IMPORTANT: HR 607

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Attention EMA ARRL Members:

The following is an important message from Dan Henderson, N1ND, Regulatory Information Manager at ARRL Headquarters:

“As you may have read, Rep. Peter King (R-NY) has introduced the ‘Broadband for First Responders Act of 2011’ and the bill has been assigned HR 607 as its number. The full story about the Bill’s introduction can be found on the ARRL web at

http://www.arrl.org/news/spectrum-management-bill-threatens-amateur-frequencies

As you will read, while the ARRL supports spectrum for the Public Safety needs, we oppose HR 607 in its current form because of the inclusion of the 420-440 MHz spectrum (most of the Amateur 70-cm UHF allocation) as part of a spectrum swap.

At the request of ARRL President Kay Craigie, N3KN, we are asking ARRL members to contact their local Representative asking them to oppose HR 607 in its current form. Members should be directed to http://www.arrl.org/sample-letters for resources tools to assist them in their letter writing. These include:

 

  • A sample letter opposing HR 607 in its current form
  • A link to the ARRL Webpage that gives the ARRL member the contact information for their Members of Congress
  • A link to information sending their letters to our Washington lobbyist to hand-deliver to Capitol Hill

A couple of key points to remember when discussing our opposition to HR 607:

  • We understand and support the principle that Public Safety and First responders should have the D-Block frequencies.
  • Our opposition to the bill stems from the inclusion of the 420-440 MHZ Amateur allocation as part of the proposed “frequency swap”.

Time is of the essence on this request, as the bill is gathering steam in Congress. So please make your membership contacts as soon as possible. Finally, please include my address n1nd@arrl.org in what you distribute to the ARRL membership (for our records here at HQ.)

Thanks for stepping up to the plate to assist with the direct threat to our Amateur Radio spectrum. What you bring to the table helps us keep this ship heading in the right direction. Please contact me if you have any problems or questions with this request.

73

Dan Henderson, N1ND
Regulatory Information Manager
ARRL, the national association for Amateur Radio(tm)
860-594-0236
dhenderson@arrl.org

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