Whereas, There are over 20,500 amateur radio operators in the State of Michigan and over 85 amateur radio clubs who have demonstrated their value in public assistance by providing, at their own expense, free emergency radio communications; and,

Whereas, Many of the Michigan radio amateurs - who are on volunteer status to assist in any emergency local or worldwide emergency - will demonstrate their radio communications skills during the American Radio Relay League’s (ARRL) Annual Field Day Exercises; and,

Whereas, In cooperation with NASA and its astronauts, Michigan amateur radio operators and the ARRL provide additional public service by setting up portable amateur radio communication links between astronauts in space and Michigan students in their classrooms, opening the eyes of young people to the realities of space, science, and engineering; and,

Whereas, The ARRL and the National Association for Amateur Radio, headquartered in Newington, Connecticut, provides internationally broadcast bulletins, training programs, and a staff of professional engineers, technicians, and legal counsel for its members in Michigan and throughout our Nation; and,

Whereas, The ARRL’s broadcasts via amateur radio reach over two million licensed radio amateurs plus uncounted numbers of electronic engineers, technicians, and experimenters; and,

Whereas, This years Amateur Radio Field Day, taking place June 24 and 25, 2006, will be a 24-hour, round-the-clock operation under emergency power where radio amateurs will test their own skills and the readiness of their equipment from the Michigan fields, hillsides, and woodland clearings; and now therefore be it,

Resolved, That I, Jennifer M. Granholm, Governor of the State of Michigan, do hereby proclaim the week of June 19, 2006, as Amateur Radio Awareness Week in Michigan.