Amateur Radio Spectrum Protection Act of 1999

Amateur Radio Spectrum Protection Act of 1999 - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to prohibit the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), after July 1, 1999, from making any reallocations of amateur radio service and amateur satellite service frequency bands, diminishing the secondary allocations of such bands or making additional allocations within such bands that would substantially reduce their utility unless at the same time the FCC provides equivalent replacement spectrum.

[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 783 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 783

   To ensure the availability of spectrum to amateur radio operators.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 23, 1999

 Mr. Bilirakis (for himself and Mr. Pallone) introduced the following 
         bill; which was referred to the Committee on Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To ensure the availability of spectrum to amateur radio operators.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Amateur Radio Spectrum Protection 
Act of 1999''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) More than 650,000 radio amateurs in the United States 
        are licensed by the Federal Communications Commission.
            (2) Among the basic purposes of the Amateur Radio and 
        Amateur Satellite Services are to provide voluntary, 
        noncommercial radio service, particularly emergency 
        communications.
            (3) Emergency communications services by volunteer amateur 
        radio operators have consistently and reliably been provided 
        before, during, and after floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, forest 
        fires, earthquakes, blizzards, train accidents, chemical 
        spills, and other disasters.
            (4) The Federal Communications Commission has taken actions 
        which have resulted in the loss of at least 107 MHz of spectrum 
        to radio amateurs.

SEC. 3. FEDERAL POLICY REGARDING REALLOCATION OF AMATEUR RADIO 
              SPECTRUM.

    Section 303 of the Communications Act of 1934 is amended by adding 
at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(z) Notwithstanding subsection (c), after July 1, 1999--
            ``(1) make no reallocation of primary allocations of bands 
        of frequencies of the amateur radio and amateur satellite 
        services;
            ``(2) not diminish the secondary allocations of bands of 
        frequencies to the amateur radio or amateur satellite service; 
        and
            ``(3) make no additional allocations within such bands of 
        frequencies that would substantially reduce the utility thereof 
        to the amateur radio or amateur satellite service;
unless the Commission, at the same time, provides equivalent 
replacement spectrum to amateur radio and amateur satellite service.''.
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