" a proposed FCC Commissioner has been a sticking point for Senator Nelson (D-FL) which as resulted a hold on ALL telecommunications bills. Unless Senator Nelson can be pursuaded to accomodate other telecommunications bills moving forward, the Amateur Radio Parity Act will die at the end of this Congress.
What needs to happen is two-fold:
1. The 40,000+ licensed hams in Florida should put a strong push on Senator Nelson's office to pursuade him to reach across the aisle and let the S. 253 bill come up for a vote during THIS sesson of Congress.
2. The ARRL needs to get their local Senator, Mr. Blumenthal (D-CT), to caucus with fellow Democrat Nelson to get this S. 253 released for a vote. It is bipartison and there are apparently no political issues with the existing Parity Act except that it's just caught in the politics of a nominated FCC Commissioner. The latter is simply more important politically than amateur radio but 40,000 constituents can be a powerful force for Mr. Nelson.
Florida hams can contact Senator Nelson as a constituent request at: (202) 224-5274. Ask him to support S. 253 coming up now for a vote. You can send email to him at this webpage: www.billnelson.senate.gov OR via the ARRL webpage at https://arrl.rallycongress.net."