All, President Craigie's message regarding HR 607 stimulated me to being you up-to-date on the development of the computer program that is useful in obtaining letters to US representatives and senators. Some of you have seen the alpha version of this program in operation on the Internet. I met earlier this afternoon with the GLD member who is developing the final program. The goals for the program are: - to add the names and addresses of sender's and recipient's of the text of letters merely by inputting sender call signs. - to be able to load and toggle between a minimum of four letters (totally different or variants) that can be changed to meet the occasion. - to be able to toggle between a writer's senator(s) or representative for a specified letter. - to print the completed letter locally. - to download the program locally to operate and to edit the letter cache. - to use wireless or wired connections to obtain the names and addresses. - to have the program operational by the Dayton Hamvention (tm). It will be available to directors who wish to use it The program is being developed specifically for Windows XP with the intent to have it also operable with Windows 7 (and Vista?). Using the program as it was first developed by Director Norton's friend, former GLD Legislative Action Chair NB4K was able to obtain many hundreds of letters at several hamfests last year. In most instances, he was able to make a wireless connection; however, he also reverted to more manual approaches when there was no connectivity. The signed letters were forwarded to John Chwat for distribution by hand on Capitol Hill. I believe the program under development will prove even more helpful. Any comments or questions will be appreciated. FYI, Jim Jim Weaver, K8JE, Director ARRL Great Lakes Division 5065 Bethany Rd. Mason, OH 45040; Tel. 513-459-1661 ARRL, The national association for Amateur Radio _____ From: arrl-odv-bounces@reflector.arrl.org [mailto:arrl-odv-bounces@reflector.arrl.org] On Behalf Of Kay Craigie Sent: Thursday, February 17, 2011 11:13 AM To: ODV Reflector Subject: [arrl-odv:19707] H.R. 607 update On Monday in ODV:19699, Chris brought to our attention H.R. 607, the Broadband for First Responders Act of 2011, act introduced by Rep. Peter King from New Yorks third district. This bill proposes to place 420-440 MHz, among other spectrum, up for auction in several years time. This, of course, is totally unacceptable to us. Although Chriss source assured him that this part of the bill is going nowhere, it would be foolish and naïve to rely on that. Public Safety may not want us to raise a ruckus about this bill, as Chris said, but they are not going to get what they want. We have to oppose it in its present form. This is what has happened since Monday, and what we plan to do from here on out. On Tuesday, Chris and John Chwat met with Ed Parkinson, the "Republican Professional Staff Member" in the House Committee on Homeland Security. The bill has been referred over to the House committee on Energy and Commerce. Parkinson told Chris and John that this bill will not pass, that it wont even make it to mark-up. Chris and John informed Parkinson that a dont worry about it message to our members would not be credible. There is other D-Block legislation in the House and in the Senate, with more expected to be introduced. None of it includes any reference to 420-440 MHz, and Chwat will be working with the relevant Capitol Hill offices to keep it that way. Yesterday, Director Birmingham was brought up to date on contacts with Kings office, since he represents part of the Hudson Division. Rep. Kings office was interested in having a list of Amateurs in the district. We declined to provide that information, because we did not see how it could benefit our strategic interests. We were willing to inform Rep. Kings office how many licensees are in the district, because that shows how many of his constituents may be displeased by the legislations effect on Amateur Radio. The text of this legislation is now available to the public on THOMAS, the Library of Congresss site, and so it is imperative for us to start getting the word out to our members. To find the legislation, go to http://thomas.loc.gov. In the box labeled Legislation in Current Congress, click on Bill Number, then enter H.R. 607 in the box and click SEARCH. A press release has been prepared, explaining to members the background and content of the bill, and alerting them to expect further information and a call to action. That press release is attached to this message. It will be published on the web site after I send it to you. A sample letter for members to send to their Representatives, via Chwats office, is in preparation. When the letter is ready, Dan Henderson will activate our grass-roots legislative volunteers and publish an issue of the Legislative Update newsletter. When the sample letter is ready to go, all ARRL members will be asked to write to their members of Congress. Because the bill is in the House Energy and Commerce Committee, I have attached for your information a list of members of that committee. They should be especially targeted for letter-writing. Page 2 is a list of those Energy and Commerce Committee members who are on the Subcommittee on Technology, Communications, and the Internet. We are fortunate to have Rep. Walden on this committee and chairing the subcommittee. A letter is being prepared for me to send to Representative King, explaining how his legislation in its present form is unacceptable to Amateurs. Chwat has meetings with committee counsels scheduled for tomorrow. It is entirely possible that this bill -- or at least the part we object to -- is DOA, as some sources have told us, and I am mindful of the pitfalls of crying wolf. However, to keep the canine metaphor, if the wolf really is at the door, we cannot risk finding ourselves on his menu. Thats why we are taking this bill seriously and will be calling for grass-roots action very soon. When the sample letter is ready, I will post a copy to the ODV. 73 - Kay N3KN _____ No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 10.0.1204 / Virus Database: 1435/3448 - Release Date: 02/16/11