[AReU] H.Res. 230

[Robert Haynes]

Please consider acting upon this request from ARRL
I reworded the letter and mailed it to Rep. Bilarakis, 
I faxed a copy of the letter to Eric Heis, 
and I also sent a reworded fax memo to Rep. Bilarakis.  

It would be awful if we ever lost the use of the lowbands.  

I sure don't need a 900 foot clothesline, way up too high to reach!

73,
Bob WB4AKA

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "ARRL Web site" <memberlist at www.arrl.org>
To: <rhaynes5 at tampabay.rr.com>
Sent: Friday, February 10, 2006 1:08 AM
Subject: To ARRL Members in FL 9th District re H.Res. 230


> To ARRL Members in the 9th Congressional District of Florida:
> 
> I am writing to ask for your help.
> 
> As one part of our efforts to combat the interference potential of
> broadband over power lines (BPL), the ARRL is supporting House
> Resolution 230. H. Res. 230 (note that it is not abbreviated H.R. 230)
> was introduced last April by Congressman Mike Ross, WD5DVR of Arkansas.
> It expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the FCC
> should reconsider and revise its rules for BPL "based on a
> comprehensive evaluation of the interference potential of those systems
> to public safety services and other licensed radio services."
> 
> Your Congressman, Mike Bilirakis, is a member of House Subcommittee on
> Telecommunications and the Internet. He will play a role in deciding
> whether H. Res. 230 will be considered. Therefore, it is especially
> important that ARRL members in the 9th District contact Rep. Bilirakis
> to ask for his support.
> 
> This is also a good opportunity to thank Rep. Bilirakis for his past
> support of Amateur Radio. He has been the principal sponsor of the
> Amateur Radio Spectrum Protection Act, currently H.R. 691, in several
> successive Congresses and has announced his retirement at the end of
> the current term in January 2007.
> 
> Please use the sample letter, below, as a starting point for your own
> letter. Send it to Rep. Bilirakis with a copy to the ARRL's Government
> Relations firm:
> 
> Attention: Eric Heis, KI4NFC
> Chwat & Company, Inc.
> 625 Slaters Lane, Suite 103
> Alexandria, VA 22314
> Fax (703) 684-7594
> eric.heis at chwatco.com
> 
> It is preferable to send your letter by fax or mail. Email does not get
> much attention on Capitol Hill. However, if neither of these options is
> available and you must send your letter by email, visit
> http://www.house.gov/writerep/ and follow the instructions. You can use
> copy-and-paste to insert the text of your message in the appropriate
> place. If you use this option please be sure to keep a copy of what you
> send and forward it (with your name and address included) to Eric Heis
> at Chwat & Company. This is very important, because we will be
> hand-carrying copies of all letters received to Congressman Bilirakis's
> office. If you send a copy to Eric Heis at the above address you can be
> certain that it will be delivered.
> 
> You can find more background information about BPL at www.arrl.org/bpl
> and more information about our legislative efforts, including more
> detail about H. Res. 230, at www.arrl.org/govrelations. If you have any
> comments or questions, please do not hit "reply" but email me at
> w4rh at arrl.org. 
> 
> Thanks in advance for your help! Together, ARRL members can get
> Congress on our side in the BPL battle.
> 
> 73,
> 
> Frank Butler, W4RH
> Director, Southeastern Division
> 
> P.S. ARRL representatives will be setting up a meeting with Rep.
> Bilirakis's staff in the next couple of weeks. Please send your letter
> today!
> 
> 
> SAMPLE LETTER TO CONGRESSMAN BILIRAKIS
> 
> 
> [DATE]
> 
> Rep. Michael Bilirakis
> U.S. House of Representatives
> 2408 Rayburn HOB
> Washington, DC 20515
> 
> [FAX (202) 225-4085]
> 
> Dear Rep. Bilirakis:
> 
> As one of more than 1,400 federally licensed Amateur Radio operators in
> the 9th District and as a member of ARRL -- the national association
> for Amateur Radio, I ask you to join your colleagues who have
> co-sponsored House Resolution 230. This resolution urges the Federal
> Communications Commission (FCC) to conduct a comprehensive evaluation
> of the potential of "broadband over power line" (BPL) systems to
> interfere with public safety and other licensed radio services.
> 
> BPL utilizes electric power lines to serve as the conductors of the
> broadband signals. Unfortunately, because the power lines are not
> shielded, they also act as antennas and radiate the signals into the
> air. These radiated signals will interfere with radio receivers tuned
> to the same frequency range. BPL has only been deployed to a very
> limited extent, but Amateur Radio already is experiencing severe BPL
> interference that the FCC has been unable or unwilling to correct.
> Unlike BPL, other methods of providing broadband Internet services to
> consumers, such as cable, DSL, wireless and Fiber to the Home, do not
> pollute the radio spectrum.
> 
> The FCC continues to resist growing evidence that its rules are
> inadequate to protect radiocommunication systems, including those used
> by First Responders, from radio spectrum pollution caused by BPL
> systems.  The FCC needs to objectively and carefully review this
> evidence and adopt rules that will keep interference from BPL within
> reasonable bounds.  Unfortunately, not only has the FCC shown no
> inclination to do that, the agency is even failing to enforce its rules
> in specific instances where harmful interference is present such as in
> Manassas, Virginia and Briarcliff Manor, New York.
> 
> No one understands the importance of reliable communications during and
> after natural disasters better than we do here in Florida. Because
> radio amateurs need no infrastructure in order to communicate with one
> another, the Amateur Radio Service is the only 100-percent fail-safe
> emergency communication capability in the world. Interference from BPL
> emissions will significantly disrupt this capability. Please cosponsor
> H. Res. 230 as soon as possible to express your concern over the
> interference potential of BPL to Amateur Radio operators and to public
> safety licensees.
> 
> Thank you for your consistent support of the Amateur Radio Service
> through the years, and especially for your sponsorship of the Amateur
> Radio Spectrum Protection Act, H.R. 691. You will be greatly missed by
> the nation's radio amateurs when you retire from the House.
> 
> [NAME]
> [ADDRESS]
> [CITY], FL [ZIP]
> [Email address and telephone number (optional)]
> 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------
> ARRL Southeastern Division
> Director: Frank Butler, W4RH
> w4rh at arrl.org
> --------------------------------------------------------------------
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