We are in DC this week meeting with members of Congress to support the “AM Receiver in Every Vehicle Act” (H.R. 3414 & S. 1669). Our message is simple: AM radio is an essential component of the Emergency Alert Service. It also reaches more than 82 million Americans each month, providing various news, sports, and entertainment. Our meetings take place on Tuesday, June 13, and Wednesday, June 14th.
We want to thank the following broadcaster who traveled to Washington to help make a case for AM radio:
Chris Oliviero, Market President of Audacy Radio, New York City
Vincent DiMarco, Market Manager at ESPN, New York City
Mary Papuyo, Digital Sales Manager and Sports Director at Salem Media, New York City
Chad Lopez, President of WABC 770 AM, New York City
Alan Bishop, Owner of Finger Lakes Radio and Chadwick Bay Broadcasting (NYSBA Chairman), Geneva
Ed Levine, CEO of Galaxy Media Partners, Syracuse
Nicole Todd, Content Operations Manager at Townsquare Media, Utica
Chuck Benfer, COO at Pamal Broadcasting, Albany
We also want to thank Jessica Marventano, Sara Morris, and Dan Dukes from iHeart Media’s Washington DC office for helping us out with our meetings.
We are meeting with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand’s office. We are continuing to set up meetings but have already scheduled meetings with the following offices: Rep. Marc Molinaro, Brian Higgins, Rep. Dan Goldman, Rep. Brandon Williams, Rep. Anthony Garbarino, Rep. Jerry Nadler, Rep. Yvette Clarke, Rep. Paul Tonko, Rep. Claudia Tenney, Rep. Grace Meng, Rep. Nick Langworthy, Rep. Mike Lawler, Rep. Nick Lalota, and Rep. Pat Ryan.
Support for legislation is increasing. There are 69 members of Congress supporting H.R. 3413 as of today, including Rep. Claudia Tenney, Rep. Nick Langworthy, and Rep. Nicole Malliotakis from New York. There are 13 co-sponsors on the Senate Bill S.1669.
We urge stations to reach out to your audience to gain support for this legislation. NAB has prepared a tool kit for stations, which includes PSAs. The tool kit also has a hot link so your listeners can contact their local members of Congress directly.
You can access the tool kit here.