JOINT RESOLUTION S.J.Res. 90 & H.J.Res.199 

      To recognize achievements of radio amateurs, and to establish 
               support for such amateurs as National Policy

WHEREAS, Congress has expressed its determination in section 1 of the
Communications Act of 1934 [47 U.S.C. 151] to promote safety of life 
and property through the use of radio communication;

WHEREAS, Congress, in section 7 of the Communications Act [47 U.S.C. 157],
has established a policy to encourage the provision of new technologies 
and services; 

WHEREAS, Congress, in section 3 of the Communications Act of 1934, defined
radio stations to include amateur stations operated by persons interested 
in radio technique without pecuniary interest; 

WHEREAS, the Federal Communications Commission has created an effective
regulatory framework through which the amateur radio service has been able 
to achieve the goals of the service; 

WHEREAS, these regulations, set forth in part 97, of title 47 of the Code 
of Federal Regulations, clarify and extend the purposes of the Amateur Radio
Service as a -- 
     (1) voluntary noncommercial communication service particularly with
respect to providing emergency communications;
     (2) as a contributing service to the advancement of the 
telecommunications infrastructure;
     (3) as a service which encourages improvement of an individual's 
technical and operating skills; 
     (4) as a service providing a national reservoir of trained operators,
technicians and electronics experts; and 
     (5) as a service enhancing international good will; 

WHEREAS, Congress finds that members of the amateur radio service community 
has provided invaluable emergency communications services following such 
disasters as Hurricanes Hugo, Andrew and Iniki, the Mt. St. Helens eruption, 
the Loma Prieta earthquake, tornadoes, floods, wild fires and industrial 
accidents in great number and variety across the Nation; and

WHEREAS, Congress finds that the amateur radio service has made a contribution
to our nation's communications by its crafting, in 1961, of the first earth
satellite licensed by the Federal Communications Commission, by its proof-of-
concept for search and rescue satellites,  by its continued exploration of 
the low earth orbit in particular pointing the way to commercial use thereof 
in the 1990s, by its pioneering of communications using reflections from 
meteor trails, a technique now used for certain government and commercial
communications, and by its leading role in development of low-cost, practical
data transmission by radio which increasingly is being put to  extensive use 
in, for instance, the land mobile service:

Now, therefore, be it
     Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States
of America in Congress assembled, 

SECTION 1. FINDINGS AND DECLARATIONS OF CONGRESS.
     Congress finds and declares that --
     (1) radio amateurs are hereby commended for their contributions to
technical progress in electronics, and for their emergency radio communications
in times of disaster;
     (2) the Federal Communications Commission  is urged to continue and
enhance the development of the amateur radio service as a public benefit by
adopting rules and regulations which encourage the use of new technologies 
within the amateur radio service; and 
     (3) reasonable accommodation should be made for the effective operation
of amateur radio from residences, private vehicles and public areas, and that
regulation at all levels of government facilitate and encourage amateur radio
operation as a public benefit.