WORLD WIDE WEB — The following report for Tuesday, June 17, 2003, 4 PM EDT, was provided by John Kyte, Congressional Liaison for the NAR and TRA:

Negotiations continued on possible alternatives to S 724 continued today, but little progress was made. No agreements have been reached. At this time, the bill is scheduled to be marked up in the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday morning, and a strict interpretation of Senate procedure suggests there is little to no chance that it will be held over again.

Therefore, the letters people are faxing to members of the Senate Judiciary Committee continue to be important. If you have not written to your Senator on the Judiciary Committee, please do so now. While letters from non-residents of a Senator's state are not given much weight, they are also not harmful.

I recommend that NAR members from states having Senators on the Senate Judiciary Committee send a letter to their Senators by fax as soon as possible. S. 724, Sen. Mike Enzi's bill to protect the future of hobby rocketry in America is scheduled to be marked-up in the Senate Judiciary Committee this Thursday, June 19. Letters should be brief, to the point, personal and polite.

(NOTE: Individual emails were sent to every NAR member in the affected states for whom we had email addresses on file at NAR HQ, with this call to action.)

Letters should note the following:

1. You are a resident of the Senator's state, writing to ask consideration on an issue of personal concern with national ramifications.
2. You are aware that Senate bill S. 724, introduced by Sen. Mike Enzi of Wyoming and several cosponsors, is scheduled to be marked-up in the Senate Judiciary Committee this Thursday, and that an amendment or amendments seeking to impose very low weight limits on the amount of hobby rocket propellant individuals can purchase without a permit from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are expected.
3. The main material in question, ammonium perchlorate composite propellant (APCP) has been in safe use for almost 30 years, is not explosive, and is not known to have been used by terrorists or those seeking to make bombs.
4. That requiring all hobby rocket enthusiasts to obtain an ATFE permit simply to engage in this educational, scientific hobby will likely result in an end to hobby rocketry, and the hundreds of small businesses that support the hobby, because people cannot, or will not, incur the administrative burden and expense of obtaining an ATFE permit and complying with the explosives storage requirements that come with such permits. Those requirements can cost hundreds, or even thousands, of dollars and months of time and effort.
5. That imposing unnecessary, redundant and scientifically unjustified burdens on hobby rocket enthusiasts will not enhance national security because the acts an individual might take to misuse rocket propellants, or hobby rockets themselves, are already illegal or prohibited.
6. Ask the Senator to support S. 724 as introduced, or amendments to it that set reasonable regulations on hobby rocketry that do not unnecessarily harm the hobby and the small businesses that support it. Questions regarding amendments can be directed to Candice Cotton in Sen. Enzi's office at 202-224-3424.

The Senators on the Judiciary Committee needing to receive this fax are:

Joseph R. Biden, Jr. (D-DE)
Fax: 202-224-0139

Saxby Chambliss (R-GA)
Fax: 202-224-0103

John Cornyn (R-TX)
Fax: 202-228-2856

Mike DeWine (R-OH)
Fax: 202-224-6519

John Edwards (D-NC)
Fax: 202-228-1374

Russell D. Feingold (D-WI)
Fax: 202-224-2725

Herbert Kohl (D-WI)
Fax: 202-224-9787

Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)
Fax: 202-228-3954

Lindsey Graham (R-SC)
Fax: 202-225-3216

Charles E. Grassley (R-IA)
Fax: 2022242460

Orrin G. Hatch (R-UT), Chairman
Fax: 202-224-6331

Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA)
Fax: 202-224-2417

Jon Kyl (R-AZ)
Fax: 202-224-2207

Patrick J. Leahy (D-VT)
Fax: 202-224-3479

Charles E. Schumer (D-NY)
Fax: 202-228-3027

Arlen Specter (R-PA)
Fax: 202-228-1229

Larry Craig (R-ID)
Fax: 202-228-1067

Richard J. Durbin (D-IL)
Fax: 202-228-0400

Jeff Sessions (R-AL)
Fax: 202-224-3149


You can make use of a free, remote faxing service by sending an email of your letter to your Senator using the following address:

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Simply find the email address for your Senator above, use it in the TO: field of your email program, then add the text of your letter (text only, please) as an email, and hit "send".

I've not yet received a confirming email back from this service, so to be 100% sure, and assuming you have access to a fax machine, you may wish to simply print out and directly fax your letter.

These letters do help, so if you've not yet sent one, please consider doing so.

Mark B. Bundick, President
National Association of Rocketry