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INTERNATIONAL RECIPROCITY F O R ^ .- <

AMATEUR RADIO OPERATORS

Storage

H E A R I N G

BEFORE THE

COMMITTEE ON

INT ERS TATE AND FOR EIGN COMMERCE 

HOUSE OE REPRESE NTATIVE S

EIGH TY -EIG HT H CONG RESS

SECOND SESSION

ON

H .R . 7309, H .R . 9035, S. 920

BIL LS TO AMEN D SE CT IO NS 303 AN D 310 OF TH E CO MMU NICA TI ONS AC T O F 1034, AS AM EN DE D, TO PR OV ID E THAT T H E 

FED ER A L CO MMUN ICAT IONS CO MMISSION MAY, IF IT FIN D S 

THA T T H E PU B L IC IN TEREST, CO NVE NIE NC E, OR N ECESSIT Y 

MAY BE SE RV ED, IS SU E AUTHORIZ ATIO NS, BUT NOT L ICEN SE S, FO R A LIE N AMAT EU R RA DIO OPE RATO RS TO 

O PE RA TE T H E IR AM AT EU R RADIO ST ATI ONS IN TH E U N IT ED 

ST AT ES , IT S PO SS ES SI ONS. AN D T H E CO MMON WEA LT H OF 

PU ERTO RIC O PR OV ID ED T H E R E IS IN E F F E C T A B IL A TERA L 

AGREEM EN T BETW EEN T H E U NIT ED ST ATE S AN D T H E 

A LIE N ’S GO VER NMEN T FO R SU CH OPE RA TIO N BY U N IT ED 

STA TES AM AT EU RS ON A RECIP RO CA L BASI S

FE BRUARY 20, 1904

P ri nte d fo r th e us e of th e 

Com m ittee on In te rs ta te and Fore ig n Co mm erc e

S1-4W

C.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

WASHINGTON : 1964
*1

CO MMITTE E ON IN T ER ST A T E AN D FO REIG N CO MM ERCE

OR EN H A R RIS , A rk an sa s, C hair m an

JO H N BELL WILLIAM S, M is siss ip pi

KENNETH A. RO BE RT S, A la ba m a

HAR LE Y O. STAG GERS, W es t V ir gin ia

W ALTE R ROGERS, Tex as

SA MUE L N. FR IE DEL, M ar yl an d

TORBERT II. MACDON ALD, M ass ac huse tt s

JO H N JARM AN , Ok lah om a

LE O W. O’BR IE N, New York

JO H N E. MOSS , Cal ifor ni a

JO H N D. DI NG EL L, Michiga n

PAUL G. RO GE RS, Flo rida

RO BE RT W. H EM PH IL L, Sou th C ar olina

DA N RO ST EN KO WSK I, Il linois

JA M ES C. HE AL EY , New York

HO RA CE R. KOR NEGAY, N ort h C aro lina

W. R. H IL L , J k., Miss ou ri

G IL L IS W. LONG, Lou is ia na

LIONEL VAN DEERLIN, California

JO HN B. BENNETT , Michiga n 

W IL LIA M L. SP RIN GER , Il lino is 

PA UL F. SC HE NC K, Ohio 

J. ARTHUR YO UN GE R, Cal ifor ni a 

MIL TO N W. GL EN N, New Je rs ey 

SA MUE L L. DEVIN E, Ohio 

AN CHER NELS EN, M in ne so ta 

HAST IN GS K E IT H , M as sa ch us et ts 

W IL LA RD S. CU RT IN , Pen ns yl va ni a 

AB NER W. SIBA L, Con ne ct icut 

GL EN N CU NN INGH AM , Ne br as ka 

JA M ES T. BR OYHIL L, N or th Car ol in a 

DO NA LD G. BR OTZM AN , Co lor ado

W. E . W il li am so n, C le rk

K en n eth J. P ain te r, A s s is ta n t C le rk

Professional Staff

Andrew Steve nson George W. P erry

Kur t Borc har dt J am es M. Men ge r, Jr.

H
C O N T E N T S

Text of— Page

H.R. 7309_________________________________________________ 1

H.R. 9035______________________________ 2

S. 920___________________________________________________ 2

Report of—

Air Force Department______________________________________ 9

Bureau of the Budget______________________________________ 3

Federal Communications Commission__________________________ 4, 7

.Justice Department________________________________________ 9

S ta te D epart m ent_________________________________________________ 8

Statement of—

Booth, Robert M., Jr., general counsel, American Radio Relay

Le ag ue , In c______________________________________________________ 20

Cederberg, Hon. Elford A., a Representative in Congress from the

S ta te of M ichiga n______________________________________________ 12

Hoover, Herbert, Jr., president, American Radio Relay League, Inc_ 20

Huntoon, John, secretary and general manager, American Radio

Rel ay Le ague, In c________________________________________________ 20

Hyde, Hon. Rosel II., Commissioner, Federal Communications

Commission_____________________________________________ 14, 25

Additional information submitted for the record by— American Radio Relay League, statement of Raymond E. Meyers,

director, southwest division_______________________________ 2G

Br ow n. Hon. Ge org e E., le tt er fr om _________________________________ 20

Goldwater, Hon. Barry, letter from__________________________ 11

Tal co tt. Hon. B ur t L., le tt er fr om _________________________________ 20

ill

INTERNATIONAL RECIPROCITY FOR AMATEUR RADIO

OPERATORS

TH U R SD A Y , F E B R U A R Y 20 , 19 64

H ouse of R epresentatives, 

Committee on I nterstate and F oreign C ommerce.

Washington, D.C.

The committee met at 10 a.m., pursuant to call, in room 1334, 

Longworth Building, Hon. Oren Ha rris (chairman of the committee) 

presiding.

The Chairman. The committee will come to order.

This morning the committee is meeting to hold hearings on H.R . 

7309 by our colleague, Mr. Cederberg, and H.R. 9035 by our colleague 

Mr. Brown of California. These are substantially the same proposals 

as one which has already passed the Senate, S. 920, sponsored by Senator Goldwater. These bills are quite important.

(H.R, 7309, H.R. 9035, and S. 920, and departmental reports 

follow:)

[H .R . 7309, 88 th Cong., 1st se ss.]

A B IL L To am en d se ct io ns 303 an d 310 of th e Com m un icatio ns A ct of 1934, as am en de d, to pr ov id e th a t th e Fed er al Com m un ications Co mm iss ion may, if it finds th a t th e pu blic in te re st , co nv enien ce, or ne ce ss ity may be served , iss ue auth ori zati ons, but no t lic en se s, fo r al ie n am at eu r ra di o oper at ors to op er at e tlie ir am ate ur ra di o st ations in th e U ni te d S ta te s, it s po sses sio ns , an d th e Co mmon we alth of Puer to Ric o pr ov id ed th er e is in effect a bil at er al ag re em en t be tw ee n th e Uni ted S ta te s an d th e ali en ’s go ve rn m en t fo r su ch oper at io n by Uni te d S ta te s am ate u rs on a re ci pr oc al ba sis

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United Sta tes

of America in Congress assembled, That clause (1) of section 303 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 303) is amended—

(1) by inserting “ (1 )” immediately after “ (1)” ; and (2) by adding at the end of such clause the following: “ (2) Notwithstan ding section 301 of this Act and part (1) of this clause, the Commission may issue authorizations, under such conditions and term s as it may pre­ scribe, to permit an alien licensed by his government as an amateur rad io operato r to operate his amateur radio station licensed by his government in the United States, its possessions, and the Commonwealth of Pue rto Rico provided there is in effect a bilatera l agreement between the United Sta tes and the alie n’s government for such operatio n on a reciprocal basis by United States am ate ur radio operators. Other provisions of this Act and of the Adm inistrative Procedure Act shall not be applicable to any request or application for or modification, suspension, or cancellation of any such 

authorization.”

Sec. 2. Subsection (a) of section 310 of the Communications Act of 1934 is amended by adding at the end thereof the follow ing : “No twithstanding section 301 of this Act and clauses (1) and (2) of this subsection, the Commission may issue authorizations, und er such conditions and term s as it may prescribe, to permit an alien licensed by his government as an am ate ur radio opera tor to operate his am ate ur rad io station licensed by his government in the United State s, its possessions, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico provided the re is in effect a bilate ria l agreeme nt between the United States and the alien’s government for such operation on a reciprocal basis by United States am ate ur rad io operators. Oth er provisions of this Act and of the Adm inistrative Pro­ cedure Act shall not be applicable to any request or application for or modification, suspension, o r cancellation of any such a uth orization.”
2 INT ERNATIO NAL RECIP RO CIT Y FOR AMATEUR RADIO OPERATORS

[H .R. 90 35 , 88 th Cong., 1st se ss.]

A B IL L To am en d se ctions 303 and an d 310 of th e Com m un ic at io ns Ac t of 1934, as 

amended,, to prov ide th a t th e Fed er al Com m un icatio ns Co mmiss ion m ay issu e au th ori za ­

tions, but not licenses, fo r al ie n a m ate u r ra di o oper at ors to op er at e th e ir am at eu r ra di o 

st a ti o n s in th e United Sta te s, it s po ss es sion s, an d th e Co mmon wea lth of Puer to Rico 

pr ov id ed th ere i s in effect a bil ate ra l ag re em en t be tw ee n th e U ni te d S ta te s an d th e al ie n’s 

gover nm en t fo r such op er at io n by U ni te d S ta te s am ate urs on a re ci pr oc al ba sis

B e it en ac ted by th e Sen ate and H ou se of R epre se nta tive s of the Un ited

Sta te s of Amer ica in Co ngres s as se mbl ed , T h at su bs ec tio n (1) of se ction 303 of 

th e Com m un ications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 303 ) is am en de d—

(1 ) by in se rtin g “ (1 )” im m ed ia te ly a ft e r “ (1 )” ; a nd

(2 ) by ad ding a t th e en d of su ch su bs ec tio n (he fo llow in g: “ (2) Not ­

w ithst andin g se ction 301 of th is Act an d p ara g ra p h (1 ) of th is sub section , 

th e Co mm ission m ay issu e auth ori zati ons, under su ch co nd itio ns an d term s 

as it m ay pres cribe, to perm it an al ie n lic en sed by his go ve rn m en t as an 

am ate u r radi o op er at or to o p era te his am ate ur ra dio st ati on lic en sed by his 

go ve rn m en t in th e United S ta te s, it s po ssessio ns, and th e Co mmon we alth 

of P uert o Ric o prov ided th ere is in eff ect a bil ate ra l ag re em en t betw een the 

U ni te d Sta te s an d th e ali en’s gov er nm en t fo r su ch op er at io n on a re cipr oc al 

bas is by United S ta te s a m ate u r ra dio o p e ra to rs : Pr ov ided , T h at when an 

ap plica tion fo r an auth ori zati on is rec eive d by th e Co mm ission , it sh al l 

no tify th e ap pro pri at e ag en ci es of th e G ov er nm en t of su ch fa ct , an d such 

ag en ci es sh al l fo rt hw ith fu rn is h to th e Co mmiss ion su ch in fo rm at io n in 

th eir po ssessio n as bea rs up on th e co m pa tibi lity of th e re ques t w ith th e 

nati o n al secu ri ty : A nd pr ov id ed fu rt her, T h at th e re qu es te d au th or iz at io n 

m ay then be gra nte d unl es s th e Co mm iss ion sh al l de te rm in e th a t in fo rm ation rece ived fro m su ch ag en ci es nec es si ta te s den ia l of th e requ es t. Other 

pr ov isio ns of th is Ac t an d of th e A dm in is tr at iv e Pro ce dure Ac t sh all no t 

be ap pl ic ab le to an y re ques t or ap pl ic at io n fo r or mod ifi ca tio n, suspensio n, 

or ca nc el lation of any su ch a u th o ri zati o n .”

Sec. 2. Su bsec tio n (a ) of se ct io n 310 of th e Com m un ications Ac t of 1934 is 

am en de d by ad di ng a t th e en d th ere o f th e fo llow in g; “N otw ithst an din g section 

301 of th is Ac t an d para gra phs (1 ) an d (2) of th is su bs ec tio n, th e Comm ission 

may issu e au th or iz at io ns , under su ch co nd itio ns an d te rm s as it may pres cribe, 

to perm it an alie n lic ensed by h is go ve rn m en t as an am ate u r ra dio ope ra to r to 

oper at e his am ate ur ra dio sta ti o n lic en sed by hi s go ve rn m en t in th e United 

Sta te s, it s po sse ssion s, an d th e Com m on wea lth of P uert o Rico pr ov id ed th er e is 

in eff ect a bil ate ra l ag re em en t be tw ee n th e U ni ted S ta te s an d th e alien ’s go ve rn ­

m en t fo r su ch op er at io n on a re ci pro ca l ba si s by U ni ted S ta te s am ate ur ra di o 

op era to rs : Pr ov ided , T hat whe n an ap pl ic at io n fo r an auth ori zati on is rec eive d 

by th e Co mm ission , it sh al l noti fy th e ap pro pri ate ag en cies of th e Gov ernm en t 

of such fa ct , an d suc h ag en cies sh all fo rt hw ith fu rn is h to th e Co mm ission such 

in fo rm at io n in th eir po ssessio n as bears up on tin* co m pa tibi lity of th e re qu es t 

w ith th e na tional se curi ty : And pro vi de d fu rth er, T hat th e re qu es te d auth ori zatio n may th en be gra nte d un le ss th e Co mm iss ion sh al l det er m in e th a t in fo rm atio n rece iv ed from such ag en cies neces si ta te s den ia l of th e requ es t. O th er pr ov isio ns of th is Ac t an d of th e A dm in is tr ati ve P ro ce du re Ac t sh al l no t be ap plicab le 

to an y re ques t or ap pl ic at io n fo r or mod ifi ca tio n, su sp en sion , or ca nc el latio n of 

an y su ch a uth ori zati on.”

[S . 920 , 88th Cong., 1st sess.]

AN AC T To am en d se ctions 303 an d 31 0 of th e Com m un icatio ns Act of 193 4, as am ended, 

to pr ov ide th a t th e Fed er al C om m un ic at io ns Co mm iss ion m ay issu e au th ori za tions, but 

not lic en se s, fo r alien am at eu r ra dio opera to rs to op er at e th eir am at eu r ra di o st ations in 

th e U ni te d Sta te s, it s po sses sio ns , an d th e Co mmon wea lth of Puer to Ric o pr ov ided th er e 

is in effect a bilat er al ag re em en t be tw ee n th e Uni ted S ta te s an d th e ali en’s go ve rn m en t 

fo r su ch oper at io n by United S ta te s am ate urs on a re ci pr oc al ba sis

Be i t en ac ted by the Sen ate a nd H ou se of R ep re se nta tive s of th e Un ite d Sta te s

o f Amer ica in Congress as se mbl ed , T hat su bs ec tio n (1) of se ction 303 of th e 

Com m un ications A ct of 1934 ( 47 U .S.C. 303) is a m en de d—

(1 > by in se rtin g “ (1 ) ” i m m ed ia te ly a ft e r “ (1) ” ; a nd

(2 ) by ad di ng a t th e en d of su ch su bs ec tio n th e fo llow in g: “ (2 ) N otw ithst andin g section 301 of th is A ct an d para gra ph (1 ) of th is subs ec tio n, th e 

Co mmiss ion may issu e auth ori zati ons, unde r su ch co nd itio ns an d te rm s as 

it m ay pr es cribe, to perm it an alien lic en sed by his go ve rn m en t as an am a-
INTERNATIONAL RECIPROCITY FOR AMATEUR RADIO OPERATORS 3

te u r ra d io opera to r to opera te hi s am ate ur ra dio st ati on lice ns ed by his go ve rn m en t in th e U ni te d Sta te s, its po ssessio ns, an d th e Com mon wea lth of P uert o Rico prov id ed th ere is in eff ect a bil ate ra l ag re em en t between th e U ni te d S ta te s an d th e ali en’s go ve rn m en t fo r su ch opera ti on on a recii>- 

ro ca l ba sis by U ni ted S ta te s am ate u r ra dio o ji e ra to rs : Pro vide d, T h at whe n 

an ap plica tion fo r an auth ori zati on is rece ived by th e Co mm iss ion, it sh al l noti fy th e appro pri at e ag en ci es of th e Gov er nm en t of su ch fa ct, an d su ch ag en ci es sh al l fo rt hw ith fu rn is h to th e Com miss ion su ch in fo rm at io n in th e ir po ssession as bea rs uixm th e co m pa tibi lity of th e re ques t w ith th e 

nati onal se curi ty : And pr ov id ed fu rt her, T h at th e re qu es te d au th ori zati on 

may th en be g ra nte d u nl es s th e Co mm ission sh al l det er m in e th a t in fo rm at io n re ce iv ed from such ag en cies ne ce ss itat es den ia l of th e re ques t. O th er pro ­ vi si on s of th is Act an d of th e A dm in is tr at iv e Pro ce dure Act sh al l not be ap pl ic ab le to an y re ques t o r ap pl ic at io n fo r o r mod ifi ca tio n, susp en sio n, or 

can ce llat io n o f an y su ch a uth ori zati on.”

Sec. 2. Su bs ec tio n (a ) of se ct ion 310 of th e Com m un icat io ns Act of 1934 is am en de d by ad di ng a t th e en d th ere of th e fo llow in g: “N otw ithst an din g section 301 of th is Act an d para gra phs (1 ) an d (2 ) of th is su bs ec tio n, th e Co mm iss ion m ay is su e au th ori za tions, un d er su ch co nd iti on s an d te rm s a s it may pr es cr ib e, to perm it an al ie n lic en sed by his go ve rn m en t as an am ate u r ra dio oper at or to opera te hi s am ate ur ra di o st ati o n lic ensed by his gov er nm en t in th e U ni ted Sta te s, it s po ssessio ns, and th e Com mon we alth of P u ert o Rico prov ided th ere is in effect a bil ate ra l ag re em en t be tw ee n th e U ni ted S ta te s an d th e ali en’s go ve rn­ m en t fo r su ch op er at io n on a re ci pr oc al ba sis by U ni te d S ta te s am ate ur ra di o 

o p e ra to rs: Pro vide d, T h at whe n an ap pl ic at io n fo r an auth ori zati on is rece ived 

by th e Co mm iss ion , it sh al l noti fy th e appro pri ate ag en cies of th e Gov ernm en t of su ch fa ct , an d such ag en cies sh all fo rt hw ith fu rn is h to th e Co mm iss ion su ch in fo rm at io n in th eir po ssession as be ar s upon th e co m pa tibility of th e re ques t 

w ith th e nati onal se c u rit y : A nd pr ov id ed fu rt her, T h a t th e re qu es te d au th o ri ­

za tion m ay th en be gra nte d unl es s th e Co mmiss ion sh al l det er m in e th a t in fo r­ m at io n rece ived from su ch ag en ci es ne ce ss ita te s den ia l of th e re qu es t. O th er pr ov isio ns of th is Ac t an d of th e A dm in is tr at iv e P ro cedure Ac t sh al l not be ap pl ic ab le to an y re ques t or ap pl ic at io n fo r o r mod ifi ca tio n, su sp en sion , or 

can ce llat io n o f a ny su ch a uth ori zati on.” P as se d th e Sen at e Octo be r 16 (l eg isla tive d ay , Octob er 15) , 1963.

A tt e s t:

F elto n M. J oh ns to n, Se cr et ar y.

E xecutive Off ic e of th e P re sid ent,

B ure au of th e B udget. 

W ash in gt on . D .C., Feb ru ar y 6,1 964.

Ho n. Oren H arris.

Cha irman , Com m ittee on In te rsta te an d For eign C om me rce,

H ou se o f Rep re se nt at iv es , W as hi ng to n, D.C.

Dear Mr. Cha ir man : T his is in resp on se to you r re ques ts fo r th e view s of 

th e B ure au of th e Bud ge t on H.R. 7309, a bil l to am en d se ctions 303 an d 310 of th e Com m un ications Ac t of 1934, as a men de d, to pr ov id e th a t th e F ed er al Co m­ m un ic at io ns Co mm iss ion may . if it find s th a t th e pu blic in te re st , co nv enien ce, or ne ce ss ity may be se rv ed , is su e auth ori za tions, but no t lic en se s, fo r al ie n am a­ te u r ra dio op er at or s to ope ra te th eir a m ate ur ra dio st ati o n s in t he U nited Sta te s, it s po ssession s, and th e Co mmon wea lth of P uert o Ri co pr ov id ed th ere is in effect a b il ate ra l ag re em en t be tw ee n th e United S ta te s an d th e ali en’s go ve rn m en t fo r 

su ch o per at io n by U.S. am ate urs on a r ec ip ro ca l ba sis. H.R . 7309 is si m il ar to S. 920 an d wo uld am en d se ct io n 303 (w hich is co n­ ce rn ed w ith opera to rs ) and section 310 (w hi ch is co nc er ne d w ith st ati on li­ ce ns es ) of th e Com m un icat io ns Act of 1934 to perm it th e Fed er al Co mmun ica­ ti ons Co mm ission to auth ori ze alie n am ate u r ra dio opera to rs to op er at e th e ir am ate u r ra dio st ati ons in th e United Sta te s, it s po ssession s, an d th e Co mm on­ w ealth of P uer to Rico, pr ov id ed th er e is in effect a b il ate ra l ag re em en t be tw ee n th e United S ta te s an d th e alien ’s go ve rn m en t fo r su ch oper at io n by U.S. ci tize ns 

on a re ci pr oc al b as is. Ti e F edera l Com m un ic at io ns Co mm ission has fo rw ard ed to you. as a p a rt 

of i t s re po rt, a co py of it s le tt e r da te d Se pt em be r 30. 1963. to Sen at or Jo hn O. P ast u re c on ce rn in g S. 9 20, which , when in trod uc ed in th e Sen at e by Sen at or Gold-
4 INT ERN ATIONAL RECIP ROCIT Y FOR AMATEUR RADIO OPERATORS

water, was identical to I3.R. 7309. That lette r was coordinated with and concurred in by the Dep artm ents of Defense, Justice , and State, and the Central 

Intelligence Agency, as indicated.

Subject to your consideratio n of the comments and amendments (which have 

been incorporated in S. 920 as passed by the Senate) contained in the Federal 

Communications Commission’s lette r to Senator Pastore , the Bureau of the 

Budget would have no objection to enactment of H.R. 7309.

Sincerely yours,

Phil lip S. Hughes,

Assistant Director for Legislative Reference.

Federal Communications Commission,

Washington, D.C., September 6,196$.

Hon. Oren Harris,

Chairman, Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce,

House of Representatives, Washington, D.C.

Dear Chairman Harris : This is with fu rth er reference to your letter of J uly 

8. 1963, requesting the Commission’s comments on H.R. 7309, a bill to perm it the 

Commission to issue autho rizations to alien am ate urs licensed by their own 

cou ntries provided there is in effect a bilate ral agreeme nt granting reciprocal 

privileges to U.S. ama teur rad io operators.

Inasmuch as this bill is identical to S. 920, on which the Commission has 

alread y submitted a report pu rsua nt to a request from the Senate Commerce 

Committee, we wish to subm it the same report and comments in response to your 

request.

Enclosed therefore please find six copies of our rep ort on S. 920. We have 

been advised by the Burea u of the Budget th at from the standpoint of the 

adm inistration’s program, the re is no objection to the pr esentation of this repo rt 

to the Congress.

Also enclosed are six copies of the Commission’s letter of August 1, 1963, to th e 

Burea u of the Budget expressing the Commission’s views on the proposed comments of the Departments of State, Justice, and Defense on this bill.

Yours sincerely,

E. William Henry, Chairman.

Comments of the F ederal Communications Commission on S. 920

S. 920 would amend section 303 (dealing with ope rators) and section 310 

(dea ling with station licenses) to provide th at the Federal Communications 

Commission may, if it finds th at the public interest, convenience, or necessity 

may be served, issue authorization s, but not licenses, for alien amateu r radio 

operators to operate the ir am ateu r radio stations in the United States, its 

possessions, and the Commonwealth of Pue rto Rico provided there is in effect 

a bil ate ral agreem ent between the United Sta tes and the alie n’s government 

for such operation by U.S. am ate urs on a reciprocal basis. The bill also 

provides that other provisions of the Communications Act and the Adm inistrative Procedure Act will not be applicable to any request or application for or 

modification, suspension, or cancellation of any such authorization.

This Commission has no objection, in principle, to permitting operation by 

alien amateurs on a reciprocal basis. However, as Congress is aware, such 

licensing would constitute a departu re from the general concept embodied in 

the Communications Act aga inst gra nting radio station licenses or radio operat or licenses to aliens. At the present time, there are only two exceptions to 

this prohibitio n contained in sections 303(1) and 310 (a) of the Communications 

Act again st the granting of radio operator licenses and radio station licenses 

to aliens. The first was contained in a convention between the United States 

and Canada, effective May 15. 1952 (TIAS No. 2508), which perm its citizens of 

eit he r country who are station licensees to operate cer tain radio equipment, including amateur radio stations, while in the other country. The second exception results from amendments to sections 303(1) and 31 0(a), adopted in 1958 

(Public Law 85-917), which permit the licensing of cer tain alien pilots flying 

ai rc ra ft in the United States.1

1

 Sec. 310(a) of the Communications Act also provided th at noth ing in that subsection 

shall prev ent the licensing of radio apparatus on board any vessel, air cra ft, or o ther mobile 

sta tio n of the United States when such apparatus is required by law or treaty.
INTERN AT IO NA L REC IPROCI TY FOR AMAT EUR RADIO OPE RAT ORS 0

The Commission commented on a bill in the 87th Congress, S. 2361, also designed to permit alient amate urs to operate in the United States. S. 920 was apparentl y drafted in an attem pt to meet some of the factors which the Com­ mission indicated in its earli er comments should be gi\en carefu l considera­ tion if Congress determined tha t legislation permitting reciprocal authorization 

of alien amat eurs should be enacted. The Commission’s position can be summarized as follows: While the Com­ mission has received a small number of sporadic inquiries from U.S. citizens desiring to use their amateur equipment in other countries and who cannot do so because the United States does not grant reciprocity, we have no indication tha t the inter est in the matter, or its merits, considering the problems involved, would wa rra nt our active support of the measure. We do, however, have no objection in principle, should the Congress determine such legislation is in the 

public interest. One of the principal difficulties with any such proposal is the question of nation al security. The Commission’s chief concern with S. 2361 was based on the requirement tha t the Commission find tha t the national security not be endangered by such grant. At th at time, we pointed out our strong feeling t hat the Commission is not the appropriate agency to assume such responsibility. 

Our comment continued : “* * * This Commission is not staffed to make such national security findings with reference to alien applicants. There would appear to be a serious prob­ lem concerning the Commission’s ability to obtain the information necessary to carry out this sensitive task as well as our ability to evaluat e adequately whatever information is obtained. It should be noted tha t this Commission has not been given the task of making security clearances for alien applicants under the two exceptions which now exist; e.g., with respect to foreign pilots and Canadian mobile equipment. To the extent therefore tha t national security considerations are involved, we believe they should not be the responsibility of 

this Commission * * While S. 920 would not specifically place this burden upon the Commission, and while reciprocal agreements, which would likely be limited to friendly nations, might reduce the national security problem, consideration of national 

security would remain in individual cases. What the Commission would prefer—should Congress determine some legisla­ tion along this line is desirable—is that the Commission’s role in the matte r be essentially a ministerial function of registering such operators. Thus, enact­ ment of a bill by the Congress would itself be a determina tion tha t it is in the public intere st to permit the operation. The Department of State and other appropriate agencies concerned could be given the responsibility of determining with which countries reciprocal agreements would be concluded. And. of overriding importance, the Department of Justic e or other appropriate agency of Government, other than the Federal Communications Commission, should be given the statu tory obligation to undertake whatever security measures are appropria te and to report its findings and recommendations to the Commission. Under this type of procedure the Commission would then—without the neces­ sity of a public intere st finding (which, in effect, would have been made by the Congress) and without any responsibility for security determinations (which would have been accomplished by other appropriate agenc y)—perform the ministerial task of registering such individuals in the absence of any indication from the agency performing the security duties tha t registration of particu lar individuals should be denied. The Commission also could engage in such limited monitoring of such operations as proves necessary and feasible. These are essentially the same functions the Commission already performs 

under the treaty with Canada on this subject. Any such legislation should provide th at registration, renewal, or termination of registration shall be in accordance with procedures established by the Fed­ eral Communications Commission (witho ut the necessity of rulemaking) and not entitled to any substantive or procedural benefits of the Communications 

Act or the Administrative Procedure Act. As already mentioned, operation similar to tha t intended is permitted with respect to Canadian citizens in the United States by virtue of a trea ty 

which was ratified by the Senate. The main purpose of S. 920 seems to be to pave the way for some similar authorization with respect to citizens of other countries, but apparently through executive agreements not requir­ ing Senate ratification. If this is what is intended, it may be profitable, should 

31 -4 99 —64 ----- 2
6 INT ERN ATIONAL RECIP ROCIT Y FOR AMATEUR RADIO OPERATORS

Con gres s determine th at some suc h leg islation is in th e pub lic inter est, to 

exp lore the desir ab ility of a se pa ra te st at ute embodying th e en tir e stat ut or y 

scheme, and plac ing specific se cu rit y res ponsi bility ou tside the Commission.

In th e event the com mittee de term ines th at some leg islati on dealing with this 

subje ct is in the public interest, th e Commission wou ld be please d to make its. 

sta ff a va ila ble to provide such tech nica l assis tanc e as may be des ired .

F ederal Comm unications Comm ission,

Washington, D.C., August 1,196S.

Mr . P hil lip S. Hughes,

Assistant Director for Legislative Reference,

Bureau of the Budget, Washington, D.C.

Dear Mr. Hughes : Th is re fe rs to your requ est of Ju ly 26 for th e Commission’s 

view’s with respec t to the pro posed com men ts of th e De pa rtm en ts of Sta te, 

Justi ce, and Defense on S. 920, a bill to amend sections 303 and 310 of the Commu nic ati on s Act of 1934, a s amend ed, with respect to ali en am at eu r radio opera ­

tors.

Th e Com mission’s com men ts on S. 920 we re adopted by th e Comm ission on 

Ju ly 3 and sub mitted to th e Bur ea u of the Bu dget sh or tly ther ea fter . Several 

clarify ing telephone discus sions were hel d by repr es en tativ es of th e Commission 

and your staff.

We find nothing in the com ments of the Dep artm en ts of State , Justice, and 

De fen se which is inc onsisten t w ith the Com mission ’s view’s on S. 920. The Depa rtm en t of Defense ind ica tes th a t “th e Un ited St ates an d its represen tat ives 

have fre qu ently been em ba rras se d bec aus e wre ha ve den ied citize ns of othe r 

co un tries the righ t to op erate ra di os in th is co un try and hav e, at the sam e time, 

sou ght to secure for ou r citiz en s am ateu r righ ts in foreign cou ntries. The 

Un ited St ates would ap pe ar in a mo re favo rable ligh t if wre were to perm it am ate ur s of ot he r c ountries to op erate ra di o stations he re u nd er th e sam e safeg uards 

th at othe r governments app ly to foreign ers who op erate am ateu r rad ios .” The 

Commission in its com men ts notes th at it ha s received only “a small num ber of 

sporadic inq uir ies from U.S. citiz en s desir ing to use th ei r am ateu r equ ipm ent in 

othe r cou ntr ies and who ca nn ot do so because the Un ite d St ates does not gr an t 

recip rocit y” and th at “we ha ve no ind ica tio n th at th e in te re st in the matter, 

or its me rits, considerin g the pro ble ms involved, wrould w ar ra nt ou r active sup ­

po rt of the me asu re” addin g th at we have no object ion in pri nciple should Congre ss deter mi ne such leg islati on is in th e pub lic interest.

Th ese pos itions are , therefore, not necessa rily inc onsis ten t—the Defense 

Dep artm en t say ing th at bec aus e of inf ormati on available to it—it sup por ts the 

bill, an d th is Commission sa yin g its files do no t contain eviden ce of sufficient 

in te rest in the m atter to w arr ant its activ e supp ort of the bill—in view of the 

problem s involved.

Defense sug ges ts th at th e wo rds “if it [FCC ] finds th at the pub lic int erest, 

conv enience or necessity ma y be se rved ” be del eted from the title because they 

do not ap pe ar in the text of the bill. Th e Dep artm en t of Ju st ice notes th at the 

hill pro vid es for issu anc e of a ut ho riza tio ns by the Comm ission “und er such cond ition s and ter ms as it may prescribe.” It also not es th at the opening sente nce of 

section 303 prov ides “Exce pt as othe rw ise p rov ided in this chap ter , the Commission from tim e to time, as public convenience, interest, or nec essity requires, 

shall * * ♦” and suggests clarificatio n of the lan guage of the hill to avoid any 

question as to the findings re qu ire d to be mad e by the Commission.

To expand slig htly upon th e Comm ission's com ments in this rega rd—it is our 

pos itio n th at—even though w e d on ’t have i nformati on which w ar ra nt s our active 

supix irt of the bill, its e na ctm ent by the Congress would its elf be a public interest 

determ ination of the de sirabilit y to pe rm it such op erati on s un de r the conditions 

the Con gress may set forth . Be cause section 303 contain s the pub lic interest 

lan gua ge, it would seem unnecessary to include sim ila r language in either the 

tit le or text. The Commission un de r the pub lic in te re st stan da rd would, therefore , conside r any inf orm ati on in its files which wou ld be ar on wh eth er the 

req ue ste d ope ration by a pa rt ic ula r per son would s erve the p ublic i nte rest. Fo r 

example, assum ing such a st at ute an d bi la te ra l agr eem ents, it w ould be pe rti ne nt 

fo r the Commission to con sid er th at someone requ estin g such au th or ity had 

previo usl y oi>erated under such au th or ity in vio lation of Com mission rules. The 

language “und er such con dition s and terms as it [FCC1 ma y presc rib e” would 

sim ply provide us with ad di tio na l flex ibility in ta ilo ring the opera tio ns in a 

par ticu la r case to provide fo r op eration in the public interest.
INTERNATIONAL RECIPROCITY FOR AMATEUR RADIO OPERATORS 7

Ju sti ce re fe rs to it s earl ie r co mm en ts on S. 2361, 87 th Co ng ress, and co nc lude s 

th a t “in th e li ght of th e se cu ri ty co nsi de ra tions se t fo rt h in our re p o rt on 

S. 2361, it wou ld see m th a t no auth ori zati on sh ou ld he gra nte d un le ss it is 

de te rm in ed th a t th e nat io na l se cu ri ty wou ld no t be en da ng er ed th er eb y.” I t also 

ad ds , in it s S. 2361 comm ent th a t “a si de from se cu ri ty co ns id er at io ns , which 

m ig ht re m ai n su bst anti all y th e sa m e re ga rd le ss ol' w het her th e bi ll is en ac ted, 

th e s ubje ct o f th is legi slatio n is n ot a m att er fo r which th e D epar tm en t of J ust ic e 

h as p ri m ary re sp on sibi lity and ac co rd in gl y we m ak e no reco m m en da tion as 

to it s enactm ent”— th e cl ea r im pl ic at io n being th a t th e D ep art m ent of Ju st ic e 

do es h av e p ri m ary res po ns ib ility in t h e secu ri ty field.

C on st ru in g th es e tw o st at em ents to get her , we wou ld agre e an d hav e in di ca te d 

in our co mm en ts th a t “t he D epart m ent of Ju st ic e an d oth er appro pri ate agency 

of Gov ernm en t, ot he r th an th e F ed era l Com m un ications Co mm iss ion, sh ou ld be 

give n th e sta tu to ry ob lig ation to undert ake w hat ev er se cu ri ty m ea su re s are 

ap p ro p ri ate an d to re port it s find ings an d re co m m en da tion s to th e Co mm iss ion .”

I t t h u s ap p ears th a t ju st ic e an d th is Co mm ission a re bo th in sis te n t th a t w h atever le gi sl at io n may be en ac te d hav e du e re gard fo r qu es tion s of nati onal 

se cu ri ty . T he D ep ar tm en t of D ef en se also ap pea rs to en do rs e th is view whe n it 

sa ys su ch a bi ll if it pr ov ides “a dequate sa fe guar ds fo r th e nati o n al se curi ty ’r

wou ld be of n et b en efit to th e U ni te d Sta te s.

Bec au se st af f disc us sion s w ith re pre se nta ti ves of your office hav e in dic ate d 

ev en m or e explici t st at em en t of th e Co mmiss ion’s po si tion in th is re gard wou ld 

be we lco me — le t me su m m ar iz e th e Co mm iss ion view s on th e se curi ty pro ble m :

1. W hi le re ci pr oc al ag re em en ts — pr es um ab ly en te re d in to w ith th e more 

fr ie ndly nati ons— m ig ht m it ig ate se curi ty prob lems, co nsi der at io n of national 

se cu ri ty wou ld re m ai n in in div id ual ca ses es pe ci ally sinc e w e a re here de al in g 

w ith al ie ns ra th e r th an o ur ow n c itiz en s.

2. Con gr es s— if it en ac ts su ch le gis la tion sh ou ld ass ure it self th a t appro pri ate 

se cu ri ty m ea su re s will be undert aken by such ag en cies as it spe cifies .

3. The Co mmiss ion has no ex pert is e or st af f to handle se curi ty in ve st ig at io ns 

an d se cu ri ty d et er m in at io ns s ho ul d not be m ad e by t h e FC C.

4. W hi le th e Co mm iss ion wou ld pre fe r simply to re fe r th e nam es of th os e re ­

qu es ting su ch au th o ri ty to an ap p ro p ri ate se cu ri ty ag en cy an d ha ve th a t ag en cy 

te ll us w he ne ve r a re ques t sh ou ld b e denied on se cu ri ty gr ou nd s, we a re willing— 

sh ou ld Con gress so de sire —to ch ec k w ith w hat ev er se cu ri ty ag en cies Co ng res s 

de em s appro pri ate —a nd to re ce iv e in fo rm at io n a n d /o r re co m m en da tion from 

such ag en ci es be ar in g on th e se cu ri ty iss ue —which in fo rm at io n wo uld then be 

eval uate d to th e exte nt th e Co mm iss ion is ab le to do so— and a decis ion reac he d 

as to w heth er to g ra n t or d en y a re qu es t. The e ss en tial ly m in is te ri al fu nc tion of 

th e re g is tr ati o n proc ess we hav e su gg es ted sh ou ld be co ns id er ed in th is re ga rd .

The D epart m ent of S ta te ’s as su m pt io ns th a t it wo uld neg otiat e th e prop osed 

bil ate ra l ag re em en ts a ft e r appro pri ate co or di na tion w ith o th er in te re st ed U.S. 

Gov er nm en t ag en cies ac co rd s w ith ou r vie w an d th e Co mmiss ion is, of course, 

one of th e in te re st ed agencie s. T he fu rt h er as su m pt io n th a t th e co nd iti on s an d 

te rm s to be pr es cr ib ed by th e FC C wo uld re la te to te ch ni ca l ope ra ting det ai ls — 

al so su bst anti all y ac co rd s w ith our view, but th is Com miss ion under su ch 

au th o ri ty could also pre sc ribe pr oc ed ur es an d de te rm in e su ch m att ers as th e 

ge og raph ic, tech ni ca l, an d tim e l im it s fo r s uc h auth ori ty .

W hi le th is le tt er ex pa nd s so m ew ha t up on th e se cu ri ty disc us sion in our com ­

m en ts. we deem th e ab ov e to be fu lly co ns iste nt w ith th e po sition ta ken th ere in 

an d ho pe th a t th is addit io nal ex pl an at io n wi ll se rv e to cla ri fy th e m at te r.

Thi s le tt er w as ado pt ed by th e Com mission J uly 30 .19 63.

By d irec tion o f t he C om miss ion :

E. Wil li am H en ry, Chairma n.

F ederal Com mun ic at io ns Com mission ,

Washington. D.C., Octobers, 1963.

H o n . Oren H ar ris,

Chairman, Com mittc on Intersta te and Foreign Commerce,

House o f Representatives, W ashington, D.C.

Dear Cha irman H arr is : Thi s is w ith fu rt h er re fe re nc e to yo ur re ques t of 

Ju ly 8. 1963 f or th e C om m ission ’s co mmen ts on II .R . 7309. a bi ll to am en d se ct io ns 

303 and 310 of th e Com m un icat io ns Act of 1934, as am en de d, to pe rm it th e Co mm ission to auth ori ze o per at io n by a lie n am ate urs w he re r ec ip ro ca l a gr ee m en ts are 

in e ffe ct.
8 INT ERN ATION AL RECIP RO CIT Y FOR AMATEUR RADIO OPERATORS

For your information the re is a tta ch ed a copy of our let ter date d September 30, 

1963, to Sena tor Pasto re, chairma n of the Subcommittee on Communications, 

outlinin g the tex t of an ame ndm ent to the bill which was agreed upon by the 

Dep artm ents of Defense, Stat e, Jus tice, Cen tral Intel ligen ce Agency, and the 

Fed eral Communications Commission.

Yours sincerely,

E. William Henry, Chairman.

Federal Communications Commission,

Washington, D.C., S eptem ber SO, 1963.

Hon. J ohn O. Pastore,

Chai rman , Subcommittee on Commun ications, Committee on Commerce, U.S.

Sena te, Washington, D.C.

Dear Chairman Pastore : Pu rsua nt to a conference held September 5 with 

Nichola s Zapple, counsel to you r subcomm ittee, and atte nde d by representati ves 

of th e Dep artm ents of State , Jus tce, and Defense, Bu rea u of the Budget, and the 

Fed eral Communica tions Commission, the following und ers tan din g is submitted 

for inclusio n in the Se nate committee rep ort on S. 920.

At th at meeting, it was ten tat ive ly agreed among the sta ff represen tatives 

pre sen t th at S. 920 should be mad e more specific w ith respe ct to matters of nation al securit y and the following amendment was pro pos ed:

At page 2, line 18 and page 3, line 9, delete the period and add the following 

pr ov iso :

“Provided, Th at when an app lica tion for an author iza tion is received by the 

Commission, it shall notify the appro pri ate agenci es of the Governm ent of such 

fact, and such agencies shall forth wi th fur nis h to the Commission such infor mation in their possession as bears upon the com patib ility of the requ est with the 

nat ion al se cu rit y: And Prov ided furth er, Th at the requested aut hor ization may 

then be gran ted unless the Commission shal l dete rmi ne th at info rma tion received 

from such agencies necessitates d enial of th e requ est.”

The Commission has considered this amendment and would sup port its inclusion in S. 920 or similar legisla tion which may be enacted. It is our und erstandi ng th at pur suant the reto the FCC, upon rece ipt of a requ est for auth ori zation of an operation by an alien amateur, would ask the Cen tral Intelligence 

Agency a nd the Departm ents of Defense, Justice, and Sta te to supply it with any 

info rma tion in the ir possession which bears on the pa rti cu lar request. While 

the Commission would not, of course, ignore info rma tion coming to it from 

oth er sources, its obligation in the securit y are a would be lim ited to a check w ith 

the named agencies and making the finding tha t, with respe ct to nationa l security , no information or recom mend ation s before the Commission necessitate 

denial of the request.

The above-named agencies ar e thos e which are at thi s time considered to be 

the agencies refe rred to in the propo sed amen dmen t as “appro pri ate agencies of 

Govern ment.” Addition ally, the Commission will be guided by the views of 

the named agencies, or by inform atio n coming to it from oth er sources, as to 

whethe r additiona l agencies shou ld be contacted as circums tanc es wa rran t.

The Commission in acting on such requ ests will, of course, respe ct the confiden tial na ture and sources of specific secu rity info rma tion coming to its att ention.

Thi s lette r has been coo rdinated with and conc urred in by the Departmen ts 

of Defense. Justice, and State , and the Central Intelligenc e Agency. The Bure au 

of the Budget has advised th at there is no objection to the pres enta tion of this 

rep ort to the Congress from the sta nd po int of the ad mi nis tra tio n’s program.

Thi s le tte r was adopted by the Commission Septem ber 11, 1963.

By dire ction of the Comm ission:

E. William Henry, Chairma n.

Department of State, 

Wash ington , Febru ary 11, 196.',.

Hon. Oren Harris,

Chai rman , Committee on In te rs ta te and, Foreign Commerce,

House of Representatives.

Dear Mr. Chairman : This is in respon se to your request for the D epartmen t's 

comments on H.R. 7309, to amen d sections 303 and 310 of the Communications 

Act of 1934, as amended, to prov ide th at the Fed eral Communications Commission may, if it finds th at the public inte rest , convenience, or necess ity may be
INTERNATIONAL RECIPROCITY FOR AMATEUR RADIO OPERATORS 9

served, issue authorizations, but not licenses, for alien amateur radio operators 

to operate their amateur radio stations in the United States, its possessions, 

and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico provided there is in effect a bilateral 

agreement between the United State s and the alien’s government for such operation by U.S. amateurs on a reciprocal basis.

It is our understanding tha t two related bills are also pending in your committee, S. 920 and H.R. 9035, which are identical. Each of these bills embodies 

amendments to the language of H.R. 7309 proposed'as a result of discussions 

among interested U.S. Government agencies, including the Department of State. 

The Department is, therefore, prepared to support either S. 920 or H.R. 9035 in 

preference to H.R. 7309.

The Department has been advised by the Bureau of the Budget that there is no 

objection from the standpoint of the administration’s program to the submission 

of this report.

Sincerely yours,

Frederick G. Dutton,

Assistant Secretary

(Fo r the Secretary of State).

U.S. Department of J ustice,

Office of the Deputy General. 

Washington, D.C., November 4, 1963.

Hon. Oren Harris,

Chairman, Committee on In ter sta te and Foreign Commerce,

House of R epresentatives, Washington, D.C.

Dear Mr. Chairman : This is in response to your request for the views of the 

Department of Justice on the bill (H.R. 7309) to amend sections 303 and 310 of 

the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, to permit the Federal Communications Commission to authorize the operation of amateur radio stations in the 

United States by certain aliens.

H.R. 7309 is a companion bill to S. 920, which passed the Senate with amendments on October 16 and is presently pending with this committee.

In reporting to you on H.R. 9684 of the 87th Congress, a bill of similar purpose, this Department indicated that apart from security considerations the 

subject of this legislation is not a matter for which the Department of Justice 

has primary responsibility, for which reason we made no recommendation as to 

its enactment.

H.R. 7309 is subject to the same security considerations. However, in reporting S. 920, the Senate Committee on Commerce amended tha t measure to meet 

the reservations stated by this Department and others with respect to security 

considerations. As amended by the committee and as passed by the Senate, 

S. 920 appears adequately to provide for the safeguarding of the national 

security.

Accordingly, the Department of Justice raises no objection to the enactment 

of this legislation, amended to conform with S. 920 as presently with the 

committee.

The Bureau of the Budget has advised that there is no objection to the submission of this report from the standpoint of the administration’s program. 

Sincerely yours,

Nicholas deB. Katzenbach,

Dep uty Atto rney General.

Department of the Air Force,

Office of the Secretary. 

Washington, August 28, 1963.

Hon. Oren Harris,

Chairman, Comm ittee on Inter sta te and Foreign Commerce,

House of Representatives.

Dear Mr. Chairman : Reference is made to your request to the Secretary of 

Defense for the views of the Department of Defense with respect to H.R. 7309, 

88th Congress, a bill to amend sections 303 and 310 of the Communications Act 

of 1934, as amended, to provide that the Federal Communications Commission 

may, if it finds t hat the public interest, convenience, or necessity may be served, 

issue authorizations, but not licenses, for alien amateur radio operators to oper-
10 INTERNATIONAL RECIPROCITY FOR AMATEUR RADIO OPERATORS

ate th eir am at eu r ra dio st ati ons in th e U ni te d Sta te s, it s po sse ssions, an d th e 

Co mmon we alt h of P uert o Itieo prov ided th ere is in ef fe ct a bil ate ra l ag re em en t 

be tw ee n th e United S ta te s an d th e a lien 's go ve rn m en t fo r su ch op er at io n by U.S . 

am at eu rs on a re ci pro ca l ba sis. The Sec re ta ry of D ef en se has de lega ted to th e 

D ep ar tm en t of th e A ir Forc e th e re sp on sibi lity fo r ex pre ss in g th e vie ws of th e 

D ep ar tm en t o f D efe nse.

Th e pu rpos e of 11.R. 7309 is as st at ed in it s title. Sp ec ifi ca lly it w ould pr ov id e 

th a t th e Fed er al Com m un icat io ns C om mission, if it fou nd th a t th e pu blic inte re st , 

conv enien ce, or ne ce ss ity wou ld be served , co uld auth ori ze ali en am ate ur ra dio 

ope ra to rs to o pe ra te th eir am ate u r ra di o st ati ons in th e U ni ted St at es , it s po ss es ­

sio ns, an d th e Com mon wea lth of Pue rt o Rico pr ov id ed th ere w as in eff ect a b il atera l ag re em en t be tw ee n th e United S ta te s an d th e ali en ’s go ve rn m en t fo r su ch 

op er at io n by U S. a m ate urs on a re cipr oc al b asis.

Secti on 30 3( 7) of th e Com m un ciations Ac t o f 1934, as am en de d (47 U.S.C. 

3 0 3 (7 )) , au th ori ze s th e F edera l Com mun ica tio i s Com miss ion (F CC ) to lic en se 

as ra di o op er at or s “s uc h ci tize ns of th e United S ta te s as th e Co mm ission fin ds 

qu alified. ” Se ction 310(a ) of the same ac t pro hib its th e Comm ission fro m g ra n tin g a ra di o st at io n lic en se to, am on g othe rs , “a ny al ie n or re pre se nta tive of any 

alien .” Th ese pr ohi bi tions again st al ie n ow ne r hi p an d op er at io n of ra dio sta ­

tion s ha ve been car ri ed ove r from th e or ig in al Rad io Ac t of 19*27 ( 44 Sta t. 1162) 

fo r th e pr otec tio n an d se curi ty of th e U ni te d S ta te s and its m ilitar y an d ci vi lian 

ra dio co mmun ica tio n. Onl y two ex ce pt ions a re per m itte d. Th e firs t is co ve red 

by a co nv entio n betw ee n th e U ni ted Sta te s an d C an ad a (T IA S No. 2508 ) co nc er nin g th e oj>e ratio n of cert ain ra di o eq uipm en t, in cl ud in g am ate ur ra dio st at io ns, 

by citiz en s of e it her co untr y while in th e oth er co un tr y. T he second is co nt ai ne d 

in section 30 3(7) an d 31 0 (a ) of th e Com m un ications Act an d co nc erns cert ain 

al ie n pilo ts flyin g a ir c ra ft in (he United Sta te s.

In th e pa st, th e U ni ted S ta te s an d its re pre se nta ti ves ha ve freq ue nt ly been 

em ba rr as se d be ca us e we ha ve de nied ci tize ns of o th er co un trie s th e ri g h t to 

ojx 'rat e radi os in th is countr y an d ha ve , a t th e sa m e tim e, so ug ht to se cu re fo r 

our citiz en s am ate ur ri ghts in fo re ig n co un trie s. The U nited Sta te s wo uld a ppear 

in a mo re fa vo ra bl e li ght if we w er e to perm it am ate u rs of oth er co untr ie s to 

oper at e ra di o st ati ons here under th e sa m e sa fe guard s th a t ot her go ve rn m en ts 

ap pl y to fo re ig ne rs wh o o p era te am ate u r radi os . It is belie ve d th a t a bil l which 

wou ld pe rm it re ci pr oc al lice ns in g of ra dio am ate urs an d, a t th e sa m e tim e, pro ­

vi de ad eq ua te sa fe guar ds fo r th e nat io nal se cu rity , wou ld he of net bene fit to th e 

U ni te d States. O ur sta tu s in th e co mm un ity of n ati ons re quir es s uch a co ur se o f 

ac tion u nles s t he re a re pow er fu l re as on s t o th e co tr ary .

Ac cordingl y, th e D epart m ent of Defen se su pport s th e en ac tm en t of II.R . 7309.

The foll ow ing te ch ni ca l ch an ge is reco mmen de d to t he b ill:

Delete th e wor ds “if it fin ds th a t th e pu blic in te re st , co nv enien ce or ne ce ss ity 

m ay be serv ed .” from th e ti tl e of th e mill. Thi s re quir em en ts doe s not appear in 

th e t e x t o f t he hill.

T his re po rt has be en co ord in at ed w ithin th e D epart m ent of D efen se in ac co rd ­

an ce w ith pr oc ed ur es p re sc ribed b y th e Sec re ta ry of D efen se .

Th e Bur ea u of t he B udge t ad vi se s th at, from th e st an d p o in t of t he a d m in is tr ati on's prog ram, th ere is no ob jection to th e pre se nta ti on of th is re po rt fo r th e 

co ns id er at io n of th e c om m itt ee .

Sincere ly,

J o se ph S. I m ir ie .

Assistant Secretary of the Air Force.

The Chairman. They would amend (he Federal Communications 

Act with regard to the issuance of authorizations to amateur radio 

operators.

The legislation would authorize the Federal Communications Commission, should it. find the public interest, convenience, and necessity 

may be served, to issue authorizations. This is quite different from 

the issuance of a license. It would be authorizations to alien amateur 

radio operators to operate their amateur radio stations in the United 

States, its possessions, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, provided there is in effect a bilateral agreement between the United States 

and the alien’s government for such operation by the U.S. amateurs 

on a reciprocal basis. It is a rather simple problem and it is of
INTERNATIONAL RECIPROCITY FOR AMATEUR RADIO OPERATORS 11

inter est to relatively few peo ple, and th at acc ounts fo r the fact th at 

we do not have a bette r atten dance this mornin g. Th e legisla tion is of importance to the membership o f the A merica n 

Ra dio Relay Leag ue. I am t old that it includes abou t 100,000 Un ite d 

St ates a nd C an ad ian a mateu rs in its membership. I t is expe cted that many countrie s would gr an t the U .S. am ateu r radio op erators loca ted in these cou ntries th e privile ge to ope rate th ei r am ateu r s tation s if the 

Uni ted State s wou ld gr an t sim ila r au thor ity to the citizens of these 

countries r esi din g in th e U ni ted States. Le t me make it clear t h at all o f these 100,000 members do n ot necessa rily opera te stations. As a matter of fac t, it m ight surpris e some 

people to lea rn th at I my self am an am ate ur, too. I was mad e an ho no rary am ate ur rad io op era tor not too long ago when I was in 

Gen eva. I have a certificate. I hav e a butto n. How ever, I do n’t 

exp ecte d to be ope ratin g an am ate ur radio station.

Mr. Long. Do n’t you t hin k you ou gh t to excuse yo urself from condu cting th is heari ng, M r. Ch airma n ?

Th e C hairman. Xo : I d on't think th ere is a conflict of in terest here, 

no t a wide one, a nyw ay. How ever, it was quite an inter estin g ex pe rience, an d I might say fo r the inform ati on of my colleagues it was qu ite a trea t to observe the inter na tio na l op eration of the am ateu r 

radi o fac ilities that they h ad at the IT U in Geneva. Anyw ay, the principa l con sideration involved here is the sec urity 

pro ble m and the mem bers o f the comm ittee will probably wa nt to ask 

some q uestions of Com missioner H yde on th at aspect. Se na tor Go ldw ate r, the spon sor of the Senate bill, has discussed 

th is with me on several occasions. He wa nte d to be here as a witness. 

Unf or tuna tely, he is out of the city fo r some purpo se—exa ctly wh at 

purpo se I do not know—so he could n ot be here with us. He has sent a lette r in which he is not only expre ssing his fu rthe r inte rest, but ur ging t ha t the bill be appro ved , and witho ut objection the l etter will 

be includ ed in the re cord at this point.

(The sta tem ent referre d to follo ws: )

U.S. Senate.

Washington, D.C., February 20,196}.

Hon. Oren Harris,

Chairman, Committee on Inte rstate and Foreign Commerce,

U.S. House of Representa tives,

Washington, D.C.

Dear Mr. Chairman: Today your committee will hold hearings on legislation to provide reciprocity for radio amateurs between the United States and other countries. You have before you the hill which I sponsored, S. 920, and a like bill introduced in the House of Representatives by Congressman Cederberg, 

H.R.7309. I had very much wanted to appear before your committee and answer any questions on this legislation you might have, but this is not possible. However, I understand tha t Mr. Herbert Hoover, Jr., president of the American Radio Relay League, and other league officers will be before your committee, and I am sure they will be able to provide the committee with a complete background on 

this legislation. I won’t repeat here my remarks in support of this legislation made before the Subcommittee on Commerce of the Senate Commerce Committee as the hearing and report of the committee are readily available. I do wish to bring to your attention, though, the considerable study which Senator Pastore. his able com­ mittee counsel, Mr. Nicholas Zapple, and the various staff members of the interested Government agencies gave to this legislation.
12 INTERNATIONAL RECIPROCITY FOR AMATEUR RADIO OPERATORS

The result was an improved bill, one which was favorably reported by the 

Senate Commerce Committee and passed by the Senate without objection. I 

am, of course, very hopeful tha t you and your committee will likewise be satisfied with this measure after giving it your own careful appraisal.

Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to make this brief statement and 

for your interest in expediting consideration of this legislation.

Sincerely,

Barry Goldwater.

The Chairman. Our first witness this morning is the sponsor of 

H.R. 7309, our colleague from Michigan, the Honorable Elford A. 

Cederberg. Mr. Cederberg, we will be glad to hear you a t this time.

STATEMENT OF HON. ELFORD A. CEDERBERG, A REPRESEN TATIVE 

IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF MICHIGAN

Mr. Cederberg. Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, as a 

cosponsor of this legislation I want to express my appreciation as well 

as the appreciation of amateur radio operators in the 10th Congressional District of Michigan, which I represent, for your scheduling 

this hearing on these bills about which they are so enthusiastically 

concerned.

I first became interested in this subject in the fall of 1961 when one 

of the ham operators in my d istrict came to me and expressed the interest of his fellow operators in a revision of the Communications Act 

to enable American servicemen to carry on the ir hobby while on duty 

in foreign lands. This, of course, would require a change in the law 

making possible bilateral agreements for operation of amateur radio 

stations.

After making inquiries with the Department of State and the Federal Communications Commission I learned of some of the problems 

involved and of the limitations imposed by our own laws. In the 2d 

session of the 87th Congress I introduced H.R. 9684 proposing an 

amendment to the Communications Act of 1934 and in the 1st session 

of the 88th Congress I introduced a similar bill identified as H.R. 7309.

I have conferred with Senator Goldwater, who with other Senators, 

introduced S. 920, which was passed by the Senate last fall. I realize 

our earlier bills failed to meet some of the security objections raised 

by agencies responsible for the protection of our national security in ­

terests. However, in my opinion S. 920, as passed by the Senate, 

meets these objections.

I approve of the wording of the bill which “authorizes” the opera - 

tion of amateur radio stations here by aliens instead of licensing them.

I did not realize the great interest in the possibilities a reciprocal 

arrangement holds until I began receiving mail from around the 

country from these so-called ham operators.

Today we have American citizens all over the world representing 

the United States in an official or semiofficial capacity in connection 

with programs Congress has authorized. We likewise have our military forces stationed in many countries. Our churches have the ir 

missionary groups in practically all countries of the world. When 

these people go from our shores we should have a continuing interest 

in them.

I have come to realize what communication means to many of 

them—a group of Americans abroad communicating by amateur radio
INTERNATIONAL RECIPROCITY FOR AMATEUR RADIO OPERATORS 13

in their own language with other Americans. We might say this is 

a selfish approach—and so it is.

There is more than just entertainment throu gh conversations between these amateur operators. Since I became interested in this 

legislation I have learned of the frequent humanita rian service given 

by these fine amateur operators.

One of these operators in the Washington area has had a number 

of unique experiences which could substantiate our support for legislation of the type sought here today. I refer to Mr. E. M. Peterson, 

■who is Director of Youth Activities in the surrounding seven-State 

conference of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. He is an enthusiastic ham operator. Referrin g to the humanitarian side of this hobby, 

I was interested particularly in one of several unusual experiences of 

Mr. Peterson. At the time of the earthquake in Ir an a few years ago, 

all normal channels of communication between tha t country and the 

outside world were cut off. Fortunately, American amateur radio 

operators were able to use the ir sets in Ira n and one of these was an 

American missionary. He began sending out emergency calls. Ilis 

call was picked up by a ship in the Mediterranean Sea. The ship’s 

radio operator began calling any ham radio station in America. Mr. 

Peterson was the first in the Washington area to pick up the call and 

establish a communication link. The result was that very shortly 

blankets, clothing, and other supplies were sent on th eir way to Iran 

by the missionary’s church headquarters.

This hobby of an amateur radio operator in nearby Maryland is 

credited with saving the life of a child in South America, 1 am told. 

An amateur in South America—I do not know whether he was an 

American or a native, began trying to contact fellow hams in the United 

States, saying a child there would die unless it received a particular 

drug, not available in South America. This occurred on a weekend. 

The local amateur picked up the call and contacted the National Ins titutes of Health. He was advised only one pharmaceutical company 

manufactured the drug and that was a Midwest company. Our local 

ham went on the air to contact hams in the city where it was manufactured. The message went through and the Midwest ham contacted 

the vice president of the pharmaceutical company, who obtained further details, opened his establishment on Sunday and arranged for a 

shipment of the drug to South America by the next plane.

The kind of good will cited in just these two instances is of a nature 

we cannot purchase with any kind of a foreign aid program. I am 

sure the radio logs of hundreds of amateur radio operators in this 

country reveal many and perhaps even more thri llin g accounts of 

humanitarian service.

I understand approximately 31 countries extend American nationals 

amateur radio privileges when they are within their borders yet our 

laws do not permit a reciprocal arrangement when nationals of those 

countries are within our borders.

I realize our national security is of No. 1 importance but I believe 

we can enact a law protecting security and at the same time make 

possible a reciprocal arrangement for amateur radio operators. I 

hope your committee will favorably report such a bill.

The Chairman. Are there any questions? If not, we thank you 

for your appearance and testimony, Mr. Cederberg.
14 INTERNATIONAL RECIPROCITY FOR AMATEUR RADIO OPERATORS

Mr. Cederbero. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

The Chairman. We have with us Commissioner Rosel H. Hyde, 

who has probably seen more of the amateur radio activities as it has 

grown up than any other member of the Commission because of the 

various positions tha t he has held with the Commission t hat would 

permit him to observe this field closely. I thin k it is most appro ­

priate tha t the Commission did suggest tha t Commissioner Hyde 

come here on behalf of the Commission.

Commissioner Hyde, we would be glad to hear you on this matter. 

I had not anticipated we would take much time on this bill today 

because it is not controversial, as I understand. I must say, though, 

sometimes I look upon these noncontroversial bills before this committee with some trembling and fear because they always seem to 

develop into sharp controversies before we get through. If time 

permits, Commissioner, I have a couple of other bills that I do not 

want to characterize as unimportant, because they are important, but 

they are matters tha t should not require much discussion.

However, we always like to make a record. I may ask you about 

them in order to expedite our own program within this committee. 

Both of them have passed the other body and have been referred to 

this committee, and they are S. 1005 and S. 1193. So a fter we get 

through with this one I may want to ask you about these other two 

bills if you are in position to testify on them.

W e are glad to have you back with us and you may proceed.

STATEM ENT OF HON. ROSEL H. HYD E, COMMISSIONER, FED ERAL 

COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

Mr. Hyde. Thank you, Chairman Harris. Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, I have the statement of the Commission re gard ­

ing S. 920 and II.R. 9035. My statement is brief and I believe, sir, 

that it might conserve tim e if I presented the exact text rather than 

undertaking summary.

This bill would amend section 303 of the Communications Act of 

1934 (dealing with operators) and section 310 (dealing with station 

licenses) to provide that the Commission may, if it finds that the public 

interest, convenience, or necessity may be served, issue authorizations, 

but not licenses, for alien amateur radio operators to operate their 

amateur radio stations in the United States, its possessions, and the 

Commonwealth of Pue rto Rico, provided there is in effect a bilateral 

agreement between the U nited States and the alien's government for 

such operation by U.S. amateurs on a reciprocal basis.

It also provides tha t other provisions of the Communications Act 

and the Administrative Procedure Act will not be applicable to any 

request or application for or modification, suspension, or cancellation 

of any such authorization.

The bill further provides that whenever the Commission receives an 

application from an alien for such authorization, the Commission shall 

notify the appropriate agencies of the Government of such fact, and 

the agencies shall forthwith fu rnish to the Commission such information in their possession as bears upon the compatibility of the request 

with nat ional security. The Commission may then grant the requested 

authorization unless it shall determine t ha t information received from 

such agencies necessitates denial of the request.
INTERNATIONAL RECIPROCITY FOR AMATEUR RADIO OPERATORS 15

Whil e th is is not a p art of the Com mission's leg islative program , 

sho uld th e Congi’ess decide th at such legisla tion is desirabl e, we would 

hav e no objectio n to enactm ent of the bill.

Suc h legisla tion constitu tes a de pa rtu re from the general policy 

emb odied in sections 303(1) and 310 (a) of the Comm unications Ac t 

ag ains t gra nt in g radio sta tio n licenses or radi o op erator licenses to 

aliens.

A t th e prese nt time, th er e are only two exceptions to this policy. 

Th e firs t w as con tain ed in a c onvention between the U ni ted State s and 

Ca nada, effective May 15, 1952 (T IA S No. 2508) wh ich p ermits c iti ­

zens of either cou ntry who are stat ion licensees to o pe rate certain rad io 

equ ipm ent, inc lud ing am ateu r rad io sta tio ns, wh ile in the oth er 

country .

Th e second exception res ults fro m am endm ent s to sections 303(1) 

and 31 0( a), adopted in 1958 (P ub lic Law 85-81 7), wh ich p ermit the 

lice nsing of certa in alien pilots flying a ircr af t in the Un ite d Sta tes.

Th e Commission belie ves th e pro ced ure s pro posed in the bill fo r 

ha nd lin g sec urity clearance s b efore g ra nt in g pe rm its to an alien am ate ur are ap prop ria te. U nd er the propose d procedu re the Conunissio n, 

upo n receipt of a req uest fo r autho riz ati on of an op era tio n by an 

alien am ate ur, would ask the Central Intel lig en ce Agenc y and the 

De pa rtm en ts of Defense, Justice, and St at e to su pp ly it wi th any 

inform ati on in th ei r possession be ari ng upo n the pa rtic ul ar request.

W hile the Commission would n ot, o f course, ignore inf ormation coming to it from other sourc es, its o bligation in the sec urity area would 

be lim ited to a check of the nam ed agen cies and mak ing the findin g 

th at , with res pect to na tio na l sec urity, no inform ation or recomme ndations befo re the Comm ission n ecessitate de nia l of the request.

Th e above-n ame d agencies are those whi ch are at t hi s tim e con sidered to lie the agen cies referre d to in the pro posed b ill as “a pp ro pr iate agencies of Go vernm ent.” Ad ditio na lly , th e Commission wou ld 

be guide d by the views of the named agencies, o r by inf orma tio n com ­

ing to it from othe r sources, as to wh eth er req ues ts sho uld be made 

upo n addit ion al agencies as circum stan ces war ra nt .

In ac tin g on such r equests, the Commission would , of course, respec t 

the confiden tial na tu re and sources of specific sec urity inform ation 

com ing to its atten tio n.

Tn connection wi th the res ponsibility fo r security arr angeme nts 

which must be main tained if this bill is ena cted, we would po int out 

th at a sim ila r prob lem arose when Congress was conside ring the 

amend ments to sections 303(1) and 31 0(a) to pe rm it the lice nsing of 

certain alien pilot s flying airc ra ft in the Uni te d State s (P ub lic Law 

85-817, 85th Cong., 2d sess., 1958, 72 Sta t. 981).

In t hat instanc e, the problem of security arrang em en ts was resolved 

by pla cin g the res ponsibi lity fo r ap pr op riate sec uri ty-screen ing pr ocedures in the Fe de ral Aviation Agency wh ich had the res ponsibility 

of issu ing airme n certificates to the alien pilots who would subsequently a pp ly to the C ommission f or licenses t o opera te ai rc ra ft radio 

sta tio ns (105 Con gressio nal Record 10414 (d ailv ed itio n) ; S. Re pt. 

No. 2338, 85th Cong., 2d sess., p. 3 (195 8)).

Un de r the bill the Comm ission wou ld have the au thor ity to den y 

an appli catio n summ arily. Also, th e Commission would have au th ority to mo dify, sus pend, or revoke the pe rm it of an alien am ateur sum-
16 INTERNATIONAL RECIPROCITY FOR AMATEUR RADIO OPERATORS

marily or under such procedures as it may prescribe. The alien ama­ teur involved would not have the right of appeal under section 402 of the Communications Act or under the A dministrative Procedure A ct It is expected that, in the negotiation of bilateral agreements, the State Department will consult with the Federal Communications Com­ mission, which is normal procedure in matters in which we have a 

specific communications interest. That completes the statement tha t the Commission authorized me to present. I should be pleased to undertake to respond to any questions.

The Chairman. Thank you, Commissioner. There is a difference 

between issuing an authorization and issuing a permit. Is that not 

true ?

Mr. H yde. Yes. As a ma tter of fact, this would operate very much 

like a registration system, but subject to certain security checks that wouldn’t operate with a conventional registration system. It would operate to recognize the license of the alien’s government on a reciprocal basis rather than to issue a new license as such.

The Chairman. These would be bilateral agreements ?

Mr. Hyde. This would always be on a reciprocal basis, subject to 

bilateral agreement between this country and the country of the alien 

concerned.

The Chairman. Not under a treaty arrangement !■

Mr. Hyde. It could be under a tre aty arrangement, but in the case 

of a treaty we, of course, would not need legislation. The one a r­ rangement we do have for this reciprocal recognition of amateur licensees is in respect to Canada and this is carried out under a formal, 

ratified, and proclaimed treaty.

The Chairman. Suppose it would develop th at you needed to cancel the operation. What would be the outcome ?

Mr. Hyde. Under the legislation proposed here, the Commission 

could issue a notice of cancellation without affording any of the usual 

elements of due process that a citizen is entitled to.

The Chairman. In other words, the Commission could cancel it 

w ith a certain number of days’ notice ?

Mr. Hyde. As I understand it, we could cancel it immediately, but 

we might, in the interest of comity, provide an a ppropriate hearing to 

handle this quickly and efficiently.

The Chairman. But, depending upon the circumstances, the Commission would have authority to cancel the authorization ?

Mr. Hyde. Depending upon the circumstances, the Commission 

would have authority to cancel it forthw ith; right.

The Chairman. Any questions, Mr. Devine ?

Mr. Devine. Mr. Chairman, thank you. How much of a demand 

has there been for this, Mr. Hyde, and from what sources?

Mr. Hyde. There hasn’t been a substantial demand. We have had 

a few instances brought to our attention. Of course, we are not op­ erators. We are merely the licensing authority and you would get better information as to the interest in this type of thing, I believe, from the representatives of the amateur organizations. A few have 

come to our attention.

Mr. Devine. Maybe “demand” was a poor selection of words. How 

many requests ? Is there a great volume of requests ?
INTERNATIONAL RECIPROCITY FOR AMATEUR RADIO OPERATORS 17

Mr. Hyde. No; there lias not been a great volume of requests to us, 

but we have had this experience under our arrangement with Canada. 

We have had, oh, 450 requests in a year’s time. On the other hand, we have had approximately 1,300 of our ama­ teurs go into Canada and exercise the privilege of communicating back from there to our country. We expect that if this measure would be approved and, of course, subject to bilateral agreement, there would 

be 400 or 500 a year from countries other than Canada.

Mr. Devine. Have you had any information from the Justice De­ partmen t or other intelligence agency relative to any security problems involved in this ?

Mr. Hyde. Yes; the matter of handling the security problem has 

been discussed with Justice, Defense, and CIA. It came up in connection with the consideration of the bill before the Senate and a considerable amount of attention was given to the problem. We were able to advise the Senate committee in September 1963 th at the procedures for security had been coordinated with the Departments of Defense, Justice, State, and Central Intelligence Agency.

Air. Devine. You say it has been coordinated with them ?

Air. Hyde. By that I mean that they have agreed to the approach 

which is presented in the bill now.

Air. Devine. At least they have no objection.

Air. Hyde. They have no objections.

Air. Devine. Thank you, Air. Chairman.

The Chairman. Air. Friedel?

Air. Friedel. Thank you, Air. Chairman. On page 3 of your statement you say:

Under the proposed procedure the Commission, upon receipt of a request for authorization of an operation by an alien amateur, would ask the Central Intelli­ gence Agency and the D epartments of Defense, Justice, and State * * *.

Don’t you think the FB I would have some information ?

Air. Hyde. I believe Justice would include the FB I, sir.

Air. Friedel. I see. Thank you.

The Chairman. Any fur the r questions ?

Air. Brotzman. Alay I ask a question ?

The Chairman. Yes, Air. Brotzman.

Air. Brotzman. Air. Hyde, I listened to questions by the gentleman from Ohio and if I understood your response to his questions there is little demand for this bill. Could you elaborate on th at a little?

Air. Hyde. I did not mean to indicate tha t there is little interest. 

I meant to indicate th at very few requests have come to FCC. I pre­ sume the reason fo r t hat is that the act is very specific in denying us authority to issue permits or licenses to aliens. The act is very stric t by letter and I think t hat would discourage any request to us.

Air. Brotzman. Can you enlighten me as to why the previous act was 

so clear on this matter of policy in denying tha t to you ?

Air. Hyde. This goes back to the original Radio Act of 1927. I be­ lieve that the considerations were security and also the act does deal with the use of radiofrequencies as part of the public domain, and the Congress then, and I do not disagree with this at all, was very jealous of the privileges of using it and accordingly made very strict provi­ sions against its exploitation by aliens. I presume you are familiar with the fact tha t in none of the broadcast services, none of the radio
18 INT ERN ATIONAL RECIP ROCIT Y FOR AMATEUR RADIO OPERATORS

services, may there be more than a 20-percent interest in alien hands. 

Xo director or officer of a licensee may be an alien.

Mr. Brotzman. Now let me ask you this questio n: What has changed 

tha t would make this law seem to be needed, or recommended, or suggested now ? What has changed since then ?

Mr. Hyde. I would suggest that in radio, as in other areas, we are 

becoming more involved in worldwide, intercountry matters than 

earlier. I think it is a part of this increased facility of transportation, 

and I was about to say communication. That seems to be begging the 

question.

Let me mention in this connection that we are in a somewhat awkward position now with the strictures against operations by aliens in 

tha t we cannot afford to nationals of another country the same kind of 

privileges that we often have in other countries. There are some 31 

countries where an American amateur can set up and operate, countries 

which do not have reciprocal privileges with respect to our country, 

and there have been situations where this has been somewhat embarrassing.

Mr. Brotzman. You alluded in your statement to the security 

checks.

Mr. Hyde. Bight.

Mr. Brotzman. Will you re fer to the bill for a moment?

Mr. H yde. Yes.

Mr. Brotzman. What is provided ? Wliat is the proviso there that 

has the approval of the Department of Justice and CIA, and those 

other agencies with whom you have conferred?

Mr. H yde. If we may rei er to page 3, it is section 2, and we might 

go down to line 16—

Pr ov ided , T hat whe n an ap plica tion fo r auth ori zati on is rece ived by th e Commiss ion. it sh al l no tify th e ap p ro p ri ate ag en cies of th e Gov ernm en t of su ch fa ct , 

an d su ch ag en cies sh al l fo rt h w it h fu rn is h to th e Com miss ion such in fo rm at io n 

in th e ir po sse ssion as bears up on th e co m pa tibi lity of th e re qu es t w ith th e 

nati onal se curi ty : And pr ov id ed fu rt her, T h a t th e re que st ed auth ori za tion m ay 

th en be gr an te d un les s th e Co mmiss ion sh al l det er m in e th a t in fo rm at io n rece ived 

fr om such ag en cies n ec es si ta te s den ia l of t he re qu es t.

Those are the specific provisions which I would give in answer to 

your request, but I also consider these other provisions of the bill 

giving the Commission the right to cancel a license without procedures 

other than notice as a security protection.

The Chairman. You were reading from S. 920: were you not ?

Mr. Hyde. I was, sir: the Congressman asked me to cite the particu ­

lar provisions which had been the subject of discussion with the 

other agencies.

The Chairman. We have the three bills. We jus t wanted to be sure 

we are referring to the rig ht bill. You read from S. 920.

Mr. H yde. I read from S. 920.

Mr. Brotzman. I don't see a similar provision in the Cederberg 

bill.

Air. H yde. That is right, sir. The reason why I addressed my comment to S. 920 was that in connection with the bill of Air. Cederberg’s 

and the one under consideration here the problem of security came up 

and the provisions which are now found in S. 920 were, you might 

say, coordinated with the other agencies of the Government, and it is
INTERNATIONAL RECIPROCITY FOR AMATEUR RADIO OPERATORS 19

my understanding that Mr. Cederberg is satisfied with this method of 

handling the question.

I believe this is the only change between the bill of Mr. Cederberg 

and S. 920.

Mr. F Riedel. Will you yield ?

Mr. Brotzman. I haven’t had a chance to compare them line by 

line, but th at is what I was trying to understand.

Mr. H yde. This is the only significant difference.

Mr. Brotzman. I yield to the gentleman.

Mr. F riedel. I understand tha t H.R. 9035 has the same provision 

on page 3, the bill introduced by Congressman Brown of California; 

is tha t correct ?

Mr. Hyde. In general it is the same. It is identical.

Mr. Friedel. Have you had any difficulty with the foreign pilots 

in any way ?

Mr. II yde. We have had no difficulty with respect to the pilots or 

the reciprocal recognition of amateurs in the case of our relations with 

Canada. This is the only place th at we have such an arrangement. 

There have been no untoward incidents whatever.

Mr. Brotzman. In order to administer this law, what do you anticipate will be needed in the way of personnel ?

Air. H yde. We believe tha t we can handle this without any increase 

in our staff or budget. The volume expected is minuscule as compared to the total volume of licensing that we do in safety and special 

and regular services. Xo additional outlay is expected to be needed.

Air. Brotzman. One more question. T)o you think this is a great 

improvement over permitting treaties to be effected and their relation ­

ship to be continued that way ?

Mr. Hyde. I know of the feeling about using executive agreements 

in some situations instead of formal treaties. We believe in the legislation proposed here, with the safeguards in it, t hat this m atter could 

be handled very satisfactorily under the executive-agreement approach 

and if it could be handled that way it could be done very expeditiously, 

as occasions required it.

I believe there would be no untoward results coming from it. This 

is a very specialized field. It is one where an agreement would be 

made only where it was clear that no substantial difficulties are going 

to come up.

As I mentioned before, if the experience proved unsatisfactory, the 

operation could be discontinued immediately by a simple order of the 

Commission.

Air. Brotzman. Thank you, Air. Hyde. That is all. Ah'. Chairman.

The Chairman. I think we might get the record clear. S. 920, 

which has been passed bv the Senate and sponsored by Senator Goldwater, and H.R. 9035, which was introduced in the House by our colleague, Air. Brown of California, are identical.

Air. Hyde. They are identical.

The Chairman. The bill, H.R. 7309, introduced by our colleague 

from Michigan, Air. Cederberg, in the House, is the same bill I believe 

that Senator Goldwater originally introduced in the Senate.

Air. H yde. I think it is the same and. also, I believe it is the same 

as Congressman Brown’s except for the provisions with respect to 

security.
20 INT ERNATIO NAL RECIP RO CIT Y FOR AMATEUR RADIO OPERATORS

The Chairman. Yes; but I am trying to get the record straight on 

what the situation is tha t we have before us. Because of the security 

questions which were raised during the consideration by the other 

body of Senator Goldwater’s bill, Senator Pastore and others worked 

out this additional language to make it abundantly clear that the security question would not be a problem.

Mr. H yde. You have stated the situation exactly as we understand 

it.

The Chairman. I thought that the committee ought to have the 

benefit of how this was developed and what we have before us here 

for our consideration. One other thing. This is not a proposal which 

is primarily being sponsored or recommended by the Commission itself.

Mr. H yde. That is correct; it was not a p art of our legislative program.

The Chairman. That is rig ht; however, the Commission does recommend it ?

Mr. H yde. Yes; my statement which was approved in the Commission yesterday simply indicates an acceptance of it. I indicated to the 

Commission that I personally would favor the bill and I found no 

disagreement with tha t at all.

The Chairman. Yes; it also has the approval of the Department of 

State, the Department of Justice, and the Department of Defense?

Mr. Hyde. Yes; it is my understand ing that they do give general 

approval. In the case of the Department of Defense I think there was 

a more affirmative interest than in the others.

I believe Defense gave affirmative support to it. The other 

agencies-----

The Chairman. Offered no objection.

Mr. Hyde (continuing). Offered no objection.

The Chairman. Are there any other questions of Commissioner 

Hyde ? It not, are you in a big hurry ?

Mr. Hyde. No, si r: I am at your service.

The Chairman. The next and final witness we have on this subject 

is the Honorable Herbert Hoover, Jr. As I understand, you are president of the American Radio Relay League, Inc.

STA TEM ENT OF HERB ER T HOOVER, JR ., PR ES IDEN T, AMERICAN

RADIO REL AY LEAGUE, INC ., NEWIN GTO N, CONN., ACCOMPANIED

BY JOHN HU NT 00N, LEAG UE’S SECRETA RY AND GEN ERA L

MA NAGER; AND ROBERT M. BOOTH, JR ., LEAGUE’S GENERAL

COUNSEL

Mr. Hoover. Yes, sir.

The Chairman. Perhaps you had better identify yourself or your 

organization a little more clearly for the record, Mr. Hoover, and on 

behalf of the committee I want to extend to you a cordial welcome here 

today. We are pleased to have your testimony.

Mr. Hoover. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and members of the committee. We are most appreciative of the opportunity to appear before 

you today. I have a very brief statement which I think might answer 

some of tlie quc: tions in advance and if I might read it I would be appreciative, Mr. Chairman.
INTERNATIONAL RECIPROCITY FOR AMATEUR RADIO OPERATORS 21

Th e Chairm an. You may proceed. I th in k probably you mi gh t 

wan t to iden tif y fo r the rec ord those th at are accomp anyin g you 

tod ay.

Mr. H oover. Mr. J oh n Ilu nt oo n, th e ge ner al manager of the A me rican R ad io R ela y Leag ue, and Mr. Ro bert B ooth, its ge neral counsel.

Th e Cha irm an. Very well.

Mr. H oover. My nam e is H er be rt H oover, Jr. , and I reside in P as aden a, Ca lif. I am the pre sid en t o f th e Ame rican Ra dio R ela y L eague, 

a no np rofit organiza tio n whose headq uarte rs are at N ew ing ton , C onn., 

an d wh ich has appro xim ate ly 100,000 mem bers in the United State s 

an d Ca na da . Ou r m embership comes almost e nti rely f rom among the 

more th an 250,000 am ateur ra di o op era tor s who are licen sed by the 

Uni ted St ates and Ca nadia n Gov ernments. Th e league was fou nded 

some 50 years ago by the late H iram Percy Maxim.

I t is also my privilege to be p res ident o f t he Int er na tion al Am ate ur 

Ra dio U nio n, an org aniza tio n m ade up of the 60 na tio na l societies who 

represen t radio am ate urs in most of th e othe r countries of the 

wor ld.

In p riva te lif e, I am a c on sulting enginee r. I ha ve he ld an am ate ur 

radio license fo r the past 45 ye ars and my call is W 6Z H. Fr om 1953 

to 1957 I serv ed in t he D ep artm en t of State , mo st of th e period as t he 

Und er Secre tar y.

As th e na tio na l association of am ate ur radio op erators, the leag ue 

wishes t o reco rd with y ou r com mittee its su pp or t of S. 920 and com pan ­

ion bills int roduced in the House . I t is my un de rstand ing th at the 

bill ha s been clea red b y all o f th e executive agencies concerned. Th e 

purpose o f thi s bill is to p ermit the U nited S tates to en ter into re cip rocal agree me nts whereby our am ate urs can receive au th or ity to ope rate 

in selec ted forei gn countrie s in retu rn fo r gra nt in g th ei r am ate urs 

a sim ila r pri vil ege here.

Such action is now proh ibite d by the Co mm unications Ac t of 1934, 

which allo ws only U.S . citizens to opera te with in ou r bou nda ries . 

Th e sole exception is Ca na da , wi th w 10m we have ha d a most successful rec iprocal arrang em en t over the pa st 12 years , the arra ng eme nt ha ving been the resu lt of a 1952 tre aty. Indeed , the am end ­

me nt now un de r con sidera tion is pa tte rned on the Ca na dian arra ng ement.

Am ateu r rad io h as extensive inter na tio na l aspects. Th is service is 

specificall y provide d fo r by intern ationa l agr eem ent s, th e most rece nt 

of which was the 1959 Geneva Con ference of the In te rn at io na l Telecom mu nicatio ns Union, as am end ed by the 1963 Genev a Spa ce Com ­

mu nic ati on s Conference.

One of the bases and purpo ses of the am ateu r service, as specified 

in regu latio ns of the Fe de ral Comm unications Com mission, is “contin ua tio n and extension of th e am ateur’s un iqu e ab ili ty t o enha nce inte rn atio na l good will.” U nd er this concept, U.S. am ate ur radio 

op erators, by the tho usa nds, daily make conta cts with am ate urs in 

foreign cou ntries, the p erfect ex amp le o f an effective people-to-p eople 

pr og ram in con tinuou s opera tio n.

A few cou ntries, pu rlv as a un ila ter al cou rtes y, occasionallyissue 

am ateu r licenses to visitin g or reside nt Am eri can citizens and such 

privi leg es have been very mu ch appre cia ted by ou r am ateurs abroad . 

W hil e relati vely rare, op erati on of Am erican sta tio ns at rem ote mis-
22 INTERN ATION AL RECIP RO CIT Y FOR AMATEUR RADIO OPERATORS

sionary or medical outposts, or by personnel or educational, professional or diplomatic assignments have been especially welcome.

Hardly a day goes by but word is received of some new humanitarian 

or good-will service they have performed. Since they have been 

able to enjoy their scientific avocation to the fullest while overseas, 

these Americans have returned with undoubtedly a better impression 

of the host country than otherwise would have been the case.

Such arrangements are not reciprocal, however, foreign amateurs 

visiting the United States are denied the privileges of amateur communications because of the present restrictions in the Communication 

Act of 1934. This has been the source of irritation and ill will over 

a period of many years.

The telecommunications officials of several countries, particularly 

in L atin America, have inform ally expressed the view on many occasions that the U.S. refusal to enter into a reciprocal amateur agreement such as now exists with Canada labels them as second-class 

citizens.

A good example is Mexico. This is a most friendly country and it 

already allows a few U.S. citizens to operate their amateur stations 

within its border. But our Mexican friends cannot comprehend why, 

in view of our protestations of good neighborliness, we will not extend 

the same privileges to them. The citizens of Mexico who would like 

the privilege of operating here are for the most p art substantial, responsible people who have considerable influence in their Government 

and their home communities. They are individuals who may be on 

the diplomatic staff in Washington, New York, or elsewhere; or they 

are professional men, publicists, educators, or students temporarily 

residing in this country.

The fact tha t we will not grant Mexican citizens such privileges in 

the United States is well known in Mexico, and it is difficult for them 

to understand. It is doubly difficult when they are told that the 

reason we will not do so is because of our concern for our national 

security and to prevent espionage. The fact t hat we give full reciprocal privileges to Canadians gives rise to suspicions and recriminations. The Mexicans are proud people and they do not like to be 

discriminated against. I cannot blame them. The same attitude 

is expressed in many other Latin American countries, as well as 

elsewhere in the free world.

It is interesting to note th at we already have bilateral agreements 

with some 18 nations, mostly in L atin America, permitting our radio 

amateurs to exchange noncommercial third-party messages with 

amateurs licensed in their territories. In view of this free flow of information back and forth, it seems only logical to them—and to us— 

tha t when our amateurs are visiting in their countries, or theirs in ours, 

operation should be permitted under temporary and reasonable 

restrictions.

Our Department of State has negotiated the message-handling 

agreements through regular diplomatic channels and they have received full concurrence from all other agencies of our Government.

I believe the Department is fully competent to negotiate reciprocal 

operating agreements with these and other friendly countries if authorized to do so.
INTERNATIONAL RECIPROCITY FOR AMATEUR RADIO OPERATORS 23

The league is aware th at na tio na l security is a factor w hich mu st be 

con sidered in connectio n wi th the pro posed amend ment. We believe, 

how ever, t hat a practic al exam ina tio n of th e pro posed p roc edure s will 

remove, to all inten ts and purpo ses, this concern.

The presen t pro posal does not in any wav alte r the real pro blem of 

na tio na l sec uri ty. W hatev er security problem there may be in the 

rad io sp ect rum exists alread y, and has fo r m any y ears. It wou ld not 

be com pou nde d by adoption of the pre sen t pro posal . I f a person 

wish ed to engag e in esp ionage, it is most doubtfu l lie would (1) obtain 

a perm it fo r an ama teu r sta tio n fro m our F ed eral authorities, with all 

the detai led procedures involve d, (2) use call lette rs which immediately iden tif y his citizensh ip, an d (3) opera te in the am ateu r han ds 

where the susp icions of thou sand s of am ate urs might be aroused.

I f a foreign agent wished to engage in subversive com munica tion s, 

he m ay buy t ra ns m itt in g and rec eiv ing eq uip me nt on the open ma rke t, 

fro m an un lim ite d numb er of sources, w ith out any need fo r identification. li e m ay opera te such equ ipm ent a t any spo t of his choice in the 

frequenc y spectru m. He runs the risk of imme dia te detection, of 

course, because of the efficient sur vei llance an d m on ito rin g system op erate d by ou r Government, a prog ram in which the am ateu r body 

coo perates b y helpi ng to police its own frequenc y assignments.

To the best of my knowledge, no espionage or othe r subv ersiv e 

com mu nicatio n has ever tak en place in the am ateu r ban ds. Bu t the 

license itse lf is no defere nt, an d it seems absurd to envis ion a subvers ive 

age nt ca lling attentio n to him self by the proc ess of ap plicati on for 

an official am ateu r au tho riz at ion.

The benefits of th e pro posed legislation will be much gr ea ter to the 

I ’nited S tates and to U.S. am ate urs th an to am ate urs of othe r countries , 

as ind ica ted by the follow ing figu res: D ur in g the ye ar endin g Ma rch 

31, 1963, 1,272 ILS. am ate urs obtained au thor izations to opera te in 

Ca nada.

D ur in g fiscal year 1963, en din g Ju ne 30, 1963, only 453 Ca nadia n 

am ateurs obtained au tho riz ation s to op erate in the Uni ted Sta tes. 

Bas ed upo n the relative numb er of am ate urs in vario us cou ntries and 

fa r more exten sive travel by U.S . citizens, I ex pect ma ny m ore au th or ­

iza tio ns will be issued to U.S. am ateurs th an the Uni ted State s will 

issue to fore ign am ateurs.

In brief , we believe th at by enactm ent of this leg islation am ateu r 

radio will become an even gr ea ter and more positive force fo r in te rna tio nal un de rst an ding an d good will wi tho ut crea tin g any ad dit ion al 

ha za rds to o ur nati onal sec urity.

We hope your com mittee will look w ith favo r upon the proposed l egisla tion. Tf I could ans wer any question, Mr. Ch airm an , I would be 

delig hte d to do so.

Th e C hairman. Th an k you, Mr. H oover.

Mr. Fried el, an y question s?

Mr. F riedel. In othe r words, thi s wou ld he lim ite d to the natio ns 

of the free world ?

Mr. Hoover. Yes, sir. As I un de rst an d this, and I believe tha t th is 

wou ld be quite pa ralle l to the present agree me nts we hav e fo r excha nge of am ateu r com municatio ns between countries the Un ite d 

States would be in a pos itio n of choosin g those cou ntries with whom 

it wishes to negotiate a bilatera l agreem ent , executive agreem ent, an d
24 INTERNATIONAL RECIPROCITY FOR AMATEUR RADIO OPERATORS

I assume, as in the case of the other agreements which have been 

executive agreements which have been concluded, these would be 

cancellable on 24 hours notice by either country and if at any time we 

feel tha t our relations with tha t country or the amateurs in that 

country our executive department would be free to cancel it immediately.

Air. Friedel. Thank you.

Mr. Hemphill. Would you yield to me at that point?

Mr. Friedel. Yes.

Mr. H emphill. You say would be free to cancel. What would be 

the effect of the cancellation ?

Mr. Hoover. I would presume, sir, tha t such a cancellation would 

only be in the event that diplomatic relations became strained with 

tha t country.

In other words, if a country were to change, as Cuba had been a 

friendly country up until the time we got into difficulties with them, 

we would at that time be perfectly free to cancel tha t agreement with 

the Cubans and any outstanding authorizations to Cuban amateurs in 

this country would be automatically terminated as of th at moment.

Air. Hemphill. And they would no longer be allowed to communicate as amateurs from tha t moment?

Air. Hoover. That is correct, sir; as I understand it.

Air. Hemphill. Thank you. Thank you.

Mr. F riedel. Tha t is all, Air. Chairman.

The Chairman. Air. Schenck?

Air. Schenck. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Fir st, Air. Hoover, I 

would like to express my personal appreciation to you for this very 

fine statement and all your deep and helpful personal interest in this 

entire matter. I would also like to express for myself, and I am sure 

all the other members of the committee, our very best personal regards to your illustrious father and our hope for his continued good 

health and happiness.

Air. Hoover. Thank you very much, sir.

Air. Schenck. I have only one question, Air. Hoover. Do any of 

these stations operate on mobile units ?

Air. Hoover. Yes. That is permitted under our rules and regulations of the Federal Communications Commission.

The Chairman. Will the gentleman yield?

Air. Schenck. Yes.

The Chairman. You even operate them from airplanes; don’t you?

Air. Hoover. Yes, sir. It is, of course, necessary to notify the Commission where operations are going to be carried on in accordance with 

their rules and regulations in certain cases.

Air. Schenck. Then there is no particular problem or surveillance 

from the standpoint of necessary and required security because they 

happen to be in mobile units rather than fixed units ?

Air. H oover. None that I am aware of at all, sir; no.

Air. Schenck. That is all I have.

The Chairman. Any other questions by any members of the committee?

I thin k just this one other question. Was not this legislation, originally at least, sponsored and supported by the amateur people through 

the association that you just mentioned?
INTERNATIONAL RECIPROCITY FOR AMATEUR RADIO OPERATORS 25

Mr. H oover. Yes, sir. It lias been sponsored over a period of several years by the American Radio Relay League, Mr. Chairman.

The Chairman. And I might say to our colleagues tha t while I was 

in Geneva as a delegate to the Internation al Telecommunications Conference—I don’t know whether our colleague, Mr. Sibal, went out and 

observed the amateur radio facility operations or not-----

Mr. Sibal. Yes, I did, Mr. Chairman.

The Chairman. The people there interested in communications, of 

course worldwide communications, seemed to know a lot more about 

this legislation than T did, even though it had been referred to this 

committee of which I have the honor of being chairman. They expressed great concern in it, and they felt that it was important insofar 

to amateur radio operators throughout the world. Because of the 

facilities tha t I saw and the interest manifested by so many of the 

people a t the ITU I became interested enough to inquire about this 

legislation when we got back.

Senator Goldwater called and talked to me alxmt it and gave me 

a rundown on how this started and how long they have tried to get this 

authorization. That is the way it was brought to my attention.

Mr. Hoover, we want to join Mr. Schenck in extending to your father 

our best wishes for continued good health and happiness. We want 

to thank you for your appearance here and for your interest and 

your testimony in making the record on this matter.

Mr. Hoover. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate 

it very greatly.

The Chairman. I wonder if your Mr. Huntoon or Mr. Booth have 

any further comments ?

Mr. Hoover. I don't believe so. No, Mr. Ch airm an; but if there are 

any questions that you members of the committee would like to ask 

(hem they are available of course for any answers.

The Chairman. Thank you very much.

Mr. Hoover. Thank you.

Mr. Kornegay. Mr. Chairman, there is one question. It probably 

has been answered this morning, but I don’t recall hearing it. Reference has been made to the fact that the prohibition against gra nting 

licenses as contained in the Communications Act of 1934, but that 

(here is a reciprocal agreement between the United States and Canada, 

and I just wanted to get some statement from somebody about how 

(hat came about.

Is (hat (he result of a treaty or a reciprocal executive agreement?

The Chairman. Commissioner Hyde spoke to that a moment ago 

when he was testifying. The Commissioner may again, if you would 

like, answer Mr. Kornegav’s question, and of course Mr. Hoover just 

explained it too in his statement. Maybe you can clarify it a little 

more.

FU RT HE R STA TEM ENT OF HON. ROSEL H. HYDE, COMMISSIONER, 

FE DE RA L COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

Mr. H yde. The reciprocal arrangement with Canada is the subject 

■of a formal treaty. This was necessary not only because of amateur 

interest, but because of certain aviation services we required reciprocal
26 INTERNATIONAL RECIPROCITY FOR AMATEUR RADIO OPERATORS

rights in order to handle the air traffic. It is the subject of a formal 

treaty.

Mr. Kornegay. That is all, Mr. Chairman.

(The following material was submitted for the record:)

Congress of th e United Sta tes,

House of Represent at ives, 

W as hi ng to n, D .C., J anuary 6, 196}.

Ho n. Oren H arris,

Cha irman , In te rs ta te a nd F or ei gn C om me rce Com mitt ee ,

H ou se of Rep re se nt at iv es ,

W as hi ng to n, D.C.

Dear Mr. Cha irman : You hav e be fo re yo ur co m m itt ee a bill, H.R. 7309, which 

perm it s th e auth ori za tion fo r ali en am ate ur ra dio opera to rs to oper at e th eir 

st ati ons in th e United Sta te s, if th ere is a re ci pr oc al ag re em en t betw een he 

U ni te d S ta te s an d th e ali en’s g ov er nm en t.

I be lie ve we shou ld pr om ote th e in te rc han ge of id ea s be tw ee n pe rson s in th e 

U ni te d S ta te s an d thos e in fo re ig n co un trie s. If th is bill wou ld he lp en co urag e 

th is ty pe of co mmun ica tio n, I am in te re st ed in it s pa ss ag e an d hope th a t you 

may s ch ed ul e he ar in gs on t his m ea su re a t an e ar ly d at e.

Res pe ctfu lly ,

B urt L. Talcott,

U.S. Co ngres sm an.

Congress of th e U nited Sta tes,

House of Repre sent at ives, 

W as hi ng to n, D.C., F eb ru ary 19,196}.

Hon . Oren H arris,

Cha irm an , Co mmitt ee on I n te rsta te a nd F or eign Co mm erc e,

Ho use o f Rep re se nt at iv es ,

W as hi ng to n, D.C.

Dear Mr. Cha irma n : I am en clos in g a cop y of a st ate m en t by Mr. Ra ym on d E. 

Mey ers th a t I wo uld ap pre cia te y our in cl ud in g in th e re co rd duri ng th e he ar in gs 

on II.R . 9035 on T hu rs da y, F eb ru ary 20 ,1904.

Yo ur as si st an ce in th is m a tt e r w ill be gre at ly ap pre ci at ed . I re gre t th a t I 

will b e u na bl e to att end t he heari ngs pe rson ally.

Sinc erely ,

George E. Brown , Jr .,

M em be r of Con gress.

Sta teme nt of Raymond E. Meyers, Director, Sou th wes t Div is io n, 

Ame ric an R adio Relay League

My na m e is Ra ym on d E. Mey ers, lieute nant co mm an de r. U.S . Navy, re tire d, 

of San Gab rie l, Ca lif., dir ec to r of t h e American Rad io Relay Lea gu e an d reg iona l 

vic e pre si den t of th e Ar me d For ce s Com mun ications Assoc iatio n. Inc ., bo th de dica te d to th e im prov em en t of th e a r t an d st re ngth en in g ou r national se cu ri ty : 

Vice C ha irm an of th e A m at eu r Se cti on of th e F ed er al Com mun ications Com ­

mission ’s N at io na l In dust ry Adv isor y Com m itte e; C hai rm an of FC C’s 11th 

Rad io D is tr ic t’s Co op erati ve In te rf ere nce C om m itte e: sp on so r an d c oord in at or o f 

th e In te rn ati onal H an di ca pp ed A m at eu rs ’ Rad io N e t; a co nn nu ni ca tio ns co nsu lt an t by vo catio n, an d an am ate u r ra dio oper at or fo r som e .>0 y ears w ith the 

pre se nt ca ll le tt ers of W6MLZ.

I sh al l att em pt to giv e yo u w h at is co ns id ered as pert in ent in fo rm at io n an d 

fa ct s, whi ch may ha ve som e beari ng on th e pr op os ed legi slatio n.

In 1959, a t th e re qu es t of th e S ta te D ep ar tm en t’s G ov er nm en t-In du st ry Com ­

mitte e. it w as my ple as ur e to ac ce pt an ap po in tm en t as C hai rm an of the Am ate u r Com m itt ee fo r the S ta te D epart m ent sp on so red nin th ple nsiry assembly of 

th e In te rn ati o n al C on su ltat iv e Com m itte e on Rad io (C CIR ) which was he ld in 

th e ci ty of Lo s Angeles. Ca lif., duri ng th e mon th of April in th a t ye ar .

O ur Gov ernm en t, ap pre ci at in g th e fa ct th a t am ate u r radi o, alm os t as old as 

ra dio itse lf , an d ha ving been high ly in st ru m enta l in po pu la ri zi ng an d ad va nc in g 

th e ra dio a rt . believed th a t th es e pion ee rs sh ou ld be re pr es en te d a t th is mo st 

im p o rt an t assembly.
INTERNATIONAL RECIPROCITY FOR AMATEUR RADIO OPERATORS 27

P a st annual re port s to Con gr es s by ou r F ed er al Com m un icat io ns Co mm ission 

cert ain ly bear ou t th e fa ct th a t th e am at eu r, by ex per im en ta tion an d de dica tio n, 

has be en he lp fu l fo r th e de ve lopm en t of ra dio an d TV br oa dca st in g, ra d ar, d ata 

re duc tion tech ni qu es , an d m an y ap pl ic at io ns of tw o-way ra d io as us ed by ou r 

Arm ed Fo rces , pu blic sa fe ty , and man y oth er mo bile ra dio se ndees lic en sed by 

th e Co mm iss ion .

W ith th e ass is ta nce of some 50 or mo re am ate u r ra dio club s in Ariz on a an d 

C al ifor ni a, a sp ec ial ev en ts am ate u r ra di o st ati on w as es ta blish ed to which th e 

FC C as sign ed th e ca ll le tt ers K6 US A. Co ng res s ass is te d in m ak in g th e pro je ct 

a succ es s by ta kin g jo in t ac tion on a re so lutio n, Sen at e Jo in t Res olut ion 47. 

re su ltin g in Pub lic Law 80-8, ap pr ov ed April 3. 1039. T his le gi sl at io n per m itte d 

am ate u rs of some 97 fo re ign nati ons to op er at e th e st ati on duri ng th eir st ay in 

th e U nited Sta te s, on pr oo f th a t ea ch held a cu rr en t am ate ur lice ns e issu ed by his 

go ve rn m en t. Ther e w er e no que st io ns of se cu rity . All of th os e wh o op er at ed 

th e st ati o n w er e ve ry ap pre cia ti ve of th is G ov er nm en t’s co ur te sy .

The pl en ar y as se mbly w as off icia lly opened fr om th e W hi te Hou se by m ea ns 

of am ate u r ra di o ci rc ui ts , and Pre si dent Eisen ho w er ho no re d th e American 

am ate u r fr a te rn it y by per so na lly sign ing our QS L card s w hi ch w er e m ai led to 

some 10,000 oper at or s ar ound th e world th a t had be en co nta cte d by st ati on 

KGUSA. I m ig ht sa y a QS L card is th e ac kk no w le dg em en t of our co nt ac t.

D uri ng 30 da ys of op er at io n, fo re ign am ate urs oper at ed th e six tr an sm it te rs 

in st all ed a t th e H ot el Biltm or e, man y ke ep ing sc he du le s w it h th eir ho melan d. 

P ers onal tra ffi c w as han dl ed w ith th re e co unt ri es th a t had m ad e sp ec ial ag re em en ts w ith ou r S ta te D epar tm en t per m itting am ate u r th ir d -p art y tra ffi c wh en 

it w as re al iz ed ou r am ate ur ci rc uit s were mor e dir ect an d fa ste r th an som e com ­

m er ci al ci rc uits. A lto ge th er 11 nat io ns used our am ate u r ra dio fa ci lities .

W he n th e op er at io n w as c on clu de d, th an ks to our unders ta ndin g Co ng ress th a t 

m ad e it po ssible fo r fo re ig n am ate urs to oper at e st ati on KGUSA, som e 1,500 

de le ga te s le ft Los An geles fo r ho me w ith a b ett er unders ta ndin g of our gre at 

de moc racy , and w hat we s ta nd fo r in our e ff or t to pr om ot e b ett er w or ldw ide good 

re la tions.

So im pr es se d w er e man y of them th a t a nu m ber ap pr oa ch ed me to pa y th eir 

re sp ec ts an d to th ank th e se ve ra l hu nd re d m al e an d fe m al e Am er ic an am ate urs 

th a t had h elpe d ke ep th e st ati on on th e a ir 24 hours a da y, a sk in g w h at th ey c ou ld 

do on th eir re tu rn home th a t wo uld bett er ce m en t re la ti ons w ith th e U nited 

Sta te s. I t w as su gg es ted th a t re st ri ct io ns pro hib itin g th ir d -p art y co m m un ication s by am ate urs be lift ed and th a t our service men , di pl om at ic pe rson ne l, m is ­

sionar ie s, bu sine ssmen , an d to uri st s be perm itte d to oper at e am ate ur ra di o s ta ­

ti ons in th eir co un try.

I t m ig ht be of in te re st to kn ow th a t su bs eq ue nt to th e CC IR co nferen ce , our 

S ta te D epar tm en t has sign ed ag re em en ts w ith Mexico, H on du ra s, Ven ezue la. 

H ait i, Bolivia, P ara guay, and El Sa lvad or , m ak in g a to ta l of 17 of th e mem be r 

nati ons of th e O rg an iz at io n of American S ta te s th a t now per m it, an d welco me , 

th e han dl in g of am ate u r mes sage s to and from re si dents or vi si to rs in th os e 

co un trie s. The se a re th e on ly co un trie s th a t could ac ce pt or han dl e mes sa ge s 

fo r our Pe ac e Co rps pe rs on ne l a t pr esen t.

In ad di tion , a lim it e tl nu m ber o f c ou nt ries h av e now ex te nded sp ec ia l oper at in g 

pr iv ileg es to a lim ited nu m ber of o ur A merican am ate urs in cl ud in g Amba ss ad or s 

A rm in H. Me yer, in Le ba no n, an d W ill ia m P ort er, in Alg er ia , as we ll as Mr. 

G er al d C. Gr oss , Sec re ta ry Gen eral of th e In te rn ati o n al Telec om mun icatio ns 

Union in Ge neva.

I m ig ht ad d he re , too, al th ough it is not in my w ri tt en st at em ent, th e V at ic an 

al so ha s an am ate u r ra dio st at io n, an d th ey ha ve in vited th e American am ate urs 

vis it in g th e V at ic an t o m ak e us e o f th e st at io n.

Co ng ress ha s alr eady pa ss ed legi slatio n which perm it s fo re ig n air li ne pi lo ts 

and fo re ig n em ba ss ies to ope ra te ra di o w ithin our bou nd ar ie s. To dat e, no pr ovi sion s ha ve bee n m ad e to au th or iz e am ate ur ra dio oper at io n to th e am bas sa dor s 

of th e ai rw ay s, w ith but on e ex ce ption— Can ad a.

Eve ry tim e an A m er ic an am ate ur goes on th e a ir and co nt ac ts a fo re ig n 

am ate ur, he is pr ob ab ly te llin g so mething ab out his job, ho me life , ed uc at io n, 

hi s ca r. or ou r ri g h t to elec t th e Pre si den t, Mem be rs of Co ng res s, or S ta te an d 

lo ca l officials. On e th in g w e a vo id di sc us sing is th e su bje ct of re ci pr oc al a m ate u r 

op er at io n oth er th an to sa y “som e da y th is may be po ss ible.’’

Alth ou gh a nu m be r of fo re ig n na tion s, or po ssessio ns, ex te nd th e han d of welcom e to th e A m er ic an am ate ur, we ha ve no re ci pr oc al ag re em en ts ex ce pt fo r th e 

on e ex ce ption pr ev io us ly men tio ne d.
28 INTERNATIONAL RECIPROCITY FOR AMATEUR RADIO OPERATORS

Some of our ama teur s have made perso nal contact with every known nation 

in the world th at permits operation of am ateur radio. Many of the more f ort unate have visited the homes of fore ign amateurs thro ugh out the five continents. 

Inv ariabl y, especially in those cou ntri es that, permit American amateu rs to use 

the ir equipm ent, the question will a ri se : “Why does t he United States accept our 

hos pita lity and yet deny our few vis itors to your country the thr ill of operation 

in your coun try ?”

Most foreign ama teurs are eit her of profes sional backgr ound or influential 

in governm ent. We need these people a s o ur friend s. For example, my call book 

shows th at of nine am ateur licenses outstan ding in Saudi Arabia, one has been 

issued to an American servicem an, six to as many ruling prince s of the country, 

and one to a resident of one of the roy al palaces.

We am ate urs hope th at thi s comm ittee will see fit to ass ist in this people-topeople program, the Peace Corps, and CARE, as well as such public-spirited 

ent erp rise s as Pro ject Hope, by cons idering the many American amateu rs overseas who are somewhat emb arra ssed by not being able to explain why this 

country, the gre atest natio n on ea rth , does not reci proc ate and extend the hand 

of welcome to a few a ma teu rs of frie ndl y nations who may visit o ur shores. One 

am ate ur in West Germany, in chatt ing about reciprocal operatin g agreements, 

commen ted: “You folks in America should read Acts 20: 30 of the Bible which 

re ad s: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ” And I had no answer to 

th at.

As a member of our Armed Forces , with some 34 yea rs service, a veteran of 

both W orld Wars, as well as a membe r of a numbe r of exped itions—and I haven ’t 

pu t it in the record, but I do mean some landings with the mil itar y forces and 

thre e civilian ente rpris es of a scientific natu re, and having personally met or 

comm unicated with many am ate urs thro ughout the globe, it is my humble 

opinion th at we can do much to be tte r cement good world wide rela tion s by gra nting reciproc al operating privileges to our fellow am ate urs of these nations 

frie ndly to the United Stat es witho ut any dang er to our nationa l security .

(Whereupon, at 11:05 a.ra., Thursday, February 20, 19G4, the committee proceeded with other business.)