On motion of International Affairs Vice President Stafford, seconded by Mr. Frenaye, it was MOVED that the following resolution be adopted:

WHEREAS, Morse code, named after Samuel Finley Breese Morse, is an invention that has been essential to telecommunications for over 150 years; and

WHEREAS, the international Morse code has been an essential mode to Amateur Radio from its beginning to this day; and

WHEREAS, Radio Amateurs formed a pool of skilled Morse operators vital in the 20^th Century for national defense, disaster, maritime-mobile and aeronautical-mobile communications; and

WHEREAS, since the 1950s there has been a great influx of other technologies that have gradually reduced the need for trained Morse operators outside the Amateur services; and

WHEREAS, the aeronautical-mobile and maritime-mobile applications of Morse have been or are being terminated throughout the world; and

WHEREAS, there is an agenda item for the 2003 World Radiocommunication Conference to consider Article S25; and

WHEREAS, it is highly likely that administrations will delete the Morse code requirement in Article S25 at WRC2003; and

WHEREAS, the international Amateur community has followed the United States lead in reducing the code speed requirement for licensing to operate on bands below 30 MHz to 5 words per minute and there is a trend toward elimination of this requirement; and

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the ARRL Board of Directors recognizes and accepts that suppression of the Morse code requirement in Article S25 is likely to occur at WRC 2003; and be it

FURTHER RESOLVED, that deletion of the requirement from Article S25 should not automatically or immediately mean a similar removal of the Morse code from Part 97 of the FCC rules; and be it

FURTHER RESOLVED, that each administration should determine if Morse code is retained as a testing element; and be it

FURTHER RESOLVED, it is the opinion of this Board at this time that Morse code should be retained as a testing element in the U.S.; and be it

FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Morse code is deserving of continued support as an important operating mode including providing for the protection and maintenance of sufficient spectrum in band planning; and be it

FURTHER RESOLVED, that staff develop a program designed to promote the use of Morse code; and be it

FURTHER RESOLVED, that this resolution supercedes all previous statements of policy related to suppression of the Morse code requirement in Article S25.