[ETS/PARC List] FW: ARLB042 ARRL Calls on Members to Press for US Senate Passage of Amateur Radio Parity Act

[Drew Moore]

Subject: ARLB042 ARRL Calls on Members to Press for US Senate Passage of
Amateur Radio Parity Act

SB QST @ ARL $ARLB042
ARLB042 ARRL Calls on Members to Press for US Senate Passage of Amateur
Radio Parity Act

ZCZC AG42
QST de W1AW
ARRL Bulletin 42  ARLB042
>From ARRL Headquarters
Newington CT  November 17, 2016
To all radio amateurs 

SB QST ARL ARLB042
ARLB042 ARRL Calls on Members to Press for US Senate Passage of Amateur
Radio Parity Act

ARRL once again is calling on its members to urge their US Senators to
support the Amateur Radio Parity Act (H.R. 1301) when it comes up in the
Senate during the "lame duck" session of Congress that adjourns in
mid-December. The House of Representatives approved the bill in September,
but if the Senate does not follow suit, the bill will die, and the entire
process will have to be repeated. ARRL Hudson Division Director Mike
Lisenco, N2YBB, who chairs the ARRL Board's Legislative Advocacy Committee
and has been heavily involved in efforts to move H.R. 1301 forward, said
today, "The clock is ticking."

"We begin the e-mail campaign once again, as the US Senate returns to work
this week after a month-long hiatus," Lisenco said. "We were just beginning
to build momentum in the Senate following the unanimous passage of the
Parity Act in the House when Congress shut down for the 4 weeks prior to
Election Day."

The task is simple: Go to our Rally Congress page, enter your ZIP code, fill
in your name and address, press enter, and e-mails will go directly to your
Senators. Members may do this, even if they have already contacted their US
Senators for support.

Our Rally Congress page is at, https://arrl.rallycongress.net/ .

"We have to remind our legislators that we are still here and that we need
the Amateur Radio Parity Act to become law," Lisenco stressed. "We must to
do this now as we have, at most, only 4 weeks left in the session to get the
bill passed this year.  Otherwise, we will have to begin the entire process
in 2017 with a new 115th Congress."

There are no guarantees, Lisenco said, and we are subject to the political
bickering that goes on daily between the parties, despite the fact that the
bill is truly a bipartisan effort. "In order to have a chance at overcoming
political obstacles that have little or nothing to do with the legislation,
we need our voices to be heard,"
he said. "And we need that input today."

September's victory in the US House was the culmination of many years of
effort on ARRL's part to gain legislation that would enable radio amateurs
living in deed-restricted communities to erect efficient outdoor antennas
that support Amateur Radio communication.
The measure calls on the FCC to amend its Part 97 rules "to prohibit the
application to amateur stations of certain private land-use restrictions,
and for other purposes." While similar bills in past years gained some
traction on Capitol Hill, it was not until the overwhelming grassroots
support from the Amateur Radio community for H.R. 1301, and ARRL's
relentless and strident efforts on Capitol Hill that this bill made it this
far.

As the amended bill provides, "Community associations should fairly
administer private land-use regulations in the interest of their
communities, while nevertheless permitting the installation and maintenance
of effective outdoor Amateur Radio antennas. There exist antenna designs and
installations that can be consistent with the aesthetics and physical
characteristics of land and structures in community associations while
accommodating communications in the Amateur Radio services."
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