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 Previous: The K7RA Solar Update |  Next: No-Solder CPO a Hit for Kalamazoo Club and Big Project Kids |
By Stan Horzepa, WA1LOU
Contributing Editor
February 13, 2004
This week, we get political when we visit a Web site dedicated to persuading our elected representatives in Washington to support Amateur Radio.
Most hams agree that politics and ham radio don't usually mix. Discussions on the whereabouts of weapons of mass destruction should be eschewed on 80 meters, as well as 2 meters. However, sometimes politics and ham radio do mix, especially when the politics can affect the existence of ham radio.
 The Grassroots Lobbying in Support of Amateur Radio Web site simplifies the task of writing to your representatives in Washington to support ham radio. |
Tom Coates, N3IJ, built the Grassroots Lobbying in Support of Amateur Radio Web site to make it as easy as possible to write to your Congress people to support two bills that boost Amateur Radio. N3IJ is an experienced systems analyst with a brand-new MS in Information Systems from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Tom says this Web site is what resulted when he decided to take a systems approach to the development of a grassroots lobbying campaign. On the air, Tom enjoys operating with spectrum-efficient PSK-31.
One bill, the "CC&R Bill," deals with regulation of antennas and antenna supports by community associations through covenants, codes and restrictions. In 1985, the FCC's PRB-1 required local governments to "accommodate reasonably" amateur antennas, and this bill extends that requirement to community associations. The other bill, the "Spectrum Protection Bill," would require the FCC to provide equivalent replacement spectrum if the FCC alters our existing spectrum assignments in such a way as to reduce their utility.
The Web site was inspired by something ARRL President, Jim Haynie, W5JBP, said last October, "Neither one of these bills is ever going to see the light of day unless we get more cosponsors." Our job is to get more cosponsors and this Web site take the pain out of accomplishing that task.
There are links to find your Congressperson's mailing address. Another link shows you how to format your letter. Still another link describes what to include and not include in your letter. In addition to writing individual letters, there is information on the strategy of using a petition to persuade your representative to cosponsor the bill(s).
By the way, to find out if your representative is already a cosponsor, click on the House and Senate links near the top of the home page, then click on the Cosponsors link. Now stop reading this and start writing that letter.
Until next time, keep on surfin'
Editor's note: Don't ever get Stan Horzepa, WA1LOU, started on politics, but feel free to
write him about ham radio at wa1lou@arrl.net.
| Previous: The K7RA Solar Update | Next: No-Solder CPO a Hit for Kalamazoo Club and Big Project Kids |
