SUMMARY EXPLANATION OF HR 11732 - A BILL TO AMEND SECTION 305 OF THE COMMUNICATIONS ACT OF 1934, AS AMENDED

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP84-00499R000800130030-2
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: December 12, 2016
• Document Release Date: April 9, 2002
• Sequence Number: 30
• Content Type: REGULATION

Approved Forapiease 2002/08/21 : CIA-RDP84-0049& 00800130030-2
Summary Explanation of HR 11732
A Bill to Amend section 305 of the Communications Act
of 1934, as Amended
Existing Law
Section 301 of the Communications Act of 1934 now provides: "No person
shall use or operate any apparatus for the transmission of energy or commu-
nications or-signals by radio" in the United States, "except with a license in
that behalf granted under the provisions of this Act".
Section 303 authorizes the Federal Communications Commission to "fix
the form of such licenses, and to issue them to such citizens of the United
States as the Commission finds qualified".
Section 305 provides that "Radio stations belonging to and operated by
"the United States shall not be subject to the provisions of section 301 and 303
of this Act. All such Government stations shall use such frequencies as shall
be assigned to each or to each class by the President".
Section 310 specifies that such licenses "shall not be granted to or held
by (1) any alien or the representative of any alien; (2) `any foreign government
or the representative thereof".
Proposed Amendment
"305 (d) The provisions of section 301 and 303 of this Act notwithstanding,
the President may authorize a foreign government, under such terms and
conditions as he may prescribe, to construct and operate at the seat of
government of the United States a low-povc er radio station in the fixed
service at or near the site of the embassy or legation of such foreign gov-
ernment for transmission of its messages to. points outside the United
States, where he determines that the authorization would be consistent
with the national interest of the United States and where such foreign
government has provided substantial reciprocal privileges to the United
States to construct and operate radio stations within territories subject
to its jurisdiction. Foreign government stations authorized pursuant to
the provisions of this subsection shall conform to such rules and regu-
lations as the President may prescribe. The authorizatio of such sta-
tions, and the renewal, modification, suspension, revocation, or other
termination of such authority shall be in accordance with such proce-
dures as may be established by the President and shall not be subject
to the other provisions of this Act or of the Administrative Procedure
State.& OGC reviews Oor Release 2002/08/21 :-CIA-RDP84- 0499R000 0 130030-2
~urpose o Amendment
 a -
Approved For Rajease 2002/08/21 CIA-RDP84-00499f 0800130030-2
Purpose of Amendment a
H.R.11732 would amend section 305 of the Communications Act to permit
the President to authorize a foreign government to operate a radio trans-
mitter at or near its mission in Washington when that government has pro-
vided reciprocal privileges to the United States to operate a station within
its territory.
By amending Section 305 of the Act, the licensing requirements of Sec-
tion 301, the powers of the Federal Communications Commission set forth
in Section 303, and the limitations on aliens and foreign governments pre-
scribed in Section 310, would be preserved except in regard to transmitters
authorized by the President under reciprocal agreements and operating on
frequencies assigned by him.
Concurrences
The following Agencies have concurred in or expressed no objection to
the proposed amendment: Executive Office of the President (Bureau of the
Budget, Office of Emergency Planning); Department of Defense, Department
of Justice and Federal Communications Commission.
Discussion
Rapid, secure and dependable communication with our posts abroad is
essential to the conduct of international civilian and military activities. The
pace of international negotiations, frequency of diplomatic and military crises,
and our need to obtain multilateral solutions to foreign policy problems make
this need of great urgency.
In most countries we are dependent upon locally owned and operated tele-
graph facilities. Such communications facilities often are unreliable and un-
satisfactory because of poor quality of equipment, local operating practices
and limited hours of operation. In time of crisis, when need for rapid and
reliable communication
Approved'For Release 2002/08/21 : CIA-RDP84-00499R000800130030-2
 Approved ForWease 2002/08/21 :
CIA-RDP84-00499$00800130030-2
3
-
reliable communication is most acute, the commercial channels often are
interrupted or denied to us. Internal uprisings, disruption of international
relationships or whims of local governments (often Communist dominated)
which control most telegraph facilities abroad, can cause loss of commu-
nication with our field posts at any time.
Radio stations under our control, operated in our embassies by Ameri-
can personnel, offer the most feasible solution to this problem. Sections
301 and 310 of the Federal Communications Act prevent foreign missions
in Washington from operating radio transmitters., It is the general practice
of other governments to deny us the privilege of operating radio transmitters
in their countries unless we are prepared to enter into reciprocal agreements
offering them similar privileges in Washington. This is true even though it
is unlikely that many foreign governments would take advantage of such privi-
lege. Enactment of this bill would improve materially our ability to establish
an American operated worldwide communications system needed to keep pace
with present day international activities.
There are three principal factors which have been suggested in the past
as militating against granting reciprocal radio transmitting privileges to
representatives of foreign governments in the United States. They are:
1. Facilitation of transmission of intelligence from the United States
by foreign governments. The use of diplomatic radio facilities is
interpreted merely as a modern extension of the time-honored privi-
leges of the diplomatic pouch. The diplomatic pouch enjoys complete
immunity from inspection and, with present international air schedules,
offers a very rapid channel for transmission of unlimited quantities of
intelligence',,material. Foreign missions in Washington have open
Approved! For Release 2002/08/21 CIA-RDP84-0049498000800130030-2
access to
 Approved For R@lease 2002/08/21 : CIA-RDP84-00499f0800130030-2
access to U. S. telegraph services and can lease international radio or
cable channels, thus gaining all the advantages of having their own radio
facilities. Objection to the proposed legislation formerly advanced by
the Department of Justice on security grounds has been withdrawn, and
the Attorney General has stated that the Justice Department has no ob-
jection to the proposed amendment.
2. Potential loss of revenue to American carrie ?o. It does not appear that
American carriers would suffer significant loss of revenue. The amount
of business diverted from American carriers would be small as limi-
,r
tations on power, operating hours and frequencies of foreign govern-
ment operated transmitters would not permit diversion of a large vol-
ume of traffic. The proposal has been discussed with the three prin-
cipal American carriers (Radio Corporation of America, American
Cable and Radio, and Western Union) and none of them has expressed
great concern over the amount of revenue they might lose.
3. Frequency and interference problems for other radio services in the
United States. The Director of Telecommunications Policy and the
Federal Communications Commission will assign frequencies and
insure that there will be no serious interference with other licensed
operation. The low power, low volume axid intermittent transmissions
permitted materially reduce frequency and interference problems. This
is confirmed by the fact that similar networks are operated extensively
throughout the rest of the world without serious complications.
Summary
The possible disadvantages of operation of radio transmitters in Washing-
ton by selected foreign governments are far outweighted by the advantages to
the UnitedASpr ivied r e u,d20 /6/11f r8fR-PbP8c4 oY fo860r0iibb3V~nsmitters
in foeigri
 Approved For Rolease 2002/08/21 CIA-RDP84-00499RO0800130030-2
-5-
iZ foreign countries. It is in the national interest to amend the Communica-
tions Act to permit granting of reciprocal privileges to select foreign coun-
tries in order that we may make use of modern on-line automatic encryption
devices throughout the world in support of diplomatic negotiations, coordination
with our allies in the event of war, and improvement of our ability to act
promptly in crisis situations such as those concerning the Suez, Cuba and
Laos.
Approved' For Release 2002/08/21 CIA-RDP84-004998000800130030-2