[Mrfnews] 07NR03 –News From Washington DC

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07NR03 –News From Washington DC

MRF E-MAIL NEWS
Motorcycle Riders Foundation
236 Massachusetts Ave. NE
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Washington, DC 20002-4980
202-546-0983 (voice)
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Jeff Hennie, MRF Vice-President of Government Relations
jeff at mrf.org (e-mail)

#07NR03- News From Washington DC



The View from Capitol Hill

March 8, 2007

Last week was the annual AMA Welcome to Washington seminar, and Capitol
Hill was feeling it after the week was over. The yearly seminar had just
about thirty AMA members in attendance, many of whom were also MRF
members. The three-day event aims to take political neophytes and
transform them into savvy political motorcyclists’ rights advocates. Like
most educational opportunities in life, you get out of it what you want.
Those individuals who attend the seminar, pay attention and ask questions
when needed emerge as budding lobbyists for all things motorcycle.  The
event, like the AMA, focuses on both on road issues and a large amount of
off road and racing issues as well. After three days of exhaustive
education, the attendees are turned loose on their members of Congress to
lobby them on motorcycle issues. Congrats to the AMA for another event
done well.

ABATE of MN was also in town the same week and let me tell you, they
brought a posse. Almost twenty bikers walking the halls en masse was a
welcome sight to this lonely lobbyist.  I had the opportunity to tag along
with the group to a good chunk of their meetings. The MN congressional
delegation has a substantial amount of weight this Congress.  For example,
Congressman Jim Oberstar (D-MN) is the new Chairman of the House
Transportation Committee. Oberstar does have a soft spot for some
two-wheeled modes of transportation, mainly bicycles; the 73-year-old
pledges to put over three thousand miles on his bicycle this summer
touring the state, again. While we may not always line up on safety
legislation with Mr. Oberstar, we can always count on him to advocate for
share the road and awareness campaigns.

ABATE of Wisconsin and ABATE of New Mexico were also in Washington DC last
week as well. This was a first for the ABATE from the Land of Enchantment
and definitely not a first for the dairy state. C.J. August from New
Mexico took some time off while here for a work commitment to lobby her
Representative and Senators. The folks from Wisconsin brought some new
faces and some familiar ones as well. MRF President Kirk “Hardtail”
Willard and MRF SSMRO rep to the board, Dave Dwyer were both part of the
crew from WI. I had the opportunity to participate with both groups while
they successfully lobbied the Hill.  Several other MRO’s had
representatives in DC last week including but not limited to, ABATE of AK,
IL, MD, and NY. Yours truly wasn’t able to tag along with every state but
I rest assured knowing they all had productive and profitable meetings
with their elected officials.

I can’t mention everyone that was out last week so thanks to everybody who
spent hard earned money and precious time to venture to DC to advocate for
motorcycling. If you haven’t been to DC to lobby for motorcycles you
should be asking your self, why not?

Off to the Races
Scott McInnis, former member of Congress from Colorado and also a past MRF
Champion for introducing the HIPAA loophole fix legislation, has tossed
his hat into the ring for US Senate.  McInnis recently announced that he
will be running for the seat to be vacated by Senator Wayne Allard (R-CO)
in 2008. McInnis, an attorney, is widely considered to be the frontrunner
in the race to succeed the retiring Allard. More on this race and others
important to the motorcycling community as they develop.

Noteworthy News
NHTSA is once again revising some its highway safety program guidelines
and once again they are including motorcycles in the plan. The proposed
revisions are not all bad and not all good either. Some of the plan
embraces awareness campaigns and some of it suggests graduated licensing
for youth and senior’s automobile drives. Read the proposals for yourself
by looking up NHTSA Docket 27159.  You can read the MRF comments here:
http://dmses.dot.gov/docimages/p89/458103.doc or here
http://dmses.dot.gov/docimages/pdf100/458103_web.pdf


Around the Country.
Washington State: While the jury is still out on whether lane sharing is a
good thing for motorcyclists or not, Washington State Senator Dan Swecker
has gone on record supporting the controversial practice. In fact so much
so, that he introduced a bill (SB 5985) on February 12, 2007, to allow
motorcycle operators to travel between lanes traveling in the same
direction when traffic is moving less than half of the posted speed limit.
Motorcyclist would be limited to speeds of 10 miles per hour above the
average speed of traffic when traveling between lanes.
Ride free and frequently-
Jeff Hennie

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(c)All Information contained in this release is copyrighted. Reproduction
permitted with attribution. The Motorcycle Riders Foundation, incorporated
in 1987, is a membership-based, national motorcyclists\' rights
organization headquartered in Washington, DC. The first motorcyclists\'
rights organization to establish a full-time presence in Washington, DC,
the Motorcycle Riders Foundation is the only Washington voice devoted
exclusively to the street rider. The MRF established MRFPAC in the early
1990s to advocate the election of candidates who would champion the cause
of rider safety and rider freedom.

The MRF proudly claims state motorcyclists\' rights organizations and the
very founders of the American riders\' rights movement among its leading
members. The MRF is involved in federal and state legislation and
regulations, motorcycling safety education, training, and public
awareness. The MRF provides members and state motorcyclists\' rights
organizations with direction and information, and sponsors annual regional
and national educational seminars for motorcyclists rights activists, as
well as publishing a bi-monthly newsletter, THE MRF REPORTS.


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