Contact Congress ASAP about Its FCC Review

 
This Thursday, August 16, the Senate’s Commerce, Science & Transportation Committee will query FCC Commissioners about their oversight of issues related to wireless communications. To give senators questions to pose to FCC Commissioners, copy and paste the following letter and questions into an email, and BCC it to the list (of staffers whose senators serve on the Commerce, Science & Transportation Committee). Then, help make the senate office phones ring all day about questions to ask at this hearing. Their phone #s are also posted below.

HERE’s the email to cut & paste:

Subject: Senate Hearing on FCC Oversight

BCC: to email addresses for the Senate’s Commerce, Science & Transportation Committee Staff found here: https://www.electronicsilentspring.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/US-Senate-CST-Committee-Staff-emails-8-11-18.doc

Please also BCC Ellie Marks at CABrainTumor@gmail.com.

Expect some “permanent error” bounce-backs and some auto out-of-office responses.

Dear Senator:

I respectfully ask you to query FCC Commissioners at Thursday’s hearing with the following questions related to wireless communications, and to refuse to accept fluff replies.

Senator, you may believe that increasing telecommunications facilities will improve or harm our society. In either case, I trust that you recognize that matters of public rights-of-way should remain in local control. Wireless technologies threaten our privacy, cybersecurity, energy resources, environment and health. We need an FCC that safeguards the public’s life, health and property–not the telecom corporations that it is authorized to regulate.

Thank you for presenting the following questions to FCC Commissioners:

1. Existing and proposed 5G infrastructure will bring close-range radiofrequency (RF) exposure to the American public. What in-house expertise does the FCC have that qualifies it to execute its statutory duty to set protective, longterm, chronic and cumulative low-intensity radiation exposure limits for the American public? What national imperative necessitates existing and proposed rulemaking that excempts new 5G transmitters from environmental, health and safety compliance review?
2. Proposed and existing FCC rules and rulemaking would remove long held democratic processes such as public hearings and neighborhood notification regarding the installation of new telecom facilities. What is the relevant national imperative that necessitates this proposed gutting of democracy?
3. Proposed FCC rulemaking calls for removing a municipality’s right to enact a moratorium for any reason regarding the installation of telecom facilities. Extreme weather events now routinely occur around the country–wildfires, hurricanes, flash floods, mudslides, drought. What national imperative necessitates eliminating a municipality’s right to protect itself and its citizens by enacting a moratorium to allow expert, professional engineers to evaluate and certify safety of a particular region (including for weather catastrophes) BEFORE installing hundreds of pounds of electronic gear on its utility poles? What relevant national imperative necessitates this proposed prohibition of moratoria and gutting of democracy?
4. Proposed FCC rulemaking calls for removing a municipality’s right to charge a fair leasing fee for telecom corporations that access its public right-of-ways. Public right-of-ways are public property. Leasing them (typically around $1500/year per right-of-way) provides income for a municipality’s general fund, which pays for road repairs and other basic services. What relevant national imperative necessitates this proposed gutting of democracy and elimination of a municipality’s right to generate income from leasing its property?
5. Availability of energy impacts commerce, transportation and science. According to a paper published by IEEE,* wireless infrastructure consumes at least ten times more energy than wired technologies. What national imperative necessitates deploying new wireless infrastructure?

*Baliga, Jayant, et al, “Energy Consumption in Wired and Wireless Access Networks,” IEEE Communications Magazine, June, 2011.

Thank you again.

Sincerely,

YOUR NAME

If You’ve Still Got a Minute, phone two or three senators from the Senate’s Commerce, Science & Transportation Committee. Here are their numbers. If one of your senators is on the Committee, let them know. If you call a senator’s office and you’re from a different state, dialing *67 will mark your caller ID “anonymous.”

John Thune, Chair, R-SD  *67.1.202.224.2321
Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisconsin   *67.1.202.224.5653
Richard Blumenthal, D-CT  *67.1.224.28233
Roy Blunt, R-MO   *67.1.224.5721
Cory Booker, D-NJ   *67.1.202.224.3224
Maria Cantwell, D-WA  *67.1.202.224.3441
Shelley Moore Capito, R-WV  *67.1.202.224.6472
Ted Cruz, R-TX  *67.1.202.224.5922
Tammy Duckworth, D-IL  *67.1.202.224.2854
Deb Fischer, R-NE   *67.1.202.224.6551
Cory Gardner, R-CO  *67.1.202.224.5941
Maggie Hassan, D-NH  *67.1.202.224.3324
Dean Heller, R-NV  *67.1.202.224.6244
Jim Inhofe, R-OK  *67.1.202.224.4721
Amy Klobuchar, D-MN  *67.1.202.224.3244
Mike Lee, R-UT  *67.1.202.224.5444
Jerry Moran, R-KS  *67.1.202.224.6521
Bill Nelson, D-FL  *67.1.202.224.5274
Edward Markey, D-MA  *67.1.202.224.2742
Catherine Cortez Maso, D-NV  *67.1.202.224.3542
Gary Peters, D-MI  *67.1,202.224.6221
Brian Schaztz, D-HI  *67.1.202.224.3934
Dan Sullivan, R-AR  *67.1.202.224.3004
Jon Tester, D-MT  *67.1.202.224.2644
Tom Udall, D-NM  *67.1.202.224.6621
Roger Wicker, R-MS  *67.1.202.224.6253
Todd Young, R-IN  *67.1.202.224.5623