[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2743 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2743

 To provide for the continuance of volunteer communications capability 
             within the United States and its territories.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 15, 2007

   Mr. Bartlett of Maryland introduced the following bill; which was 
            referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To provide for the continuance of volunteer communications capability 
             within the United States and its territories.

    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 ``Military Affiliate Radio System 
Emergency Communication Act of 2007''.

SEC. 2. PROTECTION OF THE MILITARY AFFILIATE RADIO SYSTEM (MARS) AND 
              SHARED RESOURCES HIGH FREQUENCY RADIO PROGRAM (SHARES) 
              EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS.

    (a) Amendment.--The first title XVIII of the Homeland Security Act 
of 2002 (as added by section 671 of Public Law 109-295; 6 U.S.C. 571 et 
seq.), relating to emergency communications, is amended--
            (1) by redesignating section 1808 as section 1809; and
            (2) by inserting after section 1807 the following new 
        section:

``SEC. 1808. PROTECTION OF THE MILITARY AFFILIATE RADIO SYSTEM (MARS) 
              AND SHARED RESOURCES HIGH FREQUENCY RADIO PROGRAM 
              (SHARES) EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS.

    ``(a) Purpose.--The purpose of this section is to recognize the 
valuable contribution that the Military Affiliate Radio System (in this 
section referred to as `MARS') makes in providing a worldwide backup 
emergency communication system, either on their assigned channels or on 
the National Communication System Shared Resources High Frequency Radio 
Program (in this section referred to as `SHARES'), by protecting these 
existing volunteer high frequency networks.
    ``(b) Requirements.--The Secretary--
            ``(1) shall require that high frequency (short-wave) 
        transmitters, receivers, and related data and interface 
        equipment that meet standards of service established for the 
        Amateur Radio Service under part 97 of title 47, Code of 
        Federal Regulations, by the Federal Communications Commission 
        (in this section referred to as the `Commission') in the 
        frequency range of 2-30 megahertz are also approved for routine 
        training functions and emergency communication service on any 
        Federal Government MARS or SHARES channel within that frequency 
        range;
            ``(2) shall not require the discontinuance of the use of 
        any communications equipment that has been approved by the 
        Commission for operation within the Amateur Radio Service from 
        operating in the radio service bands assigned to MARS or 
        SHARES;
            ``(3) may add new transmitters and receivers to the MARS 
        and SHARES networks so long as the equipment--
                    ``(A) meets Commission standards for operation in 
                the Amateur Radio Service; and
                    ``(B) is equipped with frequency stabilization 
                modules;
            ``(4) shall not add any additional technical requirements 
        for MARS stations, and shall not permit any agency or 
        instrumentality of the Department of Homeland Security to add 
        any additional technical requirements for MARS stations; and
            ``(5) shall encourage and utilize MARS personnel, 
        facilities, capabilities, and radio equipment to connect to the 
        Internet in their emergency communication planning.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendment.--The table of contents in section 1(b) of 
the Homeland Security Act of 2002 is amended by striking out the item 
pertaining to section 1808 and inserting the following:

``Sec. 1808. Protection of the Military Affiliate Radio System (MARS) 
                            and Shared Resources High Frequency Radio 
                            Program (SHARES) Emergency Communications 
                            Systems.
``Sec. 1809. Definition.''.
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