103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. J. RES. 90

JOINT RESOLUTION

To recognize the achievements of radio amateurs,

national policy.and to establish support for such amateurs as
103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. J. RES. 90

JOINT RESOLUTION

To recognize the 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

of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 157), 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;
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SJ 90 ES

(2) contributing service to the advancement of the

telecommunications infrastructure;

(3) service which encourages improvement of an individual’s technical and operating skills;

(4) service providing a national reservoir of trained

operators, technicians and electronics experts; and

(5) 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

1 Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives

2 of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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SJ 90 ES

1 SECTION 1. FINDINGS AND DECLARATIONS OF CONGRESS.

2 Congress finds and declares that—

3 (1) radio amateurs are hereby commended for

4 their contributions to technical progress in elec5 tronics, and for their emergency radio communica6 tions in times of disaster;

7 (2) the Federal Communications Commission is

8 urged to continue and enhance the development of

9 the amateur radio service as a public benefit by

10 adopting rules and regulations which encourage the

11 use of new technologies within the amateur radio

12 service; and

13 (3) reasonable accommodation should be made

14 for the effective operation of amateur radio from

15 residences, private vehicles and public areas, and

16 that regulation at all levels of government should fa17 cilitate and encourage amateur radio operation as a

18 public benefit.

Passed the Senate October 6 (legislative day, September 12), 1994.

Attest:

Secretary.