Immediate
action on your part is requested, there will be a group
of ABATE of
Iowa folks headed to Washington DC on the 23rd of
this month, which leaves not much time, but we can do
it.
What is being asked is
that each of you handwrite a letter to our
Representative's and Senators, requesting them to:
1. Send a
letter to Mary Peters requesting her to withdraw her
amendment request
2. Vote against
any such legislation when/if it comes forth.
Try to get these
letters written right away, then send them to the
ABATE office,
they will need to be at
the ABATE Office no
later than Friday,
this will allow them to be hand delivered to our
lawmakers in DC by our delegation leaving on
Saturday.
Attached is a copy
of the letter Mary Peters had sent:
They can be mailed
to ABATE of
Iowa, P.O. Box 70,
Eldora, IA 50627. If you are running late in
getting them in the mail, you can also fax your
letter to the office at
641-858-5012.
Letters should be
addressed to your Representative or Senator: here is
the list along with addresses.
|
Senator Chuck Grassley |
|
|
135 HART SENATE OFFICE
BUILDING
WASHINGTON DC 20510 |
|
(202) 224-3744 |
| |
| |
|
Senator Tom Harkin |
|
|
731 HART SENATE OFFICE
BUILDING
WASHINGTON DC 20510 |
|
(202) 224-3254 |
|
Congressman Leonard Boswell
1427 Longworth
House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Congressman Steve King
1609 Longworth
Office Building
Washington D.C. 20515
Congressman Tom Latham
2447 Rayburn HOB
Washington, DC 20515
Congressman Bruce Braley
1408 Longworth
H.O.B.
Washington, DC 20515
Congressman Dave Loebsack
1513 Longworth
H.O.B.
Washington, DC 20515
Next if you all will simply send the
same type of request via e-mail to V.P.
Cheny and to
Speaker Nancy Pelosi requesting
them to turn down Mary Peter's demands.
Their e mail addresses are:
or
snail mail address:
Office of the Speaker
H-232, US Capitol
Washington, DC 20515
|
****************************************************************************************************
This is the press release from the
DOT. Hopefully we can find out soon just what
"sent legislation to Congress" means. I would
not think it has been introduced yet, but the way
Congress does business it could pop up
anywhere. Information will available as I get
it. Everyone should realize that when the
Secretary crashed her motorcycle she was riding
in a group and hit the back end of her husbands
bike. I for one at first hoped having a
motorcyclist as Secretary of Transportation would
help us. I should have known better.
Jim
http://www.dot.gov/affairs/dot2108.htm
DOT 21-08
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Contact: Brian Turmail
Tel.: (202) 366-4570
U.S. Transportation Secretary Peters Unveils
Legislation to Help States
Target Motorcycle Helmet Use
WASHINGTON, D.C. U.S. Transportation Secretary
Mary E. Peters today sent legislation to Congress
seeking greater flexibility for states to target
one of the leading causes of motorcycle deaths
across the nation riding without a helmet.
An avid motorcyclist, she credits her helmet and
riding gear for saving her life during a 2005 motorcycle
crash.
"My helmet prevented me from being a brain injury
patient when I crashed my Harley two years ago,"
Secretary Peters said. "We know helmets save
lives and I want states to be able to join in
urging riders to take personal responsibility for
their safety by wearing a helmet every time they ride."
The legislation submitted to Congress would allow
states to use federal motorcycle safety funding
to promote the use of motorcycle helmets.
Currently, states are limited to using the funds
for motorcycle safety training and awareness programs
only.
Secretary Peters noted that states need
additional resources to combat a sharp increase
in motorcycle fatalities. In 2006, motorcycle
fatalities reached 4,810, an increase of 127
percent since 1997, Secretary said. The National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
estimates that motorcycle helmets not only saved
the lives of 1,658 motorcyclists in 2006, but
that 752 additional lives could have been saved
if all motorcyclists had worn helmets, she added.
Calling motorcycles "our nation's greatest
highway safety challenge," Secretary Peters
launched a comprehensive federal initiative to
improve motorcycle safety in October 2007. The
action plan emphasizes more rider education and
training, tougher standards for helmet
certification labeling, law enforcement training,
and road designs that consider motorcycle dynamics.
For more information on DOT's motorcycle safety
initiative, please visit
http://www.nhtsa.gov/motorcycles/index.cfm
***************************************************************
MRF E-MAIL NEWS Motorcycle Riders Foundation
236 Massachusetts Ave. NE
Suite 510
Washington, DC 20002-4980
202-546-0983 (voice)
202-546-0986 (fax)
http://www.mrf.org (website)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Jeff Hennie, MRF Vice-President of Government
Relations
jeff@mrf.org
(e-mail)
16 February 2008
MRF Strongly Opposes US DOT Attack on Training Funds
The Motorcycle Riders Foundation (MRF) has learned that
United States
Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters sent letters to
Capitol Hill with
draft legislation outlining her intention to raid the
2010 motorcycle
training and awareness funds set aside by Congress in
the last Highway
Bill (PL 109-59). Peters announced on Thursday,
February 14 that she
would like to see the earmarked training and awareness
funds made
available to promote the use of helmets in individual
states.
"The MRF is extremely disappointed that Mrs. Peters
would choose this
small, yet critical, grant program to raid. We
understand her desire to
encourage helmet use, but couldn't the Secretary of
Transportation find a
more suitable program to fund her personal helmet hunt?"
said Jeff Hennie,
Vice President of Government Relations for the MRF.
The 2010 funds were a direct result of years of intense
lobbying by state
motorcyclists' rights organizations (SMROs) and
individual motorcyclists
from across this country, and were intended for two very
specific aspects
of motorcycle safety - motorcycle rider education and
motorist awareness
of motorcycles. These two aspects of motorcycle safety
have been grossly
under-funded at the state level for years, often solely
at the direct
expense of motorcyclists themselves through licensing
and registration
fees.
The 2010 funding program, in its second year, is a way
for the
motorcyclists of this country to get a little help from
the feds to save
lives. The fact is that helmet use has always been a
major plank in the
platform at the US Department of Transportation (DOT).
So why now take
away funds desperately needed for other areas of
motorcycle safety? The
training and awareness programs in statewide operation
now are in jeopardy
of reduced or zero funding every year. This federal
program was designed
to allow a trickle of cash to the states to at least
keep current programs
running. Should Peters get her way, that trickle
becomes nothing but a
drip. In addition, the current 2010 grant program is
not funding failing
programs. In order to qualify for the grant, each state
has to demonstrate
success in its programs by reducing fatalities.
Secretary Peters narrowly skates around an existing law
that bans the
federal government from lobbying states to enact
statewide legislation.
She does this by not asking that the money be used for
helmet LAW
advocacy, but by asking the money be used for helmet USE
advocacy.
What's actually happened and how concerned do we need to
be? You may be
asking yourself that very question about now. Here is
the real world
scenario: Mary Peters has sent two letters to Congress -
one to
Speaker
Pelosi and the other to Senate President Cheney.
The letters include draft
legislation that would amend section 2010 to allow funds
to be used for
the promotion of helmet use. At this point there is no
actual legislation
- just an idea. If and when legislation results, the
MRF will be issuing
a call to action strongly opposing Peters' proposal, and
will work
tirelessly to convince every Senator and Member of
Congress not to support
this raid on the 2010 funds. At this point, however,
the funds
appropriated for your state are safe.
*****************************************************************
AMA concerned about new threat to motorcycle safety
training funds
U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters is urging
Congress to allow states to divert federal money now used
for motorcycle training and awareness to instead promote the
use of motorcycle helmets, the American Motorcyclist
Association reports.
Peters sent letters to House and Senate leaders this week
asking for the change.
Ed Moreland, AMA Vice President for Government Relations,
expressed concern that diverting federal motorcycle safety
funds to promote helmet use could harm rider training
courses and motorcycle awareness programs that are already
underfunded in many states.
"Helmet use is certainly one part of a comprehensive
approach to motorcycle safety," said Moreland. "But this
step is a direct raid on funds that were appropriated by
Congress to address the specific safety concerns of the
motorcyclists' rights community. Furthermore, the use of
motorcycle helmets is already advocated in existing
motorcycle safety initiatives.
"Funding for rider-training courses is frequently under
threat in cash-strapped states, and cutting the same-size
pie into thinner slices is not the comprehensive,
thoughtful, national motorcycle safety strategy we need."
Moreland also expressed concern that Peters' proposal
could contradict sections of transportation bills passed in
1998 and 2005 that ban the use of federal motorcycle safety
funds to lobby state legislatures in favor of mandatory
helmet laws and could effectively reverse those bans.
The AMA strongly advocates the voluntary use of helmets
by adults, along with other appropriate safety gear, and
does not oppose laws requiring helmet use by minors. But the
Association believes adults should be allowed to make their
own decisions about when to wear a helmet.
