As a further update on legislative matters, you will want to know that S. 1755 is still among those bills trapped in the House Energy and Commerce Committee because of the partisan conflict in the committee. The Southwestern Division leadership has been requested to get as many letters as possible written to committee chairman Waxman from members in his home district urging him to get the stopper out of the bottle. I'd like to thank them for getting right on that. Also, S. 2881, the "FCC Commissioners Technical Resource Enhancement Act," has been given a "do pass" recommendation from the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. This is the bill that would allow each FCC Commissioner to hire an engineer or computer scientist for technical consultation. The bill also directs the FCC Chairman to enter into an arrangement with the National Academy of Sciences to analyze the FCC's technical policy decision making and personnel. According to Chwat, this "do pass" recommendation means that S. 2881 could pass the Senate quickly and be sent to the House. There it will join its House counterpart legislation, H.R. 4809, in the Energy and Commerce Committee, where other FCC-related legislation (including our S. 1755) has languished these many months. Chwat says it is possible that S. 2881 / H.R. 4809 can pass during the short time remaining in this session of Congress, but I get the impression that we shouldn't hold our breath because the Democrats and Republicans in the committee are unable to agree about FCC reform legislation. 73 - Kay N3KN