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 Previous: The Amateur Amateur: Saturday in the Park with Ray (Part I) |  Next: The K7RA Solar Update |
By Stan Horzepa, WA1LOU
Contributing Editor
August 15, 2003
This week, we surf inside the Beltway and find whom to contact about Amateur Radio matters related to our federal government.
Have an Amateur Radio-related question about a particular government benefit, program, or service, then contact FirstGov.gov. |
Tim Lewallen, KD5ING, wrote, "I thought a listing of government contact Web sites might be beneficial to let our elected officials and related government agencies know our thoughts concerning the broadband over power line (BPL) issue, as well as other issues regarding Amateur Radio."
Tim sent me a list of contacts that is very comprehensive. I checked out each link and my comments follow.
• White House - The buck stops here, but sometimes it gets passed on, so you may have to contact someone else in this list.
• US Senate - Select your state from a pull-down menu and then click on the e-mail or Web form link of the senator you wish to contact.
• Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation - This Senate committee handles all proposed legislation, messages, petitions, memorials and other matters relating to communications, among other things.
• Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources - This Senate committee's purview includes energy resources and development, including regulation, conservation, etc.
• US House of Representatives - You will need to know your Zip Code +4 to find your representative. If you know your congressperson's name, you can select him or her from a pull-down menu.
• Select Committee on Homeland Security - This House of Representatives committee oversees a lot of areas that touch Amateur Radio.
• House Committee on Energy and Commerce - This committee has principal responsibility for legislative oversight related to most areas of commerce, including telecommunications.
• House Committee on Science - This committee has jurisdiction over all non-defense federal scientific research and development (R&D), which includes agencies like the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Department of Energy (DOE), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
• House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure - This committee is another one that oversees a lot of areas that touch Amateur Radio.
• Department of Homeland Security - I searched for "Amateur Radio" at this department's Web site and the search engine came back with 70 hits.
• Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), FEMA Regional Offices - Here you will find mailing addresses; go to the FEMA Contacts/Feedback page for e-mail access.
• NOAA - National Weather Service - Their Contact Us page has a bunch of links related what they do regarding weather.
This list represents just the tip of the iceberg known as the "federal government," but it is a good place to start when contacting its various branches, departments and committees about Amateur Radio. Another Web place to go is FirstGov (http://www.firstgov.gov/), which is the "official U.S. gateway to all government information and is a catalyst for a growing electronic government."
Until next time, keep on surfin'.
Editor's note: Stan Horzepa, WA1LOU, resides in downtown Wolcott, Connecticut, and has been a QST writer for over 25 years. Since getting his ticket in 1969, Stan has sampled nearly every entrée in the Amateur Radio menu (including a stint as Connecticut Section Manager), but he keeps coming back to his favorite preoccupations: VHF and packet radio. As a result, he runs a 2-meter APRS digipeater and weather station (WA1LOU-15) from his mountaintop location in central Connecticut. Stan, a long time advocate of using computers with Amateur Radio, wrote programs to dupe contests and calculate antenna bearings way back in 1978. Today, he is on the board of directors of Tucson Amateur Packet Radio (TAPR) and uses his Mac to surf the Internet searching for that perfect ham radio Web page. To contact Stan, send e-mail to wa1lou@arrl.net.
| Previous: The Amateur Amateur: Saturday in the Park with Ray (Part I) | Next: The K7RA Solar Update |
