I 
110TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2743 
To provide for the continuance of volunteer communications capability within 
the United States and its territories. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 15, 2007 
Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland introduced the following bill; which was referred 
to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To provide for the continuance of volunteer communications 
capability within the United States and its territories. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Military Affiliate Radio 
System Emergency Communication Act of 2007’’. 
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SEC. 2. PROTECTION OF THE MILITARY AFFILIATE RADIO 
SYSTEM (MARS) AND SHARED RESOURCES 
HIGH 
FREQUENCY 
RADIO 
PROGRAM 
(SHARES) 
EMERGENCY 
COMMUNICATIONS 
SYSTEMS. 
(a) AMENDMENT.—The first title XVIII of the 
Homeland Security Act of 2002 (as added by section 671 
of Public Law 109–295; 6 U.S.C. 571 et seq.), relating 
to emergency communications, is amended— 
(1) by redesignating section 1808 as section 
1809; and 
(2) by inserting after section 1807 the following 
new section: 
‘‘SEC. 1808. PROTECTION OF THE MILITARY AFFILIATE 
RADIO SYSTEM (MARS) AND SHARED RE-
SOURCES HIGH FREQUENCY RADIO PRO-
GRAM (SHARES) EMERGENCY COMMUNICA-
TIONS SYSTEMS. 
‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to rec-
ognize the valuable contribution that the Military Affiliate 
Radio System (in this section referred to as ‘MARS’) 
makes in providing a worldwide backup emergency com-
munication system, either on their assigned channels or 
on the National Communication System Shared Resources 
High Frequency Radio Program (in this section referred 
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to as ‘SHARES’), by protecting these existing volunteer 
high frequency networks. 
‘‘(b) REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary— 
‘‘(1) shall require that high frequency (short- 
wave) transmitters, receivers, and related data and 
interface equipment that meet standards of service 
established for the Amateur Radio Service under 
part 97 of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, by 
the Federal Communications Commission (in this 
section referred to as the ‘Commission’) in the fre-
quency range of 2–30 megahertz are also approved 
for routine training functions and emergency com-
munication service on any Federal Government 
MARS or SHARES channel within that frequency 
range; 
‘‘(2) shall not require the discontinuance of the 
use of any communications equipment that has been 
approved by the Commission for operation within 
the Amateur Radio Service from operating in the 
radio service bands assigned to MARS or SHARES; 
‘‘(3) may add new transmitters and receivers to 
the MARS and SHARES networks so long as the 
equipment— 
‘‘(A) meets Commission standards for op-
eration in the Amateur Radio Service; and 
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‘‘(B) is equipped with frequency stabiliza-
tion modules; 
‘‘(4) shall not add any additional technical re-
quirements for MARS stations, and shall not permit 
any agency or instrumentality of the Department of 
Homeland Security to add any additional technical 
requirements for MARS stations; and 
‘‘(5) shall encourage and utilize MARS per-
sonnel, facilities, capabilities, and radio equipment to 
connect to the Internet in their emergency commu-
nication planning.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of con-
tents in section 1(b) of the Homeland Security Act of 
2002 is amended by striking out the item pertaining to 
section 1808 and inserting the following: 
‘‘Sec. 1808. Protection of the Military Affiliate Radio System (MARS) and 
Shared Resources High Frequency Radio Program (SHARES) 
Emergency Communications Systems. 
‘‘Sec. 1809. Definition.’’. 
Æ 
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