Dayton Hamvention: "Generate Some Heat" to Spur Political Action

ARRL EXPO 2005 has been a focal point of activity for many Hamvention visitors.

Demand to use the computers at the ARRL Internet Café has been so high that a 10-minute user limit had to be imposed.

ARRL Hudson Division Director Frank Fallon, N2FF, exhorts those attending the ARRL Grassroots Lobbying forum to get politically involved in issues of importance to ham radio.

ARRL President Jim Haynie, W5JBP, has urged ARRL members to contact their US representatives to cosponsor HRes 230 and support it when it reaches the floor of the House. A sample letter is available, although members are encouraged to express their support in their own words. If you're not sure who represents your congressional district, visit the United States House of Representatives Web site. To expedite delivery, send all correspondence bound for Members of Congress--preferably as an attachment--to hres230@arrl.org or fax it to 703-684-7594. The ARRL will bundle correspondence addressed to each Member of Congress for hand delivery.

ARRL Great Lakes Director Jim Weaver, K8JE.

ARRL Northern New Jersey Section Manager Bill Hudzik, W2UDT.

Invited guests at an ARRL donor appreciation reception May 19 at Wright State University got a sneak preview of the League's newest promotional video, "ARRL Goes to Washington." Onscreen: ARRL President Jim Haynie, W5JBP (left), chats with US Rep Mike Ross, WD5DVR, in Ross's Washington office.

DAYTON, OH, May 20, 2005--Amateur Radio licensees need to start taking personal responsibility for prodding politicians to pay attention to hot-button issues affecting the service, a Dayton Hamvention forum was told today. Dayton Hamvention, which is playing host to the 2005 ARRL National Convention, has been drawing a large and enthusiastic opening-day crowd despite foggy conditions, overcast skies and cool temperatures. Thunderstorms rolled through the area Thursday evening. ARRL Hudson Division Director Frank Fallon, N2FF, told the League's Grassroots Lobbying Forum that when it comes to Congress, individual radio amateurs can help shape their own future.

"Political lobbying is something people don't really want to hear about," Fallon conceded. "But politics controls everything we get." Fallon used the broadband over power line (BPL) proceeding as an example of how politics can overcome logical, technical argument. Fallon heads up the League's nascent grassroots lobbying initiative with assistance from Great Lakes Director Jim Weaver, K8JE, and Northern New Jersey ARRL Section Manager Bill Hudzik, W2UDT.

Fallon focused a lot of his remarks on a US House of Representatives resolution, HRes 230, sponsored by Arkansas Rep Mike Ross, WD5DVR, and introduced earlier this year. The resolution calls on the FCC to "conduct a full and complete analysis" of BPL radio interference potential incorporating "extensive public review and comment," and--in light of that analysis--to "reconsider and review" the BPL rules it adopted last October. If approved by the full House, the non-binding resolution would express the requests as "the sense of the House of Representatives." The job at this point is to get cosponsors for the resolution and see it pass the House, and that won't happen "unless we can generate some heat," Fallon said.

"So, if we are hanging out in the basement and doing nothing but building rigs and working DX, we're going to be victims" of the political process, Fallon told his audience. He explained that ARRL, as a nonprofit IRS Section 501(c)(3) organization, must adhere to strict limitations on its lobbying activities. It cannot endorse political candidates or contribute to political campaigns, he explained. "You can," he pointed out. "We can't."

Fallon said ARRL members need to get very vocal about legislative issues of importance to Amateur Radio. One way to do that is by visiting, writing, e-mailing or faxing their US representatives or US senators. "Your letters, e-mails and visits to district offices give us entrée to legislators in Washington," he said. "It won't happen without your help." Personal visits to lawmakers at their district offices, he said, help to "put a face on ham radio" for politicians.

The grassroots lobbying effort now being going into place will work from the ARRL Division level through a Division Legislative Action Chair, then down to a State Legislative Action Coordinator, who will have help from Legislative Action Coordinator Assistants. The focus will be on measures that deal with FCC matters, because Congress oversees the Commission.

Noting that the League already spends upward of $1 million on Amateur Radio "advocacy" in official Washington and on Capitol Hill, Fallon pointed out that membership involvement in lobbying at the grassroots level not only will be more effective but could save the League money.

Weaver told the gathering that grassroots lobbying is aimed at helping Amateur Radio to fashion its own future. Hudzik reiterated the important of personal involvement. "No one is entitled," he said, "even though we're federally licensees. Hudzik emphasized that radio amateurs who feel strongly about an issue affecting the service, such as BPL, can't do what they want to do if they don't know how the system works.

"The more we're seen in a positive light, the easier it will be," he concluded.

ARRL President Jim Haynie, W5JBP (right), greets donors reception guest speaker Tony England, W0ORE.

ARRL President Jim Haynie, W5JBP, makes a point during his "ARRL Goes to Washington For You" forum at Dayton Hamvention 2005.

In the "ARRL Goes to Washington for You" forum that followed, ARRL President Jim Haynie, W5JBP, continued in the same vein. Haynie debuted the ARRL's new video, "ARRL Goes to Washington," narrated by network news legend Walter Cronkite, KB2GSD.

The video, which is not yet generally available, depicts the League's more recent efforts in official Washington and on Capitol Hill to convey the importance of Amateur Radio as a national resource. Haynie and other members of League officialdom spend several weeks a year promoting visibility for Amateur Radio and the ARRL's views--as indicated by its membership--on pending legislation or FCC proceedings.

As did the grassroots forum that came before, the video--produced by Dave Bell, W6AQ, Alan Kaul, W6RCL, and Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF--also made the point that ordinary citizens must get involved and orchestrate change by getting the attention of lawmakers confronted with hundreds of constituent interests and issues.

"We've got to ratchet up our presence," Haynie said, urging more participation in the political process by individual amateurs. The ARRL can serve as the unified voice of the national association for Amateur Radio, but individual licensees also are voters, and lawmakers are quite aware that there are radio amateurs in their districts, he said.

Invitees to a reception May 19 to honor prominent League donors got a sneak preview of the "ARRL Goes to Washington" video. The showing drew a hearty round of applause and kudos to producers Bell, Kaul and Pasternak,who were on hand for the occasion.

Reception guest speaker Tony England, W0ORE--the second person to use Amateur Radio from space--told the more than 100 reception guests that the US needs to boost interest in engineering, and he sees Amateur Radio as one component in making that happen.

"It's surprising how many of my students are Amateur Radio operators," said England, who is Associate Dean for Academic Affairs for the University of Michigan College of Engineering.

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