AM For Every Vehicle Act Fails to Achieve Senate Unanimous Consent

This week Senator Ted Cruz took to the Senate Floor to pass the AM for Every Vehicle Act by unanimous consent. However, Senator Rand Paul, a Republican from Kentucky, objected, blocking the effort to circumvent a full Senate vote.

Senator Paul in his objection claims, “mandating that all cars have AM radio is antithetical to any notion of limited government.” However, Senator Cruz says AM radio is critical for communicating information during natural disasters and particularly important for rural communities.

“AM radio is consistently the most resilient to help people get out of harm’s way, whether it is getting out of the way of a hurricane or getting out of the way of a tornado or getting out of the way of a forest fire or any other disaster, AM radio is there to help people know where to go and how to keep their families alive. But secondly, AM radio is particularly important for rural America. And in rural America there are many parts of Texas, many parts of other states where farmers and ranchers, the only thing they can get is AM radio. And when they’re out on their farms or ranches, they rely on AM radio for weather reports, for crop reports, for news, sports, and entertainment. Taking away the option for rural America of AM radio is bad, bad for farmers and ranchers in America.”

While the attempt was unsuccessful, the National Association of Broadcasters views the effort positively, stating, “With 192 cosponsors in the House and 44 in the Senate, the bill has gained remarkable momentum.”