The U.S. Senate Must Preserve an Overlooked, but Critical Public Safety Tool
The yearslong debate in Washington regarding the extent to which government should use mandates to ensure public safety recently took an interesting turn and the automobile radio, of all things, is the latest point of contention.
A slew of car manufacturers — both of electric and gas-powered vehicles — have begun quietly removing AM radio functionality from their new vehicles for a variety of reasons.
But while the issue may seem limited to impacting the forms of entertainment you can enjoy in your automobile, there are concerns that this decision could have ramifications that extend far beyond that. As a result, lawmakers in Washington have gotten involved.
A bill known as the AM for Every Vehicle Act has been introduced by Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Ed Markey, D-Mass., that would require car manufacturers keep AM radio in their dashes.
The legislation was primed to pass with broad bipartisan support right before Christmas recess, but Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., objected, stating that it is against conservative principles to ensure a "favored form of entertainment" remains in vehicles.
He later compared mandating AM radios in cars to forcing automakers to keep 8-track players in their dashes.
Sen. Paul would be correct in his assessment if AM radio was only used for listening to music and talk radio, but this is far from the case.
AM radio is one of the most critical public safety tools that this nation has, and if carmakers remove it, public safety will be put at risk.
Pete Gaynor, President Trump’s FEMA director and acting Homeland Security secretary, argued this point in a recent Washington Examiner op-ed.
He wrote, "As a fiscal conservative, I generally sympathize with Sen. Rand Paul ’s (R-KY) concerns about government mandates, spending, and the national debt. However, as a public safety professional who served as the Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator, I was disappointed to see him block Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Ed Markey’s (D-MA) AM for Every Vehicle Act from passing."
He is not the only public safety professional who has expressed concern.
As reported by Bloomberg, every former FEMA leader from the Clinton through Trump administrations asked congressional leadership to pass the AM for Every Vehicle Act because they know the bill is necessary to ensure the National Public Warning System remains intact.
The federal government made AM radio the backbone of the National Public Warning System because it is the most effective means of ensuring the public never gets blacked out from receiving life-saving information.
When TV, internet, and phone signals go down during the worst disasters, AM reception remains strong. As the coalition of FEMA directors put it in their letter to Congress:
FEMA has spent millions of taxpayer dollars in creating and bolstering the National Public Warning System to communicate with the public during times of crisis.
This system is powered principally by AM radio because it is the communication system with the resiliency to withstand this nation’s worst disasters, and it provides the greatest reach and most efficient geographic coverage to keep the population informed before, during, and in the wake of a disaster.
Unfortunately, if automakers remove AM radio from vehicles, it will undermine the integrity of this critical piece of national security infrastructure.
From Maui to Hurricane Sandy to every disaster in between, AM radio has been responsible for saving many, many lives.
The same goes for Kentucky.
In a letter asking Sen. Paul to support the AM radio bill, Mayor Todd Alcott (Sen. Paul’s local mayor) and a coalition of Kentucky lawmakers and public safety professionals emphasized as much, stating "the deadly 2021 tornadoes that hit our commonwealth demonstrated how vital its unique reach and resiliency is to keeping Kentuckians safe and secure during the worst of times when Wi-Fi and cellphone reception goes down."
Historically Sen. Paul’s general skepticism of government legislation, especially mandates, has served the American public well.
As one of the most ideologically pure members the chamber has ever seen, he is never afraid to put his principles and his constituents’ interests above those of special interests.
But given the public safety issues that are at stake, requiring automakers to ensure their customers have access to the AM radio broadcast signal and the emergency information it carries does not seem like an excessive mandate or undue burden.
Sen. Paul has said he wants a strong national defense because he believes "it's actually the most important thing the federal government does."
I agree.
It is for that reason I hope he will consider the public safety importance of the AM for Every Vehicle Act and support the bill when it comes up for a vote under regular order.
(A related article may be found here.)
Travis Korson is the Director of Public Policy for Frontiers of Freedom, and is a political veteran of politics with years of experience in campaigns, communications, and public policy. He served the Bush White House and has also served the Heritage Foundation, Americans for Prosperity, and the Faith and Freedom Coalition. He is a graduate of the George Washington University. His specialties include global affairs with a focus on international economics. Read Travis Korson's Reports — More Here.
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