From Jim Weaver, K8JE, Director, ARRL Great Lakes Division:
Dear ARRL member,
Now Is The Time For All Good Hams To Come To The Aid Of Their Radio Service!
All amateurs are urgently requested to write letters to their US Representative. These letters are to ask them to cosponsor HR 462, the current bill in the US House of Representatives that would protect Amateur Radio from interference from unlicensed devices — e.g. various Part 15 devices and BPL. The bill is in Committee and your letter will help move it to the floor of the House.
Your letter and the letters of thousands of other amateurs will be the first step in a series of actions to get this bill passed. Subsequent actions will involve liaison members of the ARRL Legislative Action Program, but we first need to get as many sponsors while it is in Committee as possible. The more letters each Representative receives, the better.
To learn the name and address of your US Representative, go to www.arrl.org and click on “Members Only” at the top of the screen. If you have already registered (free) to access Members Only, you will see the names and addresses of your US Representative and US Senators on the left of the Members Only screen. If Members Only does not fully open for you, simply register on the opening screen to use. This will give you access to it.
Mail your letter only to your US Representative. Do not mail it to either of your US Senators. The bill is only in the US House of Representatives and not in the US Senate. We are working to have a bill introduced in the Senate, later.
Click here to download a draft letter. Please copy the letter and add the name and address of the Representative. Also add your name and address.
Modify the letter to personalize it if you have time, sign it and send.
Each time we discuss sending letters to Congressmen, several people offer suggestions on how this should best be done — by US Mail, FAX, e-mail, to the Washington, DC office, to a local office, etc. The answer to the best way to get mail to them depends on the individual. I will leave it to you to determine how you wish to send the letter.
The main thing is to send it . . . and to do this fairly soon.\\
Also, if possible, please send a copy of your letter to Dave Sumner, K1ZZ, 225 Main St., Newington, CT 06111 or to [email protected]. Why? These copies are forward to our representative in Washington who uses them as proof that the “voters back home” are interested In the bill. Thanks.
Jim says
I don’t think the bill protects us; it requests the FCC do a study and
report back to Congress. [Not that that’s a bad thing!]
A quick search at ARRL.org turns up:
http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2007/01/18/101/?nc=1
The ARRL article links to Thomas (Library of Congress) which appears
to have the complete text of the bill:
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c110:H.R.462:
Anyway, at the very least letting our House members know we care
about the issue couldn’t possibly hurt. However HR 462 does not
seem to be the “final solution.” That would seem to require a separate
bill (perhaps after the HR 462 study has been reported to Congress).
73,
Jim N9GTM