Visit http://www.freepress.net/lpfm to write to your representatives to tell them why YOU want low power radio in your community, and ask them to cosponsor the Local Community Radio Act, House Bill 2802 or Senate Bill 1675. And sign the petition to expand LPFM at http://www.expandlpfm.org!

When LPFM service was first introduced back in 2000, thousands of applications were blocked because commercial broadcasters convinced Congress that low power radio stations would interfere with their signals. After a $2.2 million engineering study by the MITRE Corporation, an independent firm, they've been proven wrong. According to FCC statistics developed in 1999, many major urban areas of the United States were on track to get Low Power FM radio stations. When Congress passed its exorbitant protection rule, most of those communities lost out. If we expand LPFM to its original service parameters, these cities, from Phoenix to Peoria, will have a chance to get amazing local stations to serve their diverse communities!

Now, there's legislation in Congress that would repeal the unnecessary limitations on LPFM and open the airwaves to community groups in cities and towns across the country. If you've ever dreamed of having a radio station in YOUR community, this is your best chance to get one--we've been meeting with legislators in DC, and they want to hear from YOU--their constituents--on this issue.

Don't know how best to phrase your letter? Personal stories about low power radio and what it does, or what it could do, for your community, are most effective. There are hundreds of low power stations on the air, serving communities all across the country with unique, local, and diverse programming. Can you get local news when you most need it? Or is your information piped in from hundreds of miles away, geared towards a different market? WQRZ-LP in Bay St Louis, MS provided critical emergency communications during and after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and WRIR-LP in Richmond, VA is the official emergency broadcast outlet for a city of 300,000.

Follow the links below for more background on LPFM, the Mitre study, and details of the Local Community Radio Act to help you craft your letter or phone call to your representative. And let us know when you've contacted Congress, so that we can follow up!