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Floor Speech
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Mr. CRUZ. Mr. President, I rise today in support of free speech and in support of AM radio. AM radio is something that is widely enjoyed by Americans across this country. Over 80 million Americans listen to AM radio every month. They rely on it. Yet, earlier this year, we saw eight major automakers announce that they are stripping AM radio from new cars and new trucks, taking away the option of AM radio for consumers.
That decision, I believe, was a serious mistake--a mistake that would hurt Texans and that would hurt Americans in all 50 States. As a result, I join with my colleague, the Senator from Massachusetts, Ed Markey, in introducing legislation--the AM Radio for Every Car Act.
I would note that Senator Markey is one of if not the most liberal Senator in this Chamber, and I am one of if not the most conservative Senator in this Chamber. I do not recall another bill on which Senator Markey and I have joined forces, and it speaks to the power of this issue that you see such deep agreement across ideological lines.
When Senator Markey and I introduced that legislation, within days, one of the eight major carmakers--Ford Motor Company--reversed course and announced they would now include AM radio on new cars and trucks. I think they viewed this coalition as a sign of the apocalypse. I would note that this bill has overwhelming bipartisan support. It has 44 cosponsors, 22 Democrats and 22 Republicans.
When we took it up in the Commerce Committee, it passed out of the Commerce Committee with overwhelming bipartisan support, and why is that? Because on the merits, this bill is the right thing to do for the American people.
No. 1, in times of disaster, AM radio is the single most reliable medium for communicating about a natural disaster. I remember when Hurricane Harvey hit my home city of Houston and the entire Texas gulf coast, the enormous challenges, people relied on AM radio.
When other forms of communication go down, 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. Texas has enormous quantities of our State that is rural. 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 are out on their farms and ranches, they rely on AM radio for weather reports, for crop reports, for news, for sports, for entertainment. Taking away the option for rural America of AM radio is bad--bad--for farmers and ranchers in America.
But, No. 3, diversity. AM radio promotes a diversity of views. Why? Because the barriers of entry to getting into AM radio are relatively low. To start an FM station is quite expensive. An AM station is much cheaper to start and to operate, and, as a consequence, we see a beautiful array of diversity of views reflected on AM radio nationally. There are 296 AM stations that are owned by Hispanics.
Nationally, there are 138 AM stations that are owned by African Americans. Nationally, there are 104 AM stations that are owned by Asian Americans. Nationally, there are 14 AM stations that are owned by American Indians or Alaskan Natives. Nationally, there are four AM radio stations owned by Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders. And nationally, there are 385 AM radio stations that are owned by women.
If we wanted diversity of views, AM radio is critically important, and I would note, the support for this bill is broad and far-ranging. Seven former FEMA Directors have called for the Senate and the House to pass this bill as soon as possible, saying that ``the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act is critical to ensuring Federal, State, and local officials can keep the public safe.''
That sentiment was echoed by multiple emergency response organizations, such as the International Association of Fire Chiefs, Big City Emergency Managers, and the National Association of Counties.
All 50 State broadcaster associations have called on Congress to pass this bill. In addition to media groups, including the National Association of Black-Owned Broadcasters, the National Urban League, and OCA-Asian Pacific American Advocates.
The bill has received the support of many agricultural and livestock groups. And the AARP has likewise shared their support for this bill, noting that ``adults age 50 and above represent the largest share of AM radio listeners, but they also represent those most at risk from disaster events.''
This is a bipartisan bill that makes sense, that preserves consumer choice. This bill should pass easily, and yet it is not going to pass this afternoon.
My friend the Senator from Kentucky, it is my understanding, intends to object. And I would note that one aspect of AM radio is particularly important to Texans and to the citizens of Kentucky and to people all across this country, which is that AM radio is a haven for free speech. AM radio is a haven for people to speak, even if their views are disfavored by the political ruling class.
Talk radio is an oasis for conservative speech. Rush Limbaugh would not exist without AM radio. The views of my friend the Senator from Kentucky would be heard by many fewer people without AM radio, whether Mark Levin or Sean Hannity or Glenn Beck. Allowing free speech is important. I believe these automakers stood up to remove AM radio as part of a broader pattern we see of censoring views that are disfavored by Big Business. I think this is consistent with what Big Tech has done--silencing views they disagree with.
And so this bill is all about preserving consumer choice, letting consumers decide. If you don't want to listen to AM radio, turn it off. But you know what, if the automakers all come together and say: You can't turn it on because we are not going to put it in your car; we are not going to put it in your truck; you don't have the right to choose what you will listen to, I think that is profoundly harmful for our country, profoundly harmful for free speech. And so I hope this body can actually act in support of Americans in harm's way in a disaster, in support of farmers and ranchers who rely on AM radio, in support of a diversity of views speaking online, and in support of free speech for whatever your views, whether they are rightwing, leftwing, or no wings at all. AM radio lets people speak and make the case in John Stuart Mill's marketplace of ideas.
Accordingly--actually, before I do this, I would like to yield to my colleague from Massachusetts--oh, OK.
208, S. 1669; further, that the committee-reported substitute amendment be agreed to; that the bill, as amended, be considered read a third time and passed, and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.
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Mr. CRUZ. Mr. President, I want to briefly respond to the arguments raised by the Senator from Kentucky and then yield the floor to Senator Lujan from New Mexico.
Mr. President, the Senator from Kentucky suggested that free speech has nothing to do with the actions of private companies censoring citizens, and I am going to suggest that is a very cribbed version of free speech.
The Senator from Kentucky argued: All we should care about is government restrictions of speech.
But, apparently, that means there is no role to do anything to protect free speech rights from Big Tech companies that censor and silence and deplatform voices they disagree with, that abuse their monopoly power to silence voices.
I will tell you, I have been proud to earn support from libertarians across Texas and across the country, and it is a strange libertarian view that supports Big Tech censorship of free speech. Being a libertarian does not mean being an anarchist, and I would suggest there is a role for government rules and regulations that are liberty enhancing and choice enhancing, and that is what this choice is.
The Senator from Kentucky said: Well, consumers could just choose to turn on the AM radio.
Well, no, they can't, if you have eight automakers working in concert to take that choice away from them. This is all about giving them that choice.
Secondly, I would say, the Senator from Kentucky suggested consumers would pay more.
Mr. President, the status quo is AM radio is in the cars and trucks right now, and it is not just electric vehicles the carmakers are pulling it from. It is every vehicle including internal combustion vehicles. This is about stripping consumer choice and killing AM radio.
I hope the majority leader will schedule this bill for a vote because, if he did, it would pass with an overwhelming vote on the floor of the Senate.
I yield to Senator Lujan.
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