By Nick Rogers

On May 22, 2023, the American Broadband Deployment Act, also known as HR 3557, was introduced in the US House of Representatives. The proposed bill, sponsored by US Rep. Buddy Carter, has a stated goal “to streamline Federal, State, and local permitting and regulatory reviews to expedite the deployment of communications facilities, and for other purposes.” In laymen’s terms, it would strip away local governments’ already-tenuous and dwindling rights to refuse the granting of antenna permits to telecom companies. One of these remaining rights is that of preserving the aesthetics of historical buildings and town squares.

As the website Americans For Responsible Technology states, HR 3557  “…forces local communities to quickly approve antenna applications; if time runs out, pending applications will be ‘deemed approved’ and can be built, even without a permit.” 

As context, in 1996, President William Jefferson Clinton signed the Telecommunications Act into law and, by doing so, paved the way for the ongoing exponential rollout of the now-ubiquitous cellular tower infrastructure. Fortified by the Act, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) declared cell phone frequencies (non-ionizing radiation in the form of radio waves) totally safe by conducting a “study” using the Specific Anthropomorphic Mannequin (SAM), a fake human head filled with gel meant to somehow represent living beings with a brain, cells, atoms, etc.

The ’96 Act was presented much like HR 3557 as a deregulation platform to stimulate competition and growth within the wireless technology industry. However, It contains a particularly devious stipulation all-but prohibiting local municipalities from refusing the addition of wireless infrastructure based on health concerns. Section 704 says, “No State or local government or instrumentality thereof may regulate the placement, construction, and modification of personal wireless service facilities on the basis of the environmental effects of radio frequency emissions to the extent that such facilities comply with the Commission’s regulations concerning such emissions.” There are ongoing debates in the courts as to whether or not the phrase “environmental effects” encompasses human health.

Norm Alister of Harvard University refers to the FCC as the most captured agency in Washington, DC –  Joel Moskowitz, a researcher in the School of Public Health at UC Berkley, says, “There’s a revolving door between the membership of the FCC and high-level people within the telecom industry that’s been going on for a couple of decades now.” He adds, “The industry spends about $100 million a year lobbying congress.”

With the full blessing of the FCC, SAM – and other “studies” like it – have been deemed legitimate for 27 years now, despite a massive body of evidence showing not only the fraudulence of the tests themselves, but the ever-growing health risks related to newer generations of cellular frequencies like 5G.

24 years after Clinton’s wireless legacy was established, President Donald John Trump signed the Secure 5G and Beyond Act of 2020, ostensibly to “ensure the security of wireless 5G communications systems.” In reality, the Act did little else other than to expedite the rollout of dangerous new phased array 5G technologies in the millimeter wave frequency range while making it even harder for local authorities to voice any meaningful dissent. In fact, there may be a small cell antenna on a light pole or private home near you without you even knowing it. The Over the Air Reception Device Rule (OTARD) is a particularly insidious new attempt to override local authority to the point where a permit is no longer necessary at all.

As the wireless “smart” grid continues to roll out barely impeded, which includes “smart” LED streetlights, human health and that of the plants and animals around us continues to precipitously decline. This isn’t fringe conspiracy theory any longer. Scientists worldwide are sounding the alarm about ongoing eco system collapse caused by this man-made soup of electromagnetic frequencies. Sadly, it seems that the almighty dollar takes precedence above everything, and HR 3557 appears to be the FCC’s attempt at getting rid of local municipality impediments once and for all.

After all, when most people trust our regulatory agencies without question – the Environmental Protections Agency (EPA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) both stand by the FCC’s safety “suggestions” – why would folks have reason to worry about the use of their wireless devices and the extremely redundant placement of antennas/repeaters near homes, schools, hospitals, etc.? The watchdog group Americans for Responsible Technology (ART) is doing their best to sound the alarm; imploring all of us to contact our local and state officials regarding HR 3557. How much good such calls and emails will make is debatable when the entire industry is protected by the very agency tasked with regulating it. Is your voice loud enough to answer the call?