[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1013 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1013

 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 11, 1997

   Ms. Eshoo (for herself, Mr. Gillmor, Mr. Klug, Mr. Price of North 
Carolina, Mr. Dicks, Mr. Horn, Mr. Ehlers, Mr. Bereuter, Mr. English of 
 Pennsylvania, Mr. McCrery, Mr. Klink, Mr. Peterson of Minnesota, Mr. 
 Manton, Mr. Boucher, Mr. Blumenauer, Mr. Stupak, Mr. Deal of Georgia, 
 Mr. McNulty, Ms. Rivers, Mr. Dingell, Mr. Dellums, and Mr. Barrett of 
  Wisconsin) 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 1997''.

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)(F) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 
154(f)(4)(F)) is 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>