Hi ,
Due to unforeseen circumstances, the federal bills meeting is cancelled for Thursday, Jan 16, 2025. We will resume next Thursday.
Please use the time to call and email your US Reps and Senators.
We have a new Congressional session, so the bills listed below would need to be reintroduced.
For new contacts, we want to talk about the federal telecom bills and bridging the digital divide. For follow up contacts, let them know that you want to follow up on the prior meeting on the Rep's / Senator's reaction, and to provide additional information.
Please schedule the meetings according to Charles' and Odette's availability, as they will be talking about the bills:
Week of Jan 13:
Fr 10am-11:30am; 2-3:30pm
Week of Jan 20:
M 10am-4pm
Tu 2:30-4pm
W 10-11am; 1:30-2pm; 3-4pm
Th 1:30 -2:30pm
Fr 10am-12:45pm
You should still contact your US Rep and Senators to alert them as these bills will probably be resurrected with new bill numbers.
Speak
out, while we still can!
Contact your U.S. Rep this week.
Forward this email to your email lists.
Please:
- Click Identify to find your U.S. Reps. to learn your national politicians, that is, your U.S. Reps
- Go to their website “contact” page
- Copy the text below and
paste into that page
- On their website locate their phone number and call to “urge opposition to HR 4141”
- In your email & call, request a “zoom next week to discuss Telecom bills to bridge the broadband digital divide”. Email hello@thenationalcall.org with any response from congressional staff regarding scheduling. Please note below availability
of professionals to attend with you to discuss the bill(s).
- Forward this email to a friend.
Message:
- Oppose HR 4141, HR 7376, and HR 8230. (HR7376 and HR8230 contain parts of HR4141) Keep NEPA environmental and NHPA historical reviews for ugly and radiation-emitting cell towers (preferably far from neighborhoods, schools and parks). Respect consumer preference for broadband that is safe, as well as reliable, secure and more affordable in the long run - i.e., a WIRED Internet connection.
- Oppose inserting any of these bills, or pieces of them, into larger “must-pass” legislation
- Oppose all other Wireless language - in the FARM, Parks & NTIA Reauthorization bills - until amended to condition antenna deployment on prior Federal Communications Commission (FCC) compliance with the 2021 DC Federal Appeals Court order to base Radio Frequency Microwave (RF/MW) radiation exposure limits on the 11,000 pages of scientific evidence of biological harm to humans and the environment that the court remanded FCC for “capriciously” ignoring.
- Cosponsor HR 8082 (Smith, NJ), restoring local government discretion on antenna location - so property owners can cooperate with authorities to zone
cell towers far from bedrooms, classrooms and parks - and have instead the WIRED broadband connection polls show 2/3rds of Americans prefer
***
Other bills:
1) S.1764 Western Wildfire Support Act has not yet been voted on by the Senate
Directs federal land management agencies to expedite deployment and permitting of technology for wildfire detection. This technology includes "Sensors, cameras, and other relevant equipment," which will likely require wired and wireless connectivity and electricity.
Call and email your U.S. Senator to:
(a) amend S.1764 to expressly exclude wireless technologies from Sections 201 and 206 because of the risk of fires from wireless facilities and
(b) ask for a Roll Call vote
(2) HR 8790 Fix Our Forests Act -- Section 303 provides for a pilot study to test 5G to prevent
wildfires. This passed the House, so it is now in the Senate.
Call and email your U.S. Senator to:
(a) amend HR 8790 Section 303 to exclude wireless because of the risk of fires from wireless facilities and
(b) ask for a Roll Call vote
Cell towers are electrical installations and have already caused fires. See Fact Sheet on Wildfire Risk and Cell Towers (above the fold).
Scheduling Meetings
Please set up those meetings now with your Rep and 2 Senators. Ask for the telecom staffer to discuss the federal telecom bills and bridging the digital
divide.
Just contact your U.S. Representative and Senators. At the meeting, Charles Frohman, lobbyist for the National Health Federation, and Odette will discuss the bills. You just bring yourself, other constituents and local officials (if possible) to the meeting, and talk about your experiences on the local level - protests, city council meetings, health impact, articles, etc.
To find your federal electeds, call 202-225-3121 Capitol switchboard or go to: https://www.usa.gov/elected-officials?iframe=1&iframe=1&iframe=1&iframe=1
To stay up to date on bills and our submissions to committees in Congress, please see:
https://ehtrust.org/congress/
https://thenationalcall.org/advocacy-and-action/
Bills needing immediate attention:
- HR 8467 - Farm Bill - streamline wireless deployment and eliminate environmental review for a large swath of towers
- HR 8082 - nullify the small cell order. SUPPORT. Need NJ-Smith Zoom call
- HR 8230 - NEPA exemptions in national forests. OPPOSE. Need SD-Johnson Zoom call
- HR 6492 - Federal lands omnibus bill, incorporates S 2018 to carpet 5G towers in forests, a serious fire risk - AMEND in Senate
- HR 4510 - NTIA Reauthorization Act, incorporates HR 1123 to study cybersecurity but expressly excludes 5G which is most insecure - AMEND
- HR 1513 creates an FCC 6G
task force to create plans for 6G deployments. AMEND to require the task force also to study health and environmental impacts.
Here is a 1-1/2 pager to explain the issues - a Congressional briefing. https://thenationalcall.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Congressional-Briefing-5-19-24-FINAL.pdf
Attached are fact sheets on the federal bills, bills passed in the House, and our comments to the FCC's then proposed Net Neutrality rule. The final FCC Net Neutrality order mentions our comments ("Wired Broadband, Inc. et al") 19 times. Although the FCC disagreed with us, we are now being acknowledged. See order at https://www.fcc.gov/document/fcc-restores-net-neutrality-0.
It's important that we expand our efforts in reaching our electeds in Congress and the Senate. Pro-telecom bills are already passing through Committees and the House, so we need to act quickly. Many of our US Representatives and Senators are in favor of these bills. We need to
change that.
