[CW] Amateur Radio Parity Act Receives Favorable House Energy and Commerce Committee Report

[D.J.J. Ring, Jr.]

This is important for some of us.
BT

Amateur Radio Parity Act Receives Favorable House Energy and Commerce
Committee Report

An amended version
<http://www.arrl.org/files/file/Regulatory/ParityAct-SubstituteBill-Official-2016.pdf>
of
the Amateur Radio Parity Act, H.R. 1301
<https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/1301/text>,
received a unanimous favorable report on July 13 from members of the US
House Energy and Commerce Committee. The bill now will go to the full House
for consideration. Before reporting the bill out of committee, the panel
first voted to accept the amended language, "in the nature of a
substitute." Rep Greg Walden, W7EQI (R-OR), who chairs the Energy and
Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, said
the substitute bill represented "a good balance" that came in the wake of
months of meetings, hard work, and compromise, and he recommended the
measure to his colleagues.

"The amendment guarantees that even in deed-restricted communities, Amateur
Radio operators are able to use an effective outdoor antenna," Walden said.
"Without an effective antenna Amateur Radio operators are severely limited,
so this amendment ensures that amateurs are free to pursue their passion
wherever they live."

At the same time, he continued, the measure protects the rights of those
"who have chosen to live in deed-restricted communities and to set their
own aesthetic and other rules."

In early June, the ARRL and the Community Associations Institute (CAI
<https://www.caionline.org/>) -- the national association of homeowners
associations (HOAs) -- announced that they had reached consensus on
substitute language for HR 1301 in an effort to move it through committee
and to overcome objections to the companion US Senate bill, S 1685
<https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/senate-bill/1685/text>. The
offices of US Representatives Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), the bill's sponsor,
Anna Eshoo (D-CA), and Walden mediated and offered assistance.

"While it's rare to have two groups with opposing viewpoints walk away from
legislation happy, by golly, I think we've done it here," Walden concluded.
He said the substitute bill represented "the best of what our committee can
do when we work together in bipartisan compromise that meets the needs of
all parties involved."

In her remarks, Eshoo said she was glad that an agreement had been reached
on the bill's language, which she initially feared would violate the rights
of homeowners associations. "We found a balance that works for all
stakeholders," she said, calling the ARRL and CAI "the bookends of the
effort."

Kinzinger called the amended bill "a good amendment that strikes the right
balance."
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