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 York’s 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 Chris’s 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 won’t
even make it to mark-up. Chris and John informed Parkinson that a “don’t
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
King’s office, since he represents part of the Hudson Division. Rep. King’s
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. King’s
office how many licensees are in the district, because that shows how many
of his constituents may be displeased by the legislation’s effect on Amateur
Radio.

The text of this legislation is now available to the public on THOMAS, the
Library of Congress’s 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 Chwat’s
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. That’s 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

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