Trevor M5AKA

Spectrum Protection Bill Sponsor's Article Promotes Amateur Radio's Value

It is good to see the ARRL is taking action to defend Amateur Radio bands against the threats in the USA.

73 Trevor M5AKA

Amateur Radio Spectrum Protection Act of 2005 sponsor
Sen Michael Crapo (R-ID) this week promoted the value of Amateur Radio and his bill's efforts to preserve ham radio spectrum in a July 13 article in The Hill - a magazine for and about Congress.

Crapo introduced the US Senate version of the Amateur Radio Spectrum Protection Act of 2005, S 1236, in June with
bipartisan support in the 109th Congress. It's identical to the House version, HR 691, introduced earlier in the session by Rep Michael Bilirakis of Florida.

In his article, "Amateur Radio: a voice in the storm," Crapo says that in an era of increasing demand for spectrum, Amateur Radio's allocations must be preserved.

"Today, Amateur Radio still serves a vital purpose, especially in our post-Sept. 11 world," he wrote. "Acting as volunteers, Amateur Radio operators provide assistance in numerous disaster-relief efforts, from the terror attacks in New York and Washington to floods in Texas, hurricanes in
Florida, earthquakes in Seattle and California and fires in the West and in my home state of Idaho."

Crapo points out that since 1982, Amateur Radio has lost 107 megahertz - "the equivalent of 18 television channels" - and another 145 megahertz "is in danger of being reallocated." Calling Amateur Radio "one of the pioneers of
modern communications," he notes that even today's communication systems, such as cellular telephones, can fail or may be primary targets, while ham radio operators have a demonstrated history of being able to provide vital
communication under adverse circumstances.

"The Amateur Radio Spectrum Protection Act will ensure the success of this vital link in our security communications infrastructure while continuing to encourage the innovation and creativity that is the hallmark of this field," Crapo asserts. The Senate and House legislation would require the FCC to provide "equivalent replacement spectrum" to the Amateur Radio and Amateur-Satellite services in the event of reallocation to other services of primary amateur spectrum or the diminution of secondary amateur spectrum.
The bill also would cover additional allocations within Amateur Radio bands that "would substantially reduce" their utility to Amateur Service licensees.

"It maintains spectrum allocation flexibility by only requiring that the basic amount of spectrum allocated to Amateur Radio operators be maintained," Crapo explained. "Together with my colleagues Sens Daniel Akaka (D-HI), Kit Bond (R-MO), Max Baucus (D-MT) and Conrad Burns (R-MT), I look
forward to working toward this bipartisan solution to the problem of lost spectrum for Amateur Radio operators."

S 1236 has been referred to the US Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee of which Burns is a member. HR 691 has been referred to the US House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

"Amateur Radio: a voice in the storm" appears on The Hill Web site. The Hill circulates to all members of Congress and their staff members as well as to much of "official Washington."

Efforts continue in both chambers of Congress to attract additional cosponsors for S 1236 and HR 691. The League encourages its members to urge their congressional representatives and senators to sign aboard. More than
100 lawmakers in both houses agreed to cosponsor similar legislation in the 108th Congress.

A sample letter
http://www.arrl.org/govrelations/hr-691-sample-letter.html for HR 691 and a sample letter http://www.arrl.org/announce/regulatory/s-1236/ for S 1236 - are available on the ARRL Web site. Members may want to use these as guides in writing their members of Congress to seek their support.

To expedite delivery, send all correspondence bound for Members of Congress - preferably as an attachment - to specbill@arrl.org or fax it to 703-684-7594. The ARRL will bundle correspondence addressed to each Member of Congress for hand delivery.

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