[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 81 (Monday, June 10, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Page S4055]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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                          HAM RADIO IN ALASKA

 Mr. BEGICH. Mr. President, the American Radio Relay League is 
the national association for amateur radio, connecting ham radio 
operators around the world. Each year, the league sponsors a 24-hour 
Field Day in June. The weekend of June 22 to 23 was chosen for 2013.
  Ham radio has a variety of uses from private recreation, to 
roundtable discussions, self-training to emergency correspondence. 
Throughout its history, amateur radio has been a tool for inventors and 
hobbyists to share experiences and spread ideas. Notable enthusiasts 
include the late Walter Cronkite, ``CBS Evening News'' anchor, and 
Nobel Prize-winning physicist Dr. Joseph H. Taylor. In the past, just 
by signing on one could converse with a foreign dignitary or even 
bounce radio waves off the Moon or aurora borealis to speak with 
cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station.
  In Alaska, there are 16 ham radio clubs. These clubs provide a vital 
communication link that may otherwise not be available. This link 
includes checkpoint updates for the Yukon Quest and Iditarod sled dog 
races, support for local organizations such as the Boy Scouts, and 
critical forecast information to and from the National Weather Service.
  In 2011, a superstorm in the Bering Sea crippled communities along 
the west coast of Alaska. Ham radio operators took up the task of 
providing real time data to local, State, and Federal weather services, 
as well as to emergency responders, on the condition of residents. As 
ham radio can operate independent of AC power or internet connection, 
it is well-suited to communities in rural Alaska.
  Indeed, ham radio operators have been there throughout our Nation's 
times of need: the 1964 Good Friday earthquake in Alaska and more 
recently Hurricane Katrina in the lower 48. These operators are deeply 
committed to public service, and they work tireless unpaid hours to 
maintain the flow of information.
  As Alaska's Field Day approaches, let us remember the vital role ham 
radio operators have played in education, science, survival, 
entertainment, and relationship-building in the United States.

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