Twenty years ago, one of the most destructive storms to hit the United States made landfall in Louisiana, and the impact and lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina were invoked by 23 past and current Pelican State officials, including retired Lt. Gen. Russel L. Honoré, the commander of Joint Task Force Katrina, in an Aug. 20 letter to Louisiana House Republicans, Speaker J. Michael Johnson and Majority Leader Stephen J. Scalise, the two most powerful men in the lower chamber:
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As we approach the respective anniversaries of Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Ida on August 23 and August 29, respectively, we, the undersigned current and former officials and first responders from the great state of Louisiana, ask that you schedule the bipartisan AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act for a vote in the United States House of Representatives, and push for its enactment before the end of the year.
As you are aware, AM radio is a critical part of our public warning systems. While many communications platforms can be used to provide public warnings and vital information, AM radio is unique in both its geographic reach and its ability to remain on and available when other systems, such as cell and internet, go down during disasters.
The letter made a special appeal to the hometown sentiments of Johnson and Scalise: “Those who were on the ground in Louisiana during and after these fateful storms know the important role AM radio plays in keeping Louisianans safe and informed – then and now.”
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In a tribute to WWL-AM, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) made an Instagram post highlighting the station’s humanitarian efforts during Katrina.
“In 2005, WWL-AM was the only local radio station left on air as Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. They continued their broadcast despite a collapsed telephone system, downed power grids and damage to the studio as the storm raged outside,” the FCC posted .
In his Aug. 29 op-ed “Russel Honoré: AM radios were the backbone of Katrina response. This bill will keep them in cars” the general drove the point home:
During Katrina, AM radios were critical to our ability to save thousands of lives and bring order and peace back to Louisiana and the larger Gulf Coast. Many times during this disaster, it was the only communication method that was not out of commission for tens of thousands of storm victims.
Despite the vast number of collapsed power grids and telephone lines throughout the Gulf Coast, AM radio continued functioning well because of its long wavelengths, which allow it to travel longer distances than most other signals without facing interference.
Another letter signatory, Benny Rouselle, who was the Plaquemines parish president during Katrina and its aftermath, told WGNO his coastal parish depended on AM radio in those difficult days.
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“Immediately after Katrina, everything was silent, dead, including the birds. There was no sound anywhere, but AM radio helped put us back in touch with people and required the necessary communications to move forward,” Rouselle said.
“If we go into another devastating situation where all cell towers go down, and the communications are out, and we don’t have AM radio, it’d be like driving a vehicle at midnight without headlights,” he said.
The AM Radio in Every Vehicle Act is a bill crafted in reaction to the trend among automakers to drop AM radio from their new vehicles. Eight carmakers sent letters to Massachusetts Democrat Sen. Edward J. Markey, the sponsor of his chamber’s bill, telling him that they were dropping AM radio from their new models.
In the Senate, there are 60 co-sponsors joining Markey—a filibuster-proof majority, and five votes short of veto-proof.
Read my interview with Markey’s lead co-sponsor, Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz:
The RedState Interview: Cruz Explains Why He’s Fighting to Save AM Radio
The original House bill had 259 co-sponsors—far more than the 217 votes necessary for a majority in the 432-member lower chamber and the 218-signature requirement for a discharge petition, which forces a floor vote. But that bill was replaced by a new bill after some technical amendments by Florida Republican Rep. Gus Bilirakis, the chairman of the Innovation, Data, and Commerce Subcommittee of the Energy and Commerce Committee.
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My RedState colleague Christopher Arps also wrote about the bill’s progress in his piece:
House Energy & Commerce Committee Should Save AM Radio and Taxpayer’s Money
With the support of Bilirakis, the bill cleared the subcommittee and is now before the full committee.
If there is no action on the bills, they expire at the end of this session in January.