[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3207 Introduced in House (IH)]


104th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 3207

 To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to facilitate utilization of 
      volunteer resources on behalf of the amateur radio service.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 29, 1996

   Mr. Baker of California (for himself, Mr. Bereuter, Mr. Brown of 
   California, Mr. Calvert, Mrs. Clayton, Mr. Cox of California, Mr. 
Dicks, Mr. Dellums, Mr. Ehlers, Ms. Eshoo, Mr. Farr of California, Mr. 
   Funderburk, Mr. Gene Green of Texas, Mr. Hastert, Mr. Jacobs, Mr. 
Parker, Mr. Rogers, Mr. Royce, Mr. Roth, Mr. Taylor of North Carolina, 
Mr. Towns, Mr. Weldon of Florida, Mr. Wilson, and Mr. Wise) introduced 
  the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to facilitate utilization of 
      volunteer resources on behalf of the amateur radio service.

    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 Volunteer Services Act 
of 1996''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

    (a) Findings.--The Congress finds and declares as follows:
            (1) Since 1982, following the enactment of Public Law 97-
        259, the Federal Communications Commission has been authorized 
        to utilize volunteer assistance of licensees in the amateur 
        radio service for--
                    (A) the preparation and administration of amateur 
                radio license examinations; and
                    (B) on-air monitoring for violations in the amateur 
                radio service.
            (2) These volunteer services provided by individual amateur 
        radio licensees have greatly enhanced the self-regulatory 
        character of the Service, and have saved the Commission 
        countless hours of staff time and other resources.
            (3) The perception that volunteers put personal assets at 
        risk in the event of actions against them as the result of 
        their voluntary services may result in nonparticipation of 
        volunteers or withdrawal from volunteer service.
    (b) Purpose.--It is the purpose of this Act to protect the 
provision of volunteer services to the Federal Communications 
Commission as provided for in the Communications Act of 1934, in the 
administration of the amateur radio service.

SEC. 3. FACILITATION OF VOLUNTEER SERVICES TO THE FEDERAL 
              COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION IN PROGRAMS BENEFITING THE 
              AMATEUR RADIO SERVICE.

    Section 4(f)(4)(G) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 
154(f)(4)(G)) is hereby amended by inserting before the period at the 
end thereof the following: ``, except that individual licensees in the 
amateur radio service who provide volunteer services pursuant to 
subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) of this paragraph, or pursuant to 
subsection (g)(3)(B), shall be deemed to be Federal employees only for 
the purposes of chapter 171 of title 28, United States Code.''.
                                 <all>