Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 108 Part 5.djvu/738

 108 STAT. 4228 PUBLIC LAW 103-408—OCT. 22, 1994 Public Law 103-408 103d Congress Joint Resolution Oct. 22, 1994 To recognize the achievements of radio amateurs, and to establish support for [S.J. Res. 90] such amateurs as national policy. Whereas Congress has expressed its determination in section 1 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 151) to promote safety of Ufe and property through the use of radio communication; Whereas Congress, in section 7 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 157), established a poHcy to encourage the provision of new technologies and services; Whereas Congress, in section 3 of the Communications Act of 1934, defined radio stations to include amateur stations operated by persons interested in radio technique without pecuniary interest; Whereas the Federal Communications Commission has created an effective regulatory framework through which the amateur radio service has been able to achieve the goals of the service; Whereas these regulations, set forth in part 97 of title 47 of the Code of Federed Regulations clarify and extend the purposes of the amateur radio service as a— (1) voluntary noncommercial communication service, particularly with respect to providing emergency communications; (2) contributing service to the advancement of the telecommunications infrastructure; (3) service which encourages improvement of an individual's technical and operating skills; (4) service providing a national reservoir of trained operators, technicians and electronics experts; and (5) service enhancing international good will; Whereas Congress finds that members of the amateur radio service community has provided invaluable emergency communications services following such disasters as Hurricanes Hugo, Andrew, and Iniki, the Mt. St. Helens eruption, the Loma Prieta earthquake, tornadoes, floods, wild fires, and industrial accidents in great number and variety across the Nation; and Whereas Congress finds that the amateur radio service has made a contribution to our Nation's commimications by its crafting, in 1961, of the first Earth satellite licensed by the Federal Communications Commission, by its proof-of-concept for search and rescue satellites, by its continued exploration of the low Earth orbit in particular pointing the way to commercial use thereof in the 1990s, by its pioneering of communications using reflections from meteor trails, a technique now used for certain government and commercial commimications, and by its leading role in development of low-cost, practical data transmission by

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