An example of the letter that will be generated.

The Honorable Brad Miller
United States House of Representatives
1127 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515

March 5, 2011

Dear Representative Miller:

As a voter in your district and as one of the nearly 700,000 federally licensed
Amateur Radio operators across the nation, I ask that you oppose H.R. 607, the
"Broadband for First Responders Act of 2011" in its current form. H.R. 607 was
introduced by Congressman Peter King (R-NY) and referred to the House Committee
on Energy and Commerce.

H.R. 607 proposes to allocate the "D-Block" of frequencies (frequencies previously
occupied by analog television) to be developed into an interoperable Public Safety
wireless network. Earlier, it had been expected that the D-Block would be auctioned
by the FCC for commercial use, but there is now substantial support for the allocation
of the D-Block to Public Safety. H.R. 607 also provides for the reallocation of other
spectrum for auction to commercial users, in order to offset the loss of revenue
anticipated by the auction of the D-Block.

While I strongly support the work of the Public Safety officials who put their lives
on the line for our safety, my opposition to the bill stems from the inclusion of the
420-440 MHz spectrum (the UHF 70-cm band) as part of a frequency swap and auction.
Very little of this spectrum is allocated to Public Safety, and only in very limited
areas. Rather, it is allocated to government radiolocation services on a primary basis,
with Amateur Radio allocated on a secondary basis. The Federal government uses this
band for critical defense purposes, including Pave Paws radars for detecting
surface-launched missiles aimed at the United States, and for airborne radars used
for drug interdiction. The Amateur Service carefully coordinates its uses of this band
to insure compatibility. The two services have a very good record of sharing this
spectrum successfully, putting it to good use for both military and civilian purposes
in the national interest.

Amateur radio emergency communications rely heavily on our limited frequency
allocations in the VHF and UHF radio bands. The loss of access to the 420-440 MHz
spectrum would make it very difficult for us to maintain this capability and would
mean we could no longer use numerous systems that have been constructed on our own
time and at personal expense to provide this important communications support.

Amateur Radio operators across the country repeatedly demonstrate our commitment to
public service and emergency communications. Through our work with FEMA and other
Homeland Security activities, state and local Emergency Management offices, and
numerous charitable relief agencies, volunteer Amateur Radio operators assist the first
responders, doing so at no cost to the agencies we support. The role of the Amateur
Radio Service as a partner to Public Safety in providing supporting public service and
emergency communications necessitates our retention of full access to the entire
70-cm band.

We understand and support that Public Safety officials must have the spectrum they need
to do their jobs. However, it is not necessary to do so in the ill-conceived manner
proposed in this bill. Other pending legislation provides for this important goal
to be realized without the proposed reallocation of non-Public Safety spectrum for
commercial auction that is included in H.R. 607. I urge you to oppose H.R. 607
in its current form. Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,


Your Name
Your Address
Your city and zip