WASHINGTON, D.C. — A full markup of 16 bills was scheduled to take place on Wednesday morning by the House Energy & Commerce Committee, with the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act listed as the No. 13 agenda item.
To the surprise of some, the Committee opened consideration of the bill before all others, with House Members on both sides of the aisle touting the public safety needs for those in a vehicle. The bipartisan support led the Committee to swiftly pass the bill in its current form 45-2, sending it to the full House of Representatives for an all-important vote.
This means that H.R. 8449, the Act as reintroduced by Minority Leader Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J.) and Gus Bilirakis (R-Fla.) will be moving forward. But, there were dissenters — namely from a Republican whose district is largely influenced by General Motors.
A PUSH FOR ‘PERPETUITY’ ERASURE
Rep. John James (R-Mich.), who serves the 10th Congressional District — a northern Detroit region area where General Motors is a key employer, was impassioned in his “vehement opposition to this mandate,” taking the stance that more government regulations forcing businesses to do something is unnecessary. “I have moments where I’m taking one of those ‘crazy pills,’ and this is one of those moments,” James exclaimed as he offered a lengthy discussion about homicides before citing research suggesting that just 1% of Americans during the last EAS test received on AM radio, with cell phone messages the primary way they received information. “I’m wondering what magic power AM radio has if disaster knocks off the internet, if it knocks out telecommunications, satellite service and FM service, will local AM stations survive and be able to broadcast safely the information,” he said. “What are we even doing here?? We are putting an un-funded, unnecessary mandate for a problem that doesn’t even exist. This is exactly why people hate Washington.”
In James’ Congressional District, radio stations include Audacy’s all-News WWJ-AM 950, one of the nation’s oldest continuously operating broadcast facilities; and Cumulus Media’s News/Talk WWJ-AM 760. Both stations are available on HD2 FM stations. Then, there is Adell Broadcasting’s Talk WFDF-AM 910, which also has an HD2 FM partner. That said, the majority of listening to these three stations is via their AM radio signals.
James, who is in a difficult reelection race in a position that leans slightly Republican, offered what is technically called “an amendment to the amendment in the nature of a substitute.” This would have diluted the mandate as written in the legislation — and not eliminate it. Rather, it would end a mandate for AM radio in all vehicles “in perpetuity,” something James was dead-set against. Rather, research and agency input was needed to guide future AM radio consideration in vehicles — a “practical, common sense” approach to the mandate.
Other House Members on the Committee were also concerned about a government mandate for AM Radio. Texas Republican Michael Burgess also has had reservations about mandating business activity. “I wouldn’t buy a car without an AM radio,” he said. “I recognize the importance of having the AM radio in the vehicle. AT the same time, is this the government’s business to be dictating what should be inside ta vehicle? If we are going to pass this bill, we at least ought to at least have to have some flexibility until a study is done.” Rep. Scott Peters (R-Calif.) also supported James’ amendment.
Pallone opposed James’ amendment, and did not want to “muck it up” and make it more difficult to achieve passage. So did Jeff Duncan (R-N.C.) and Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa), while Buddy Carter (R-Georgia) simply asked that if Congress could end the mandate five years from now if it wanted to, then why was this amendment needed.
“Congress has a tough enough time passing a budget,” James said. “Pushing back against Federal inertia is not something in our core competency.”
James’ amendment was defeated by voice vote, with dissenters loudly stating “no.”
While New Jersey Democrat Josh Gottheimer was first to introduce the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act, Pallone and Bilirakis took the reins in an effort to get it to the finish line. With widespread support from Republicans and Democrats, a Senate vote was all but secured until Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) put it on hold over his desire to end federal subsidies for electric vehicles.
The current version of the bill, says Bilirakis, features “technical changes” such as ensuring automakers are not implicated internationally and that standards across the country are consistent.
A Roll Call vote was requested. Burgess ended up voting in support of the bill, even with his support of the James amendment. Voting no was Rep. John Curtis (R-Utah) and Jay Obernolte (R-Calif.). Rep. Anna Eshoo inadvertently voted “no” before quickly changing her vote to a yes.
While the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act did not have unanimous support, debate was expected to be far tamer than discussion later in the markup session on the Kids Online Safety Act, the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act, and the Think Differently Database Act, among other bills up for debate.