The AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act has passed the U.S. House of Representatives. That was more than one week ago, and the bill, which has wide bipartisan support, now awaits action in the Senate.
Will it happen? The radio industry and the legislation’s supporters are hopeful. But one Colorado House Member wants Americans to speak up.
“Everybody should pick up the phone and call their United States senator and tell them how important it is to have this,” said Congressman Jeff Crank (R-Colo.), urging broadcasters and listeners to keep pressure on lawmakers so they may schedule a floor vote on the Act in the upper body of Congress.
For Rep. Crank, who appeared on the NAB’s AirTime podcast, the issue carries a personal dimension few of his colleagues share.
Before he was elected to represent Colorado’s 5th Congressional District in 2024, Crank spent 14 years hosting a talk show on Cumulus Media-owned KVOR-AM 740 in Colorado Springs. That background shapes how Crank views AM radio’s role beyond entertainment, particularly in rural parts of the West. “I represent Colorado, but out in the West, we have many rural areas,” Crank said. “I’m an outdoorsman and a hunter, and I have grown up often in places where you might not have cell service, or it’s spotty. That is a link. AM radio is certainly a safety link in a lot of ways to the outside community.”
With the bill now in the Senate’s hands, Crank says, “It’s an issue of freedom, but it’s also an issue of free market choice and opportunity for all Americans. It doesn’t matter if they’re a Democrat or Republican. This is a bill they should be able to get behind and get across the goal line.”
The bill would require automakers to keep AM radio as standard equipment in new vehicles.
