Cruz: 'AM radio serves a critical function during emergencies'

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) praised the Senate Commerce Committee’s advancement of the "AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act," a piece of bipartisan legislation he crafted with U.S. Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA), according to his website. The release issued by Cruz’s office said that the bill calls for automakers to keep AM radio in all vehicles.

“AM radio serves a critical function during emergencies,” Cruz said, according to his website. “It reliably gets important information to the public, which is why several former FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) administrators and representatives of the emergency response community have called for AM radio to remain in vehicles.”

According to the junior senator, AM radio is also essential “to free expression and viewpoint diversity.”

“With low barriers to entry, it allows Americans, especially conservatives, to communicate their points of view and help free speech flourish,” Cruz said, according to his website. “I am proud to have worked with Sen. Markey and our colleagues on both sides of the aisle on this legislation. It will have a big impact on our constituents who make AM radio part of their daily lives.”

Tech Times reported that the next step for the bill is a full vote on the Senate floor, though an exact date hasn’t been set. Citing Reuters, the website reported that the legislation has companion measures in the U.S. House of Representatives. Cruz’s release said that 27 Republican and Democratic U.S. Senate members lent their names to the bill.

Per an Audacy report, the measure came about in May in response to several automakers removing AM radio from electric vehicles (EV). Over 80 million Americans tune in to AM radio, with 40% listening in their vehicles, according to Cruz’s office. His website said that more than 1 million Americans worked for local radio, as of 2018, with Texas alone accounting for 88,000 radio jobs.