All: I want to update you on activities on my recent visit to Washington DC. After the EC Meeting, the Keelen Group arranged my schedule for House and Senate visits on the "Hill". I arrived at the Keelen Group's office around 9 AM after learning how to navigate on the Metro system learning the ticketing process. Between 9 AM and 9:45 AM, we went over the process and schedule for the day. There were 7 discussions scheduled - 5 with House staff and 2 with Senate staff. All were representatives of Oregon and Washington. The conversations were quite interesting and I believe we (Frank McCarthy and me) conveyed our message. During the morning, I stopped by my local congresswoman's office and was able to schedule an impromptu meeting with Staff in the afternoon. During the discussions with the Legislative Director of Oregon's 1st Legislative District, the Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici came into the room and greeted us. Her District includes the western suburbs of Portland and west to the coast including Beaverton where her local office is located. Since I worked for Tektronix in Beaverton, we talked about that linkage to help break the ice. It was a fun conversation. In the impromptu discussion with the Legislative Assistance for WA #3, Representative Jamie Herrera Beutler came into the meeting room. I knew that she attended the same high school as my boys and we immediately began to discuss common acquaintances. The discussion then transitioned to HB 1301. In all cases, the Representatives or their staff members we met were asked to review the information packet provided and to co-sponsor the bill (or drop a companion bill in the Senate.) Thank you letters were of course sent to all that we met. I anticipate (hope) we get at least 4 co-sponsors resulting from these discussions! QRX... Then in the evening, I had the opportunity to meet Honorary Vice President Dennis Bodson for dinner. We had a delightful chat and he wanted to express his delight to the Board for electing him as a HVP. I hope to return to DC and continue the discussions. It was really fun! 73 Jim K9JF James E. Fenstermaker K9JF 2nd Vice President American Radio Relay League (206) 930-9372