WORLD WIDE WEB — Senator Mike Enzi (R-WY) has issued his anticipated "Dear Colleague" letter in the U.S. Senate today and has asked for the help of NAR and TRA in enlisting co-sponsors for legislation he is drafting and expects to introduce in the coming weeks.

Specifically, Senator Enzi has asked that NAR and Tripoli members write or call to their own state's U.S. Senators and encourage them to become co-sponsors of the legislation he is drafting. We have been asked to have these calls or letters made as soon as possible, and definitely within the next 2 weeks (by February 13th).

We recommend that you follow the guidelines provided to you yesterday for letters (these same guidelines work for calls, as well). We need to have every NAR and Tripoli member write or call, and please encourage others who have an interest in preserving and protecting our hobby do so as well. Our greatest strength is in our numbers and our unity, and now is the time to act. Your participation in this effort is of vital importance to our hobby.

If you have any questions, please contact TRA at (801) 225-9306. If we do not answer the phone, please leave a message and we'll get back to you.

(Letter from Senator Enzi to the Senate):

February 28, 2003

Dear Colleague:

I am writing to alert you to certain provisions within the Homeland Security Act that are adversely affecting hobby and consumer rocketry.

Through hobby rocketry, children and adults engage in rocket science and small businesses thrive while serving this loyal and diverse community. This educational hobby is being seriously threatened by the Homeland Security Act which I do not believe was Congress' intent when drafting and passing this important legislation.

Under the new law, the hobbyist will have to obtain Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) permits to purchase a consumer rocket motor and to transport it to the location where it will be flown. The ATF has classified rocket propellant, which is shipped with the motor, as an explosive. Even the simplest permit under the law will require the hobbyist to be subjected to a background check by the ATF. The law also requires all permit holders to keep records that can be inspected by ATF agents. Since these records are primarily kept in the permit holder's home, it subjects the hobbyist's home to possible ATF visits. These new restrictions will disengage Americans from the hobby of rocketry, possibly destroying many small businesses and educational hands-on rocketry programs.

I will soon be introducing legislation that provides a simple fix for this problem. My bill will not remove the rocket propellant from the ATF Explosives List. Instead it takes the same approach used by other hobby industries. For example, black powder is on the ATF Explosives List, but a person does not have to get an ATF permit if the black powder is used for antique firearms or devices. Under my legislation, rocketeers would be exempt from an ATF permit requirement when the chemicals/materials were used in consumer and hobby rocketry.

As an avid rocketeer myself, I can remember my first rocket launch - - standing in the middle of a field, hoping your creation would actually fly. The United States cannot afford to further diminish the hopes of young children, the dreams of future astronauts and the memories of generations through unintended regulation.

If you are interested in cosponsoring this important legislation, please contact Candice Cotton at 224-3424. Thank you for your immediate attention.

Sincerely,

Michael B. Enzi
United States Senator