SB QST @ ARL $ARLB042
ARLB042 ARRL Calls on Members to Press for US Senate Passage of Amateur Radio
Parity Act

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ARRL Bulletin 42  ARLB042
> From ARRL Headquarters
Newington CT  November 17, 2016
To all radio amateurs

SB QST ARL ARLB042
ARLB042 ARRL Calls on Members to Press for US Senate Passage of Amateur Radio
Parity Act

ARRL once again is calling on its members to urge their US Senators to support
the Amateur Radio Parity Act (H.R. 1301) when it comes up in the Senate during
the "lame duck" session of Congress that adjourns in mid-December. The House
of Representatives approved the bill in September, but if the Senate does not
follow suit, the bill will die, and the entire process will have to be
repeated. ARRL Hudson Division Director Mike Lisenco, N2YBB, who chairs the
ARRL Board's Legislative Advocacy Committee and has been heavily involved in
efforts to move H.R. 1301 forward, said today, "The clock is ticking."

"We begin the e-mail campaign once again, as the US Senate returns to work
this week after a month-long hiatus," Lisenco said. "We were just beginning to
build momentum in the Senate following the
unanimous passage of the Parity Act in the House when Congress shut down for
the 4 weeks prior to Election Day."

The task is simple: Go to our Rally Congress page, enter your ZIP code, fill
in your name and address, press enter, and e-mails will go directly to your
Senators. Members may do this, even if they have already contacted their US
Senators for support.

Our Rally Congress page is at, https://arrl.rallycongress.net/ .

"We have to remind our legislators that we are still here and that we need the
Amateur Radio Parity Act to become law," Lisenco stressed. "We must to do this
now as we have, at most, only 4 weeks
left in the session to get the bill passed this year.  Otherwise, we will have
to begin the entire process in 2017 with a new 115th Congress."

There are no guarantees, Lisenco said, and we are subject to the political
bickering that goes on daily between the parties, despite the fact that the
bill is truly a bipartisan effort. "In order to have a chance at overcoming
political obstacles that have little or nothing to do with the legislation, we
need our voices to be heard," he said. "And we need that input today."

September's victory in the US House was the culmination of many years of
effort on ARRL's part to gain legislation that would enable radio amateurs
living in deed-restricted communities to erect efficient outdoor antennas that
support Amateur Radio communication. The measure calls on the FCC to amend its
Part 97 rules "to prohibit the application to amateur stations of certain
private land-use restrictions, and for other purposes." While similar bills in
past years gained some traction on Capitol Hill, it was not until the
overwhelming grassroots support from the Amateur Radio community for H.R.
1301, and ARRL's relentless and strident efforts on Capitol Hill that this
bill made it this far.

As the amended bill provides, "Community associations should fairly administer
private land-use regulations in the interest of their communities, while
nevertheless permitting the installation and
maintenance of effective outdoor Amateur Radio antennas. There exist antenna
designs and installations that can be consistent with the aesthetics and
physical characteristics of land and structures in community associations
while accommodating communications in the Amateur Radio services."

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