Cruz Fights to Save AM Radio
BY MARISA HERMAN A
s more car manufacturers plan to eliminate AM radios, Sen. Ted Cruz is leading a bipartisan, bicameral
group of lawmakers to make sure the broadcasts — popular among conservatives and crucial for emergency communications — remain available. After the Ford Motor Co. announced
it was going to stop offering AM radio in its new cars earlier this year, listeners, the broadcasting industry, and lawmakers protested the decision, leading the American car manufacturer to change its mind — for the time being. To make sure that the more than 80 million Americans that still tune into AM radio every month are able to access their favorite conservative talk, news, sports, or religious programming, a group of lawmakers proposed the AM for Every Vehicle Act, which would require automakers to maintain AM radios in their new vehicles. “Each day, millions of Americans turn
to AM radio to stay up to date in their community, engage on the issues they care about, or to be simply entertained during rush hour,” said Cruz. Cruz is working alongside Sen. Ed
Markey, D-Mass., and other senators from
both parties to pass the bill. In the House, it is being supported by
Reps. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., Tom Kean Jr., R-N.J., Rob Menendez, D-N.Y., Bruce Westerman, R-Ark., and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash.
Noting the important role that AM radio
plays during “large-scale emergencies,” Gottheimer called out Tesla CEO Elon Musk for ditching AM radio from his electric vehicles. “I would think that if Elon Musk has enough money to buy Twitter and send rockets to space, he can afford to include AM radio in his Teslas,” he said. “Instead, Elon Musk and Tesla and other car manufacturers are putting public safety and emergency response at risk.” When the cellphone runs out, the
internet gets cut off, or the television doesn’t work because of no electricity or power to your house, you can still turn on your AM radio, he said. According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, 90% of the country is within the sound of an AM station that is equipped with a generator and backup communications to stay on the air during an emergency.
While FM signals can travel roughly 50
miles, an AM signal can reach 100 miles or more.
has ever seen.” “What we are seeing on the
southern border is a humani- tarian crisis,” he told News- max. “It is a national security crisis.
“Since Joe Biden has be-
come president, over 7 million illegal immigrants have come into this country. It has never been remotely this bad. “This crisis is the result of
deliberate, man-made deci- sions, deliberate decisions from Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, and congressional Democrats,” he said without hesitation. “They want this crisis. And
the Biden administration does not want to stop it. They don’t intend to reduce it. They in- tend to continue it and acceler- ate it.” In Cruz’s view, there were
three specific decisions Biden and company made that caused the border crisis: “In the first week, Joe Biden
immediately halted construc- tion of the border wall, he re- instated the disastrous policy of catch and release, and he pulled out of the incredibly successful ‘Remain in Mexico’ agreement. “Biden inherited the lowest
rate of illegal immigration in 45 years. What we were doing was working. It was incredibly suc- cessful. “And on day one, he came in
and broke it to pieces because the Democrats want the maximum il- legal immigration possible. “They look at every illegal
immigrant as a future Demo- crat voter.” With frequent trips to the
southern border behind him (“We’ll routinely go out on mid- night patrol with the Border Patrol on the Rio Grande and tour where the illegal immi- grants are detained”), Cruz has no patience for fellow politi- cians who talk about the issue of illegal immigration but never join him on his trips to where the crisis is mounting. “Where’s Joe Biden?
Where’s Kamala Harris?” he exclaimed. “Where’s AOC? She still got her white pantsuit. She can come down here and post [tweets]. “But you cannot come see
the misery on the southern bor- der and contend that is com- passionate or humane.” To those who say Cruz is the
Senate’s Dr. No and is out to simply kill policy rather than build anything, he points to his new legislation to expedite the building and expanding of bridges from Texas to Mexico — “America’s largest trading partner,” he emphasizes. “The city of Laredo wants to
add 10 new lanes so that they can move more efficiently both trade and commerce moving north from Mexico, and trade
Continued on page 58 SEPTEMBER 2023 | NEWSMAX 55
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