As AMA’s Congressional Awareness Campaign draws to a close, it’s reassuring to know that the AMA membership and the modeling community responded quickly and decisively to AMA’s call for action. Tens of thousands of modeling enthusiasts, supporters and aeromodeling stakeholders responded and made their concerns known to their elected officials. Members of Congress responded with dozens of letters of support and pledges to advocate for the hobby. Local and national media were alerted to our issues and hard-hitting articles were presented that questioned the need for such overreaching regulation.
I am extremely grateful to those who have joined our cause and I believe we have gained a crucial foothold, but we are a long ways from being out of the woods. Now is not the time to let down our guard. We need to continue to be vigilant; we must maintain awareness and we need to continue to engage the hundreds of thousands of Americans that value this hobby and cherish our Freedom of Flight.
-Rich Hanson, AMA Government Relations and Regulatory Affairs Representative