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Justice refers to its earlier comments on S. 2361, 87th Congress, and concludes that "in the light of the security considerations set forth in our report on S. 2361, it would seem that no authorization should be granted unless it is determined that the national security would not be endangered thereby." It also adds, in its S. 2361 comment that "aside from security considerations, which might remain substantially the same regardless of whether the bill is enacted. the subject of this legislation is not a matter for which the Department of Justice has primary responsibility and accordingly we make no recommendation as to its enactment"-the clear implication being that the Department of Justice does have primary responsibility in the security field.

Construing these two statements together, we would agree and have indicated in our comments that "the Department of Justice and other appropriate agency of Government, other than the Federal Communications Commission, should be given the statutory obligation to undertake whatever security measures are appropriate and to report its findings and recommendations to the Commission." It thus appears that justice and this Commission are both insistent that whatever legislation may be enacted have due regard for questions of national security. The Department of Defense also appears to endorse this view when it says such a bill if it provides "adequate safeguards for the national security" would be of net benefit to the United States.

Because staff discussions with representatives of your office have indicated even more explicit statement of the Commission's position in this regard would be welcome-let me summarize the Commission views on the security problem : 1. While reciprocal agreements-presumably entered into with the more friendly nations-might mitigate security problems, consideration of national security would remain in individual cases especially since we are here dealing with aliens rather than our own citizens.

2. Congress if it enacts such legislation should assure itself that appropriate security measures will be undertaken by such agencies as it specifies.

3. The Commission has no expertise or staff to handle security investigations and security determinations should not be made by the FCC.

4. While the Commission would prefer simply to refer the names of those requesting such authority to an appropriate security agency and have that agency tell us whenever a request should be denied on security grounds, we are willingshould Congress so desire to check with whatever security agencies Congress deems appropriate and to receive information and/or recommendation from such agencies bearing on the security issue-which information would then be evaluated to the extent the Commission is able to do so and a decision reached as to whether to grant or deny a request. The essentially ministerial function of the registration process we have suggested should be considered in this regard. The Department of State's assumptions that it would negotiate the proposed bilateral agreements after appropriate coordination with other interested U.S. Government agencies accords with our view and the Commission is, of course, one of the interested agencies. The further assumption that the conditions and terms to be prescribed by the FCC would relate to technical operating detailsalso substantially accords with our view, but this Commission under such authority could also prescribe procedures and determine such matters as the geographic, technical, and time limits for such authority.

While this letter expands somewhat upon the security discussion in our comments, we deem the above to be fully consistent with the position taken therein and hope that this additional explanation will serve to clarify the matter. This letter was adopted by the Commission July 30, 1963. By direction of the Commission:

E. WILLIAM HENRY, Chairman.

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION,
Washington, D.C., October 3, 1963.

Hon. OREN HARRIS,

Chairman, Committe on Interstate and Foreign Commerce,
House of Representatives, Washington, D.C.

DEAR CHAIRMAN HARRIS: This is with further reference to your request of July 8, 1963 for the Commission's comments on H.R. 7309, a bill to amend sections 303 and 310 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, to permit the Commission to authorize operation by alien amateurs where reciprocal agreements are in effect.

For your information there is attached a copy of our letter dated September 30, 1963, to Senator Pastore, chairman of the Subcommittee on Communications, outlining the text of an amendment to the bill which was agreed upon by the Departments of Defense, State, Justice, Central Intelligence Agency, and the Federal Communications Commission.

Yours sincerely,

E. WILLIAM HENRY, Chairman.

Hon. JOHN O. PASTORE,

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION,
Washington, D.C., September 30, 1963.

Chairman, Subcommittee on Communications, Committee on Commerce, U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C.

DEAR CHAIRMAN PASTORE: Pursuant to a conference held September 5 with Nicholas Zapple, counsel to your subcommittee, and attended by representatives of the Departments of State, Justce, and Defense, Bureau of the Budget, and the Federal Communications Commission, the following understanding is submitted for inclusion in the Senate committee report on S. 920.

At that meeting, it was tentatively agreed among the staff representatives present that S. 920 should be made more specific with respect to matters of national security and the following amendment was proposed:

At page 2, line 18 and page 3, line 9, delete the period and add the following proviso:

"Provided, That when an application for an authorization is received by the Commission, it shall notify the appropriate agencies of the Government of such fact, and such agencies shall forthwith furnish to the Commission such information in their possession as bears upon the compatibility of the request with the national security: And Provided further, That the requested authorization may then be granted unless the Commission shall determine that information received from such agencies necessitates denial of the request."

The Commission has considered this amendment and would support its inclusion in S. 920 or similar legislation which may be enacted. It is our understanding that pursuant thereto the FCC, upon receipt of a request for authorization of an operation by an alien amateur, would ask the Central Intelligence Agency and the Departments of Defense, Justice, and State to supply it with any information in their possession which bears on the particular request. While the Commission would not, of course, ignore information coming to it from other sources, its obligation in the security area would be limited to a check with the named agencies and making the finding that, with respect to national security, no information or recommendations before the Commission necessitate denial of the request.

The above-named agencies are those which are at this time considered to be the agencies referred to in the proposed amendment as "appropriate agencies of Government." Additionally, the Commission will be guided by the views of the named agencies, or by information coming to it from other sources, as to whether additional agencies should be contacted as circumstances warrant.

The Commission in acting on such requests will, of course, respect the confidential nature and sources of specific security information coming to its attention.

This letter has been coordinated with and concurred in by the Departments of Defense, Justice, and State, and the Central Intelligence Agency. The Bureau of the Budget has advised that there is no objection to the presentation of this report to the Congress from the standpoint of the administration's program. This letter was adopted by the Commission September 11, 1963. By direction of the Commission:

E. WILLIAM HENRY, Chairman.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, February 11, 1964.

Hon. OREN HARRIS,

Chairman, Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce,
House of Representatives.

DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: This is in response to your request for the Department's comments on H.R. 7309, to amend sections 303 and 310 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, to provide that the Federal Communications Commission may, if it finds that the public interest, convenience, or necessity may be

served, issue authorizations, but not licenses, for alien amateur radio operators to operate their amateur radio stations in the United States, its possessions, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico provided there is in effect a bilateral agreement between the United States and the alien's government for such operation by U.S. amateurs on a reciprocal basis.

It is our understanding that two related bills are also pending in your committee, S. 920 and H.R. 9035, which are identical. Each of these bills embodies amendments to the language of H.R. 7309 proposed as a result of discussions among interested U.S. Government agencies, including the Department of State. The Department is, therefore, prepared to support either S. 920 or H.R. 9035 in preference to H.R. 7309.

The Department has been advised by the Bureau of the Budget that there is no objection from the standpoint of the administration's program to the submission of this report.

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Chairman, Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce,
House of Representatives, Washington, D.C.

DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: This is in response to your request for the views of the Department of Justice on the bill (H.R. 7309) to amend sections 303 and 310 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, to permit the Federal Communications Commission to authorize the operation of amateur radio stations in the United States by certain aliens.

H.R. 7309 is a companion bill to S. 920, which passed the Senate with amendments on October 16 and is presently pending with this committee.

In reporting to you on H.R. 9684 of the 87th Congress, a bill of similar purpose, this Department indicated that apart from security considerations the subject of this legislation is not a matter for which the Department of Justice has primary responsibility, for which reason we made no recommendation as to its enactment.

H.R. 7309 is subject to the same security considerations. However, in reporting S. 920, the Senate Committee on Commerce amended that measure to meet the reservations stated by this Department and others with respect to security considerations. As amended by the committee and as passed by the Senate, S. 920 appears adequately to provide for the safeguarding of the national security.

Accordingly, the Department of Justice raises no objection to the enactment of this legislation, amended to conform with S. 920 as presently with the committee.

The Bureau of the Budget has advised that there is no objection to the submission of this report from the standpoint of the administration's program. Sincerely yours,

Hon OREN HARRIS,

NICHOLAS DEB. KATZENBACH,
Deputy Attorney General.

DEPARTMENT OF THE AIR FORCE,
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY,
Washington, August 28, 1963.

Chairman, Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce,
House of Representatives.

DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: Reference is made to your request to the Secretary of Defense for the views of the Department of Defense with respect to H.R. 7309, 88th Congress, a bill to amend sections 303 and 310 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, to provide that the Federal Communications Commission may, if it finds that the public interest, convenience, or necessity may be served, issue authorizations, but not licenses, for alien amateur radio operators to oper

ate their amateur radio stations in the United States, its possessions, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico provided there is in effect a bilateral agreement between the United States and the alien's government for such operation by U.S. amateurs on a reciprocal basis. The Secretary of Defense has delegated to the Department of the Air Force the responsibility for expressing the views of the Department of Defense.

The purpose of H.R. 7309 is as stated in its title. Specifically it would provide that the Federal Communications Commission, if it found that the public interest, convenience, or necessity would be served, could authorize alien amateur radio operators to operate their amateur radio stations in the United States, its possessions, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico provided there was in effect a bilateral agreement between the United States and the alien's government for such operation by US, amateurs on a reciprocal basis.

Section 303 (1) of the Communciations Act of 1934, as amended (47 U.S.C. 303 (1)), authorizes the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to license as radio operators "such citizens of the United States as the Commission finds qualified." Section 310(a) of the same act prohibits the Commission from granting a radio station license to, among others, “any alien or representative of any alien." These prohibitions against alien ownership and operation of radio stations have been carried over from the original Radio Act of 1927 (44 Stat. 1162) for the protection and security of the United States and its military and civilian radio communication. Only two exceptions are permitted. The first is covered by a convention between the United States and Canada (TIAS No. 2508) concerning the operation of certain radio equipment, including amateur radio stations, by citizens of either country while in the other country. The second is contained in section 303 (1) and 310(a) of the Communications Act and concerns certain alien pilots flying aircraft in the United States.

In the past, the United States and its representatives have frequently been embarrassed because we have denied citizens of other countries the right to operate radios in this country and have, at the same time, sought to secure for our citizens amateur rights in foreign countries. The United States would appear in a more favorable light if we were to permit amateurs of other countries to operate radio stations here under the same safeguards that other governments apply to foreigners who operate amateur radios. It is believed that a bill which would permit reciprocal licensing of radio amateurs and, at the same time, provide adequate safeguards for the national security, would be of net benefit to the United States. Our status in the community of nations requires such a course of action unless there are powerful reasons to the cotrary.

Accordingly, the Department of Defense supports the enactment of H.R. 7309. The following technical change is recommended to the bill :

Delete the words "if it finds that the public interest, convenience or necessity may be served," from the title of the mill. This requirements does not appear in the text of the bill.

This report has been coordinated within the Department of Defense in accordance with procedures prescribed by the Secretary of Defense.

The Bureau of the Budget advises that, from the standpoint of the administration's program, there is no objection to the presentation of this report for the consideration of the committee.

Sincerely,

JOSEPH S. IMIRIE, Assistant Secretary of the Air Force.

The CHAIRMAN. They would amend the Federal Communications Act with regard to the issuance of authorizations to amateur radio operators.

The legislation would authorize the Federal Communications Commission, should it find the public interest, convenience, and necessity may be served, to issue authorizations. This is quite different from the issuance of a license. It would be authorizations to alien amateur radio operators to operate their amateur radio stations in the United States, its possessions, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, provided there is in effect a bilateral agreement between the United States and the alien's government for such operation by the U.S. amateurs on a reciprocal basis. It is a rather simple problem and it is of

interest to relatively few people, and that accounts for the fact that we do not have a better attendance this morning.

The legislation is of importance to the membership of the American Radio Relay League. I am told that it includes about 100,000 United States and Canadian amateurs in its membership. It is expected that many countries would grant the U.S. amateur radio operators located in these countries the privilege to operate their amateur stations if the United States would grant similar authority to the citizens of these countries residing in the United States.

Let me make it clear that all of these 100,000 members do not necessarily operate stations. As a matter of fact, it might surprise some people to learn that I myself am an amateur, too. I was made an honorary amateur radio operator not too long ago when I was in Geneva. I have a certificate. I have a button. However, I don't expected to be operating an amateur radio station.

Mr. LONG. Don't you think you ought to excuse yourself from conducting this hearing, Mr. Chairman?

The CHAIRMAN. No: I don't think there is a conflict of interest here, not a wide one, anyway. However, it was quite an interesting experience, and I might say for the information of my colleagues it was quite a treat to observe the international operation of the amateur radio facilities that they had at the ITU in Geneva.

Anyway, the principal consideration involved here is the security problem and the members of the committee will probably want to ask some questions of Commissioner Hyde on that aspect.

Senator Goldwater, the sponsor of the Senate bill, has discussed this with me on several occasions. He wanted to be here as a witness. Unfortunately, he is out of the city for some purpose exactly what purpose I do not know-so he could not be here with us. He has sent a letter in which he is not only expressing his further interest, but urging that the bill be approved, and without objection the letter will be included in the record at this point.

(The statement referred to follows:)

Hon. OREN HARRIS,

U.S. SENATE, Washington, D.C., February 20, 1964.

Chairman, Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce,
U.S. House of Representatives,
Washington, D.C.

DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: Today your committee will hold hearings on legislation to provide reciprocity for radio amateurs between the United States and other countries. You have before you the bill which I sponsored, S. 920, and a like bill introduced in the House of Representatives by Congressman Cederberg, H.R. 7309.

I had very much wanted to appear before your committee and answer any questions on this legislation you might have, but this is not possible. However, I understand that Mr. Herbert Hoover, Jr., president of the American Radio Relay League, and other league officers will be before your committee, and I am sure they will be able to provide the committee with a complete background on this legislation.

I won't repeat here my remarks in support of this legislation made before the Subcommittee on Commerce of the Senate Commerce Committee as the hearing and report of the committee are readily available. I do wish to bring to your attention, though, the considerable study which Senator Pastore, his able committee counsel, Mr. Nicholas Zapple, and the various staff members of the interested Government agencies gave to this legislation.

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