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- JOINT RESOLUTION S.J.Res. 90 & H.J.Res.199
-
- To recognize achievements of radio amateurs, and to establish
- support for such amateurs as National Policy
-
- WHEREAS, Congress has expressed its determination in section 1 of the
- Communications Act of 1934 [47 U.S.C. 151] to promote safety of life
- and property through the use of radio communication;
-
- WHEREAS, Congress, in section 7 of the Communications Act [47 U.S.C. 157],
- has established a policy to encourage the provision of new technologies
- and services;
-
- WHEREAS, Congress, in section 3 of the Communications Act of 1934, defined
- radio stations to include amateur stations operated by persons interested
- in radio technique without pecuniary interest;
-
- WHEREAS, the Federal Communications Commission has created an effective
- regulatory framework through which the amateur radio service has been able
- to achieve the goals of the service;
-
- WHEREAS, these regulations, set forth in part 97, of title 47 of the Code
- of Federal Regulations, clarify and extend the purposes of the Amateur Radio
- Service as a --
- (1) voluntary noncommercial communication service particularly with
- respect to providing emergency communications;
- (2) as a contributing service to the advancement of the
- telecommunications infrastructure;
- (3) as a service which encourages improvement of an individual's
- technical and operating skills;
- (4) as a service providing a national reservoir of trained operators,
- technicians and electronics experts; and
- (5) as a service enhancing international good will;
-
- WHEREAS, Congress finds that members of the amateur radio service community
- has provided invaluable emergency communications services following such
- disasters as Hurricanes Hugo, Andrew and Iniki, the Mt. St. Helens eruption,
- the Loma Prieta earthquake, tornadoes, floods, wild fires and industrial
- accidents in great number and variety across the Nation; and
-
- WHEREAS, Congress finds that the amateur radio service has made a contribution
- to our nation's communications by its crafting, in 1961, of the first earth
- satellite licensed by the Federal Communications Commission, by its proof-of-
- concept for search and rescue satellites, by its continued exploration of
- the low earth orbit in particular pointing the way to commercial use thereof
- in the 1990s, by its pioneering of communications using reflections from
- meteor trails, a technique now used for certain government and commercial
- communications, and by its leading role in development of low-cost, practical
- data transmission by radio which increasingly is being put to extensive use
- in, for instance, the land mobile service:
-
- Now, therefore, be it
- Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States
- of America in Congress assembled,
-
- SECTION 1. FINDINGS AND DECLARATIONS OF CONGRESS.
- Congress finds and declares that --
- (1) radio amateurs are hereby commended for their contributions to
- technical progress in electronics, and for their emergency radio communications
- in times of disaster;
- (2) the Federal Communications Commission is urged to continue and
- enhance the development of the amateur radio service as a public benefit by
- adopting rules and regulations which encourage the use of new technologies
- within the amateur radio service; and
- (3) reasonable accommodation should be made for the effective operation
- of amateur radio from residences, private vehicles and public areas, and that
- regulation at all levels of government facilitate and encourage amateur radio
- operation as a public benefit.
-