CALL FOR POLITICAL ACTION:
IMPORTANT: We need members from New York and New Jersey to send letters to their Senators as outlined below as soon as possible. These letters are designed to assist our legislative effort to secure an unregulated future for sport rocketry.
Members from other states should NOT take action at this time.
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Senators Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Frank Lautenburg (D-NJ) have placed "holds" on S.724, the Senate bill introduced by Sen. Mike Enzi designed to provide some limited relief for hobby rocketry. While the bill as amended in the Senate Judiciary Committee is far from perfect, we need to get it voted out of the Senate so we can bring that process to close, for the time being, and focus our efforts on getting a better bill moving in the House of Representatives. As such, we believe letters from New York and New Jersey residents to their Senators will be helpful in removing the "holds," and we are asking that you send letters by fax to their offices as soon as possible.
Attached below is a sample letter to either Senator.
The letter should not be copied word for word, but is designed to provide some guidance as to contents. Please adapt this draft to your own situation and experience, and please remain polite and respectful toward the Senators.
Please do NOT specifically reference them having a "hold" on the bill.
You can mail or fax your letter to:
NEW JERSEY MEMBERS = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Sen. Frank R. Lautenburg
825 A Hart Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510Fax: 202-228-4054
NEW YORK MEMBERS = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Sen. Charles E. Schumer
313 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510Fax: 202-228-3027
Mark B. Bundick, President National Association of Rocketry
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SAMPLE LETTER:
PLEASE USE THIS SAMPLE AS A GUIDELINE AND DO NOT COPY WORD FOR WORD.
BE SURE TO INCLUDE YOUR NAME, ADDRESS AND DAYTIME PHONE NUMBER.
BE SURE TO SIGN YOUR LETTER.
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Dear Senator
As a constituent and hobby rocketry enthusiast, I have become aware that you may have some concerns with S. 724, a bill originally introduced by Sen. Mike Enzi and for which a substituted was offered in Committee by Sens. Hatch and Kohl. That bill is now awaiting Senate floor action.
I am also aware that shortly before the bill was brought before the Judiciary Committee, the Department of Justice sent a letter to Sen. Hatch offering their viewpoints on the bill. That letter contains numerous factual and scientific errors, including assertions that APCP rocket fuel has been used to make explosive devices, and that hobby rockets could be used to attack aircraft or land targets up to five miles away.
These allegations have no basis in fact or science. APCP propellant is not an explosive and cannot be easily converted to bomb-making material, and hobby rockets cannot be used to accurately or effectively attack air or ground targets. No examples of any such use, or attempted use, exist.
A recent National Research Council study "Containing the Threat from Illegal Bombings" listed the top 29 common explosive and precursor chemicals that have a history of criminal use. The report did not list APCP, or recommend controls on it or rocket motors.
Furthermore, hobby rockets have long-burning motors and do not have sophisticated guidance systems, making them wholly inaccurate as weapons against air or surface targets. The U.S. government tried in the 1940s to develop just such a system and it failed totally and was abandoned. Hobby rockets are designed to go straight up into the air and float back to earth under a parachute. It is already illegal to add a dangerous payload or guidance system of any kind, not to mention that such efforts would require a level of sophistication generally possessed only by government agencies.
Put simply, the DOJ position fails any test of actual rocket science, and appears designed only to cause unnecessary fear and additional regulation of a safe, educational hobby enjoyed by tens of thousands of people across America, including hundreds in New York/New Jersey. Hobby rocketry products and activities are already well-regulated nationally under safety codes of the National Fire Protection Association, the Consumer Products Safety Commission (prohibiting the sale of larger motors to non-adults), the U.S. Department of Transportation (determining detonability and regulating transportation) and the Federal Aviation Administration (regulating rocket launches).
During the last 40 years, these organizations and the hobby rocket community have worked together to establish and enforce a common national safety code, rigorous technical and safety certification standards for hobby rocket motors, and proficiency certifications that are required for adult hobbyists before they can purchase larger hobby rocket motors. Hobby rocketry, and its safeguards, was developed specifically to ensure that a safe means exists for students and hobbyists to build and fly rockets in a manner that does not pose any threat to public health and safety.
The substitute S. 724 will exempt certain amounts of the non-detonable (non-explosive) propellant materials used in hobby rocket motors while leaving in place necessary and legitimate protections against the possession of dangerous weapons and true explosives. This simple approach will not create a new opportunity for terrorists to access devices or materials that can be used as weapons or explosive, but it will preserve a hobby that has a proven safety record and tremendous educational and scientific value.
I urge you to allow the substitute S 724 to be voted out of the Senate.
Sincerely,
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Mark B. Bundick mbundick - at - earthlink - dot - net NAR President