We just learned that HR 6492 was voted unanimously out of the Natural Resources Committee on Friday, and it’s scheduled for a vote in the House tomorrow, Tuesday, April 9, 2024.

HR 6492 is an omnibus federal lands bill that incorporates Connect Our Parks Act (HR 5919, S.2018, S.873) and would cover federal recreational lands with cell towers, including National Park Service and wilderness areas.

Is your U.S. Representative a sponsor or co-sponsor of HR 6492?  To find your Rep call the Capitol switchboard at 202-225-3121 or look it up here.

1) CALL YOUR U.S. REPRESENTATIVE NOW – GET THEIR PHONES RINGING OFF THE HOOK AND TELL THEM:

Vote NO to HR 6492; it must be amended to: 

• Expressly exclude wireless facilities from this bill (sec 141 and 142), so that only wired Internet is deployed
• Remove section 143, which allows industry consultants to approve and oversee wireless facilities – gives carte blanche to telecoms – was slipped in at the last minute, just 2 working days before the vote!

Other points:

• Deploying wireless in our national parks will be disastrous; 
  • Faulty telecom equipment, has already caused multiple fires – in Calif the worst in its history - Woolsey fire 2018 caused $6 bil damages, 100,000 acres destroyed, 295,000 people evacuated, several deaths
  • People need time to escape and hope that they will outrun a fire in the forest
  • People will not be able to make a phone call from a burning cell tower
• Alternatives to cell towers:  Access for emergency response already available via satellite on ordinary iPhones and existing emergency gadgets already being used by hikers
• 4G tower reception runs at least 9 miles; no need for 5G densification in our forests

2) EMAIL THEM WITH THE ABOVE INFO; please copy hello@thenationalcall.org

3) CALL AGAIN 9 AM TOMORROW TO ENSURE THEIR NO VOTE UNTIL AMENDED.

4) Respond to this email to let us know that you were able to contact your Rep. 

We can do this!  Let’s go!  

Please forward this email to your email lists.

See also alert from our friends at Environmental Health Trust:

CLICK HERE TODAY to tell Congress to amend HR 6492, to halt more than 60 other bills that encourage wireless proliferation across the country, and to require that the FCC comply with a 2021 court order to review the science on wireless radiation.