Rep Greg Walden, W7EQI (R-OR).
NEWINGTON, CT, Apr 27, 2004--The only Amateur Radio licensees in the US Congress--Rep Greg Walden, W7EQI (R-OR), and Rep Mike Ross, WD5DVR (D-AR), have written FCC Chairman Michael K. Powell to urge adoption of the ARRL's restructuring Petition for Rule Making (RM-10867) "in its entirety" along with rules changes needed to put it into place.
Rep Greg Walden, W7EQI (R-OR). |
"We believe that this plan will encourage the development, refinement and use of new technologies; increase the number of young people involved in Amateur Radio; and provide incentives for Amateur Radio licensees to pursue technical self-training and opportunities for volunteerism in the best traditions of our country," said Walden and Ross. "We urge you to support the ARRL's restructuring plan and to implement it rapidly."
The FCC now is considering a total of nearly 1300 comments
filed on the League's restructuring plan and on two other similar petitions--one
from a group called the Radio Amateur Foundation, RM-10868, (Part
1) (Part
2) and the other from the National Conference of Volunteer Examiner
Coordinators, RM-10870.
A fourth petition from Ronald D.
Lowrance, K4SX, RM-10869,
dealt solely with the Amateur Radio Morse code requirement. It attracted more
than 200 comments before the April 23 comment deadline.
 Rep Mike Ross, WD5DVR (D-AR). |
Walden and Ross noted that the League submitted its most recent petition because the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau had not completed its earlier restructuring effort begun in 1999 in WT Docket 98-143. Among the aims of the resulting FCC Report and Order, which became effective April 15, 2000, were to simplify, streamline and enhance the Amateur Radio license structure and foster integration of new technologies into daily amateur operation.
The ARRL plan proposes a new entry-level Amateur Radio license--being called "Novice" for now--that would include HF privileges without requiring a Morse code exam, consolidate the current six license classes into three and retain a 5 WPM Morse test only for Amateur Extra class applicants. It also would integrate current Technician licensees into General and current Advanced licensees into Amateur Extra without additional testing.
"The ARRL's license restructuring plan, once implemented, will complete the Commission's plan, initiated in 1998, and will provide a blueprint for licensing well into the next decade," Walden and Ross said. The League's plan "is needed right now to promote greater growth of the healthy, exciting and rewarding intellectual pursuit of Amateur Radio."
Walden and Ross invited Powell to share his thoughts on the matter.
Walden, a broadcaster, is a member of the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet. He and Ross are among the 34 cosponsors of The Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Consistency Act of 2003, HR 1478. The so-called "CC&R bill" would require private land-use regulators such as homeowners' associations to "reasonably accommodate" Amateur Radio antennas consistent with the PRB-1 limited federal preemption.
Walden and Ross also are among the 97 cosponsors of HR 713, the
Amateur Radio Spectrum Protection Act of 2003. That measure would provide "equivalent
replacement spectrum" to Amateur Radio if the FCC reallocates primary amateur
frequencies, reduces any secondary amateur allocations, or makes additional
allocations within such bands that would substantially reduce their utility to
amateurs. Both bills are ARRL initiatives.
 Previous: ARRL Calls on White House to Withdraw Support for BPL |  Next: The Amateur Amateur: Wake Me Before the Disaster Starts |