Hello, The effort to get HR-1301 to become law is moving along. As of this morning there were 40 names on the Bill. Now that the House is back in session, we expect that number to increase. (Please excuse my use of the soapbox, but you know me.) In order for us to succeed, we really need full participation from the Board and our Officers. This doesn’t mean having to come into Washington to meetings with staffers and Representatives, although that would be ideal. But it does mean that everyone needs to do their part and in some was reach out to the membership AND to Congressmen/women in their Districts . Unfortunately, this is not the case at this time. In some Divisions there has been no communication to the membership. And one of our brethren has openly derided the ARRL, bad-mouthing our efforts regarding HR-1301 at two large scale venues. This behavior is destructive and should not be allowed to continue. As Walt Kelly through Pogo once said, “we have met the enemy and he is us.” Let’s not shoot ourselves in the foot. We need to do this together as a team. If you either can’t participate or won’t support the effort, then please delegate. Or ask for help. Let’s get this done To that end, I’ve been asked to share the various templates that I’ve been using for HR-1301 1. This is how I instructed the members in my Division on how to email their Congressional Representative. It takes some work, especially in the larger states where you have 50+ representatives in Congress. However, it needs to be done. In my office visits within the Hudson Division I am finding that many of the staffers have already read emails from our members. And they ALL ask for constituent input. The instructions on how to contact their representative precedes the suggested email. Feel free to adapt it to your needs. This works for me. It may need tweaking to make it work for you. Here is the template: Message sent to Division by Mike Lisenco, N2YBB at Mar 26, 2015 15:50 GMT Recipents: NY19 Released by: Mike Lisenco, N2YBB Subject: Please email Rep. Gibson Regarding HR-1301 Hello, As you know, HR 1301, a Bill recently introduced in Congress, would extend PRB-1 rights to those hams living with CC&Rs prohibiting them from even a simple wire antenna. Please cut and paste the email below, FIRST MAKING SURE THAT YOU ADD YOUR NAME AND CALLSIGN TO THE SIGNATURE below and email it to the Congressman using the Congressional email link at: http://gibson.house.gov/contact/default.aspx Put your zip code in the dialogue box, hit submit, follow to the next page. Fill in the boxes and paste the letter in the Message box. When it asks for the issue you’re writing about, use either Telecommunications or Emergency Management. In the Subject box, please put: Please cosponsor H.R. 1301 If by chance you know him personally, or any of his staff, please contact me immediately. I will also be sending instructions on how to mail hard-copy letters to your Representative. Tnx es 73 de Mike N2YBB - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Dear Congressman Gibson, I am a constituent in your District and I want to bring an issue to your attention. I am a federally licensed Amateur Radio operator, one of over 2,000 whom reside in your District. We provide communications support and participate in public service events on behalf of the community, during times of emergency by providing communications for local governmental agencies and non-governmental agencies (NGO) like the Red Cross and Salvation Army, communications support to the United States Military through their Military Auxiliary Radio System (MARS), to our neighbors when mainstream communications break down, and to the future of telecommunications as we participate in the development of cutting edge technology in this digital age. We cannot do any of these things, which we do at no charge ever to anyone we help, without being able to place an outdoor antenna on our property. Recently a bi-partisan Bill, H.R. 1301, was introduced by Mr. Kinzinger(R-IL) and Mr. Courtney (D-CT) which would extend the ability to properly negotiate with developments that have restrictions that routinely preclude Amateur Radio operators from putting up even a simple wire antenna in a tree that would never be seen by the community. We already have this ability with local zoning ordinances, but we need to extend this ability to operators living under land use restrictions. All we are asking for is reasonable accommodation. As your constituent, I am asking that you support the good work we do as Amateur Radio operators by signing-on as a cosponsor. Please contact Rep.Kinzinger’s office to do so. If you have any questions, please contact our Division Director, XXXX XXXXXXX at XXXXX@arrl.org or 555-555-5555. Sincerely, - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 2. Here are the instructions I gave them on how to write the hard copy letter that we need mailed to Dan Henderson at HQ. This one just needs to be a mass email to the entire Division and does not need to be mailed to each Congressional district in each state. The template for the hard-copy letter is the same that we’ve been using online: Message sent to Division by Mike Lisenco, N2YBB at Mar 27, 2015 17:57 GMT Released by: Mike Lisenco, N2YBB Subject: Hard Copy Letter Template for HR-1301 Letter to Your Congressman/woman Good day, Let me first apologize as I realize that my constant emails regarding HR-1301 may be annoying to some of you. However, please be aware that this issue is moving very quickly. As of this morning, we have 32 names on board HR-1301, and we add more each time Congress is in session. The following Representatives have already signed-on as a co-sponsor, so please do not send the following email to them. Instead, send them a short thank you note for adding their support to HR-1301 and Amateur Radio. These members are: Peter King (NY-2)Steve Israel (NY-3)Eliot Engel (NY-16)Paul Tonko (NY-20)Chris Collins (NY-27)Chris Smith (NJ-4)Leonard Lance (NJ-7)Rodney Frelinghuysen (NJ-11) The emails I've asked you to send are very important to us. Hard-copy letters are equally so. In our meetings with Congressional members or their staffers, we are constantly asked for input from their constituents. There are 435 Representatives, and the small band of merry men and woman who are making these visits often speak to representatives way outside our home Congressional district. These letters help establish our credentials in our talks. We are urging members to contact their US House members and ask them to sign on to the bill as a co-sponsor. Due to the fact that we want these letters in hand when we visit, and knowing that it takes an extremely long time for snail-mail to get through the system, we recommend sending the letter to your member of Congress to: ARRLAttn: HR-1301 grassroots campaign225 Main StNewington CT 06111 Besides the email I asked you to send, please complete and send this letter as soon as possible. Congressional staffers always ask for constituent input. We need these letters when we visit offices in Washington. Right now is the perfect time to get these letters to ARRL HQ so that we can use them when we next visit D.C. If you don’t know your Congressman/woman, use this link. http://www.house.gov/representatives/ Enter your zip code in the upper right hand corner and hit enter. You may need your zip code plus four to get the correct information. Please use the following template when writing your letter, AND PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE send the letter. Tnx es 73 de Mike N2YBB - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - DATE CONGRESSPERSON NAMECONGRESSPERSON ADDRESS Dear Representative _____________: I am a constituent in your District and I want to bring an issue to your attention. I am a federally licensed Amateur Radio operator, one of nearly three-quarters of a million licensees of the Federal Communications Commission in the United States. We provide communications support for, and participate in public service events on behalf of our communities. During and in the aftermath of disasters and emergencies, when other forms of communications are unavailable, we provide communications for first responders and Federal, state and local governmental agencies and non-governmental agencies, including the Red Cross and Salvation Army; for the United States Military through the Military Auxiliary Radio System (MARS); and to our neighbors when communications systems are overloaded or fail. Radio Amateurs contribute to the future of telecommunications as we participate in the development of innovative technology in this digital age. Amateur Radio is non-commercial, and weprovide our services at no charge to anyone. We cannot do any of these things, however, unless we can erect an outdoor antenna at our residences. Recently, a bi-partisan Bill, H.R. 1301 - The Amateur Radio Parity Act of 2015, was introduced by Congressman Adam Kinzinger (IL-16) withCongressman Joe Courtney (CT-02) and eleven additional original co-sponsors. HR-1301 directs the FCC to extend their existing PRB-1regulations of reasonable accommodation of Amateur Radio communications to include private land use regulators. This would afford us the ability to negotiate with homeowners associations in residential developments. Private land use regulations routinely include restrictions that completely preclude Amateur Radio communications operators from installing any type of outdoor antenna system. The reasonable accommodation policy has for 30 years applied to municipal zoning ordinances. This Bill would extend the policy to operators living under private land use restrictions. The FCC has asked Congress for guidance in this area and this Bill provides it. As your constituent, I am asking that you support the bill by signing-on as a cosponsor. Please contact Rep. Kinzinger’s office to do so. If you have any questions, please contact ARRL, the national association for Amateur Radio, attention Dan Henderson, at 860-594-0236. Thank you. Sincerely, YOUR NAME & CALLYOUR ADDRESS - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 3. Perhaps thank you emails are even more important when a Representative signs on. When that happens, I send an email to the members in the specific Congressional District of that Representative to let them know that their support is very welcome. The email is simple and to the point as no further pitch needs to be made. I’ve been visiting many offices while in D.C. (over 50 so far this year alone), and many are outside of my Division. A number of those visits have been fruitful and the Member has either come back as a co-sponsor or has joined on for the first time. Please go to www.congress.gov, see if any of your Representatives have signed onto the bill, and send them thank you emails if they have. Once again, I include instructions on how to email the specific Representative: Message sent to Division by Mike Lisenco, N2YBB at Mar 27, 2015 20:51 GMT Recipents: NJ04 Released by: Mike Lisenco, N2YBB Subject: Thank Rep. Smith for co-sponsoring HR-1301 Hello, Today, Congressman Chris Smith added his support and became a co-sponsor of HR-1301. We'd like to extend our thanks to him for doing so. IT IS AS IMPORTANT TO SAY THANKS AS IT IS TO ASK FOR SUPPORT! Please cut and paste the email below, FIRST MAKING SURE THAT YOU ADD YOUR NAME AND CALLSIGN TO THE SIGNATURE below and send it to the Congressman usingthe Congressional email link at: http://chrissmith.house.gov/contact/zipauth.htm Fill in the form and paste the letter in the "Message" box. In the Subject box, please put: Thank you for co-sponsoring H.R. 1301. Tnx es 73 de Mike N2YBB - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Dear Congressman Smith, I am a federally licensed Amateur Radio operator, one of nearly 1,300 who reside in your District. I'd like to take this opportunity to simply say thank you for signing on as a co-sponsor to H.R. 1301, "The Amateur Radio Parity Act of 2015." We in the Amateur Radio community are very grateful for your support. Again, thank you. Sincerely, - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Next email will have templates I use when following up on my office visits. 73 de Mike N2YBB - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Mike Lisenco, N2YBB Director, Hudson Division ARRL - The national association for Amateur Radio™ 917-865-3538 n2ybb@arrl.org