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-
- January 8, 1991 FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
- David Sumner, K1ZZ
- Tel 203-666-1541
- Fax 203-665-7531
-
- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
-
-
- BILL TO PROTECT AMATEUR RADIO SPECTRUM INTRODUCED IN HOUSE
-
-
- On the first day of the new 102nd Congress, a bill to prevent the loss of
- radio spectrum by the Amateur Radio Service was introduced by Rep. Jim Cooper
- (D-Tennessee). Cooper is a member of the House Subcommittee on
- Telecommunications and Finance, where the bill is likely to be referred for
- consideration. The bill, The Amateur Radio Spectrum Protection Act of 1991, is designated as H.R. 73.
-
- The legislation proposes that "the Federal Communications Commission
- shall not diminish existing allocations of spectrum to the Amateur Radio
- Service after January 1, 1991. The Federal Communications Commission shall
- provide equivalent replacement spectrum to the Amateur Radio Service for any
- frequency reallocation after January 1, 1991."
-
- In commenting on H.R. 73, the President of the American Radio Relay
- League, Larry Price, W4RA, welcomed Rep. Cooper's support of the Amateur Radio
- Service and expressed the hope that many Congressmen will join him as co-
- sponsors. "We know that Amateur Radio has many friends on Capitol Hill. Our
- success in defeating unreasonable license fees in 1989 proved that," said Mr.
- Price.
-
- In the findings portion of his bill, Rep. Cooper states that nearly one-
- half million radio amateurs are licensed by the FCC, after thorough
- examination in radio regulations and technical principles of radio
- communications; that amateurs operate their stations solely with a personal
- aim and without pecuniary interest; that among the basic purposes of the
- Amateur Radio Service is to provide voluntary non-commercial radio services,
- particularly emergency communications; and that emergency communication
- services by volunteer radio amateurs "have consistently and reliably been
- provided before, during, and after floods, tornadoes, forest fires,
- earthquakes, blizzards, train wrecks, chemical spills, and other disasters."
- However, he also notes that the FCC "has taken actions which resulted in the
- loss of over 100 MHz of spectrum to Amateurs."
-
-