Someone who needs to be voted out of office at their next re-election. From the Amateur Radio Relay League - the craft guild for ham radio operators (just turned 100 years old in 2015):
ARRL Vows Continued Pursuit of the Amateur Radio Parity Act in the 115th Congress
The Amateur Radio Parity Act, H.R. 1301, died an unbefitting death as the 114th Congress of the United States drew to a close today. After having passed the House of Representatives on a unanimous vote, the bill stalled in the Senate due to the intervention of only one member, Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL).
Over the course of the past year, Sen. Nelson has received thousands of e-mails, letters, and phone calls from concerned constituents asking for his support of H.R. 1301. Numerous meetings were held with his senior staff in an effort to move the legislation forward. Negotiations, which led to an agreement with the national association of homeowner’s associations and publicly supported by CAI and ARRL, were brushed aside by Sen. Nelson as irrelevant.
The bill would have directed the FCC to extend its rules relating to reasonable accommodation of Amateur Service communications to private land-use restrictions, such as covenants, conditions, and restrictions (CC&Rs) imposed by homeowners associations. CAI is the Community Associations Institute.
The bill was not to permit huge antenna farms but to allow for simple antennas for communications. The use of amateur radio during emergencies is a known and valuable asset to any community for not only personal communications but health and welfare of the entire community as well as inter-operations with Police, Fire, and Rescue services.
Let us hope that Senator Nelson's constituents remember this when he comes up for re-election...
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