i want to welcome my center, gordon smith, who has overtaken the raids of the national association ofadcasters. i am still his congressman, even if he is not now by senator. but we have been friends and colleagues in the legislative arena for years, and we welcome you. now that i have sold our broadcast stations and you have gone to the broadcasters, i'm going to go into p packing. i am going to point out a couple of things. i encourage my colleague from illinois on the d block issue. i also want to point out another issue related to public safety, and i am not sure it will get spoken today. that is use of the ban by amateur radio operators as well. as we evaluate the value of spectrum, understand that when 9/11 happened and other communications systems failed, and any day when there is a hurricane or disaster anywhere in the world, it is frequently the amateur radio operators who stepped to the fore with their own equipment and work and when all else fails. it is hard to put a value on that as rescue crews get through difficult times. that needs to be a part of what we consider. rega

i want to welcome by senator gordon smith who is taken over the reins at the national association of broadcasters. i'm still his congressman even if he is not, senator but we have been friends and colleagues in the legislative arena for many years and we welcome you at the nab and now that i've sold are broadcast asians and you got to the broadcasters have to go into p. packin. [laughter] i want to point out a couple of things. i concur with my colleague from illinois on the d -- d block issue but i also want to point at another issue that has come up related to public safety and osher is going to get spoken to today and that is use of the banned by the amateur opera as wheat evaluate the special and how understand that when 9/11 happen in katrina happens and other communication system fail fan even any day when there is a hurricane or disaster anywhere in the world it is frequently the amateur radio operators to step to the floor with their own equipment and provide emergency communication when everything else fails. it is hard to put a value on that and the supervalu on saving live