Good Afternoon ODV, I’d like to bring you up to date on the progress of H.R. 1301 as it moves through the Senate. As you know, the Bill has been going through the process of hotlining – in other words, a polling of the 100 Senators by party leadership to determine if the Bill can pass with no objection (unanimous consent). We discovered late last week that an anonymous hold was placed on the Bill, effectively freezing the Bill in place without allowing it to move forward for a vote. Today we learned that the Bill has become stuck in the legislative in-fighting between both parties along with many other Bills currently up for consideration. The hold has absolutely nothing to do with the ARRL, CAI or the legislation. Instead it has become part of one huge political ping-pong ball that will bounce back and forth until after election day, when the lame duck session begins. This does not mean that the Bill is dead. It means that, like all the other legislation affected by this stalemate, it will have to wait until November for movement. Unfortunately this is completely out of our control. We will reach out to party leadership through The Keelen Group in an effort to keep interest in the Bill high during the hiatus and to get passage of our bipartisan legislation when they return. All I can say to you at this time is to be patient and keep your fingers crossed. 73 de Mike N2YBB - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Mike Lisenco, N2YBB Director, Hudson Division Chairman, ad hoc Legislative Advocacy Committee ARRL - The national association for Amateur Radio™ 917-865-3538 n2ybb@arrl.org