II

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. J. RES. 90

To recognize the achievements of radio amateurs, and to establish support

for such amateurs as national policy.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MAY 7 (legislative day, APRIL 19), 1993

Mr. ROBB (for himself, Mr. AKAKA, Mr. DECONCINI, Mr. PRESSLER, and Mr.

SHELBY) introduced the following joint resolution; which was read twice

and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

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;
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•SJ 90 IS

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) 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
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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,

3 SECTION 1. FINDINGS AND DECLARATIONS OF CONGRESS.

4 Congress finds and declares that—

5 (1) radio amateurs are hereby commended for

6 their contributions to technical progress in elec7 tronics, and for their emergency radio communica8 tions in times of disaster;

9 (2) the Federal Communications Commission is

10 urged to continue and enhance the development of

11 the amateur radio service as a public benefit by

12 adopting rules and regulations which encourage the

13 use of new technologies within the amateur radio

14 service; and

15 (3) reasonable accommodation should be made

16 for the effective operation of amateur radio from

17 residences, private vehicles and public areas, and

18 that regulation at all levels of government should fa19 cilitate and encourage amateur radio operation as a

20 public benefit.

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