your pickup or your combine or whatever you’re driving these days,” he said. “But when it comes to the automobile, especially the automobile, AM radio is more important there than probably any other application that there is.”
He said in areas with a lot of open land, like his home state, it’s even more important.
“When you come from a place like North Dakota, where the weather is severe and the distances are great, and the signals aren’t always perfect or clear, your cell phone isn’t always fully charged or doesn’t get a signal, AM radio is where it is,” he said.
He pointed out, there are no subscriptions or data plans needed to get the information AM radio provides. “It’s free,” he said. “The spectrum that AM radio rides on is owned by the taxpayers and a big part of AM radio’s value isn’t just providing the weather reports or the market reports but providing safety information and emergency information. We need to keep AM radio in every vehicle in America forever as far as I’m concerned.”
Sabrina Halvorson
National Correspondent / AgNet Media, Inc.
Sabrina Halvorson is an award-winning journalist, broadcaster, and public speaker who specializes in agriculture. She primarily reports on legislative issues and hosts The AgNet Weekly podcast. Sabrina is a native of California’s agriculture-rich Central Valley.