DESECHEO / NAVASSA BILL APPROVED
BY HOUSE COMMITTEE ON RESOURCES
OCTOBER 19, 2005
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The House Committee on Resources today approved H.R.
1183, the bill that, if passed into law, would reopen Navassa (KP1 /
IOTA NA-098) and Desecheo Island (KP5 / IOTA NA-095) islands to limited
public access, and potentially renewed Amateur Radio operations from
those islands.
H.R. 1183 was among eleven bills listed on a Unanimous Consent Agreement
under which the Committee merely asked for objections to each bill
before consenting to approval. No objections were voiced in regard to
H.R. 1183.
KP1-5 Project Director Mike Thomas NA5U said H.R. 1183 was approved
because scores of Amateur Radio operators wrote and called their
Congressmen. "Hams taking two or three minutes to write or call their
Congressmen moved this bill to approval," he said. Thomas said the hard
work begins now. "Even if you've already sent an e-mail, a fax, a
letter or called on the phone, doing it again will be immensely helpful
in moving the bill to the House floor for a vote," said Thomas.
A legal brief available at http://www.kp1-5.com/pdf/1st-appeal.pdf,
addresses the applicable law and facts in the Desecheo and Navassa
situation in detail. "If you read the legal brief, I guarantee that you
will want to call or write your Congressman right away," Thomas said.
Thomas said Congress must hear from hams again now that the Committee on
Resources has approved H.R. 1183. "If we don't send a new message to
Congress to move the bill to the House floor, the Fish and Wildlife
Service will keep Desecheo and Navassa closed for many years to come,"
he said.
CONTACT MIKE THOMAS NA5U AT (817) 777-1321 OR NA5U@KP1-5.COM.
