FEDERALCOMMUNICATIONSCOMMISSION
Washington, D. C.
"NATIONAL DEFENSE AND THE FEDERAL COMMUMICATIONS COMMISSION"
43535
Extracts from transcription talk by Chairman James Lawrence Fly
in Program No. 5 of the "National Defense Series" of the Office of Government
Reports ever some 250 radio stations during week of September 22, 1940 .
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The coordinated program for insuring our national defense has required
the Federal
Communications
Commission to enlarge its activities in some
importantrespects . I m ght summarize the Commission's main role in the preparednesspicture bysayingthat itsparticularduty isto°police"heair -and
to do it effectively. This, of course, it has been doing on a smaller scale
for many years .
This means listening-in and otherwise keeping watch on all forms of
radio transmission. It is done by means of what engineers call "monitoring" .
Stations for this purpose are located at strategic points throughout the United
States and its possessions, and are equipped to monitor all forms of radio
messages.
The routine work of the FCC covers licensing and supervision of all
forms of
communication
by means of electric impulse . In addition to the
familiarbroadcast programs, thereiscommercialpoint-to-pointradio service, and
radio transmission by amateurs, aircraft, and aero stations, ships and coastal
stations, police and fire departments, forestry stations, various types of
experimental services, and, on occasion, by special emergency stations. These
and other radio transmissions are all under Commission jurisdiction and subject
to being adjusted to meet any emergency. The Commission must continually watch
the many different types of transmissions to see that they are in accord with
the public interest. It now has the added duty of seeing that these transmissions
do net run counter to our neutrality or national defense requirements .
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All radio transmission is required to be licensed. It is also assigned
certain channels, called frequencies, on which to travel. Hence, the broadcast
bands can be likened to highways, and the stations and their identifying
call letters to automobiles with license tags . Just as an auto cannot cross
the white line without risking collision, a radio transnission can't deviate
from its set course without causing interference to other signals. Unauthorizod
or reckless driving on the ether ways is immediately noted by the Conmission's
monitoring stations, or reported by other broadcasters .
The monitoring stations determine the bearings and characteristics of
unauthorized or questionable transmission. And supplementary mobile equipment,
usually autos equipped with direction-finding and field strength measuring
apparatus, trace the origin o£ such signals. Under certain conditions it may
be necessary to watch a suspected house or other building for a period of time .
In such cases the equipment can be removed fron the car and operated from the
power supply of a rented room, tourist cabin, or other place used for observation
purposes.
The Commission wants to be fully and accurately informed about the
hundreds of thousands of persons who operate apparatus capable of farflung and
almost instantaneous communication. The Commission, of course, licenses only
citizens for all classes of radio transmission. In normal tires it has depended
upon the applicant's own statement as to that fact,
Now,
however, it is
requiringall radio operatore - commercial as well as amateur - to furnish
documentaryproof of citizenship, as well as fingerprints and photographs for
identification record.
With the cooperation of the private wire and cable companies, which
handle a considerable
volume
of official
dispatches and
other Government
messages,it is compiling similar data with respe t to their operators . The
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Communications Act of 1934 charges the FCC with regulating all interstate and
foreign
communication
by electrical
means
and this
includes
telephone,
telegraph,and cable, as well as radiotelephone and radiote egraph.
In June the
Commission
issued an
immediate
ban on
amateur radio communicationwith foreign c untries, and further prohibited the use of portable long-distancetransmitters byamateurs.At the sametime,the Commissionwarned all
ship radio operators to refrain from superfluous conversation on the air.
International agreements specifically prohibit the transmission of
"superfluous, unnecessary or unidentified communications." If this is a
necessary requirement in normal times, you can see how essential it is in a
period of emergency. While offhand it might seem unimportant for a ship radio
operator with time on his hands to chat with other stations, it takes on a
different light
if, in so doing,
he mentions, say, that he is watching troop-shipsmoving onthehorizon . Thiscan.have serious consequences, particularly
if belligerent warcraft chance to be listening in. In addition to augmenting
its monitoring and inspection duties, the Commission's field force is required
to also watch radiotelephone and
radiotelegraph
circuits for superfluous
messagesand, if necessary, record the sam for possible use as evidence.
An incidental task of the Commission's field staff is to guard against
possible misuse of certain types of electrical apparatus .
Eventhe diathermy devices nowemployedso usefully in manydoctors' officesare capable of sendingout signals that, under certain circumstances, might jeopardize the
national security. Still another undertaking along these lines is to maintain
a check on transmitters that have been manufactured but which have not beenlicensedfor communication use .
In times like these our investigations of alleged unauthorized use of
radio have increased tremendously over the thousand or so cases we had last year.
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The American public is not naturally "Fifth Column" conscious . Every antenna
on a coastal fisherman's shack or a mountain cabin is a potential "spy" outfit
in the eyes of some observing citizens under the present situation . It is
necessary for the Commission to inquire carefully into every case reported to
its field offices, even though these suspicious wires oftentimes lead to harmless receivers.Iwillsay thatmostcaseso£unlicensedoperation turnout
to be acts of thoughtless or mischievous youth.
It is only natural, and logical, that the President is given certain
powers to coordinate and utilize important systems of communication during
national emergency. For one thing, Section 606 of the Communications Act
enables the Chief Executive, if he finds it necessary for the national defense
and security, to accordcertain communications priority . And, under like
emergency, he may fron time to time suspend or amend existing rules and regulations
pertaining to radio communication, and permit
Government
use of particular
facilities, if need be. Also, stringent provisions may be invoked to prevent
sabotage of radio or wire communications in time of national stress .
It seems obvious that program service should continue pretty much as
at present . After all, that is the
American system of broadcasting, and distinguishes it from the situation abroad, where broadcasting has degenerated to a system of propaganda, and television has been "blacked out", amateurs
rubbed out, and research and progress retarded for more years than we may yet
realize . Such chaotic conditions as regards communications must not invade
the United States . For one thing, our Government does not want to interfere
with radio broadcasting any more than is necessary for the national protection.
Likewise, it is expedient to preserve intact the present linking up of radio
stations throughout the land. This is a large country, and the advantages of
efficient and instantaneous communication throughout the 48 States and possessions is essentially important. International communications are likewise
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important.
0£ course, I do not mean to imply that, under actual emergency, the
Government might not temporarily enlist particular radio outlets for military
purposes, and in the extreme picture, temporarily shut down , say seaboard
transmission which might serve as a beacon to an enemy in event of air raids.
Also, in an actual emergency, the Government would undoubtedly require certain
periods in which to broadcast official bulletins and other public announcements .
But that would not necessitate taking over broadcasting facilities bodily.
The broadcasters stand anxious and willing to lend their facilities and give
time to the nation at stated periods or on other occasions when such need
arises .
A collaborative spirit is reflected in all fields of communication.
It not only permeates the broadcasting industry, but extends throughout the
commercial fields, and into the domain of the amateurs.
The
amateurs constitute
a valuable source or supply of operators and other experts for the military
and other services in time of war. Besides cooperating in every particular
with the Commission in normal tines, the amateur has been of particular aid in
the national defense set-up
by
policing his
own
frequencies . It may be
interestingfor you to know that voluntary actio most amateurs stopped communicating towarring countries longbeforetheCommissionimposed itsgeneral
prohibition respecting foreign contacts .
I cannot over-emphasize the fact that action of
the
Commission in
prescribingcertain general curbs is precautionary rather than disciplinary.
We are
proud
of the patriotic and cooperative response of operator and industry
both.