In 2026, the WFMD radio station in Frederick, Maryland, is celebrating its 90th year on the AM airwaves, and thanks to a bipartisan bill set for a vote in Congress this week, every new car sold in America will have an AM antenna to pick up its signal.The AM Radio For Every Vehicle Act already has more than 300 co-sponsors in the House, 60 in the Senate, and has been pitched mainly as a measure to ensure that emergency messages — the ones that start with the shrill whistle — can be sent out to cars through the AM stations.The common sense measure is a good plan B to have in place in cases of cyberattacks or cyber outages, because sometimes the old ways can be the best ways.FILE — If the bill passes, every new car sold in America will have an AM antenna to pick up its signal.(Rolf Vennenbernd/picture alliance via Getty Images)STEVE FORBES, STEPHEN MOORE: AMERICA MUST FREE ITS AIRWAVES BEFORE CHINA PULLS AHEADThat is a laudable goal, and by itself enough to warrant the legislation.
But in fact, this measure can do more than protect lives, it can protect civil American discourse.AM radio is one of the last vestiges of it we have left in this digital age.All across the country, there are little stations like WFMD, with a predictable schedule that starts with a light-hearted but local-news-heavy morning show, then late-morning to mid-afternoon nationally syndicated news shows, followed by an afternoon drive-time call-in show that covers local, state and federal politics.In Frederick, the local afternoon show "Mid-Maryland Live" belongs to Tim May and Frank Mitchell: the former, a cantankerous conservative wordsmith with a Maryland twang, and the latter, the patient and pleasant liberal New York City transplant with the dulcet radio voice.FILE - Some argue national topics are heard first on local radio stations.
(Joe Amon/The Denver Post via Getty Images)FCC CHAIR SUGGESTS ABC SKIPPING TRUMP'S SPEECH WILL FACTOR IN LICENSE RENEWAL DECISIONThe discourse that Tim and...