The FCC turns 70!
June 24, 2004 -- The Federal Communications
Commission (FCC), the agency that regulates the Amateur Radio
Service, turns 70 years old on Thursday, July 1--the effective date of The Communications Act of 1934.
Passed by Congress on June 19 of that year, the Act established the FCC as an
independent US government agency. Although amended since, the Act (333 pages
long) remains in effect today and establishes the authority of the FCC to,
among other things, issue license grants. It also spells out the official
definition of an amateur station: "The term 'amateur station' means a radio
station operated by a duly authorized person interested in radio technique
solely with a personal aim and without pecuniary interest."
Upon its creation,
the FCC directly inherited the personnel, funds and records of the Federal
Radio Commission, then just seven years old, which had shared regulatory duties
with the Department of Commerce and the Interstate Commerce Commission.
Directly responsible to Congress and charged with regulating interstate and
international communications by radio, television, wire, satellite and cable,
today's FCC jurisdiction covers all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and US
possessions. When the FCC came into being in 1934, QST expended surprisingly little ink announcing the regime
change to the Amateur Radio community. "The radio part of the law is almost
exactly the same as before, and there is no change in any amateur regulation,"
said a short article in the August 1934 issue. "The League kept in close touch with
this legislation as it progressed, and is assured that nothing in the new law
adversely affects Amateur Radio." Most of the significant changes the
Communications Act of 1934 introduced affected broadcasting.
The original FCC
was authorized to have seven members and up to three divisions. Today's FCC has
five members--all appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate--and
six bureaus.
Page last modified: 08:27 AM, 28 Jun 2004 ET
Page author: awextra@arrl.org
Copyright © 2004, American Radio Relay League, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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