Jake
March 27th, 2004, 10:33 AM
On April 1, 2002, the Motorcycle Riders Foundation (MRF) unveiled its innovative and groundbreaking motorcycle safety initiatives for the reauthorization of the Transportation Equity Act of the 21st Century (TEA). Today, nearly two years later, the MRF is pleased to announce that with the help of thousands of individual motorcyclists and state motorcyclists' rights organizations (SMROs) nationwide we have made historic advances in the area of motorcyclists' rights and safety! H.R. 3550, "The Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy For Users" (TEA LU) was finalized by the House Transportation and Infrastructure (T & I) Committee today, and ALL of the motorcycle safety initiatives proposed by the MRF are included in the final version. The full House will consider H.R. 3550 next week.
You can view the entire 880-page TEA LU bill at http://www.house.gov/transportation/highway/hr3550.pdf. This is a huge pdf file that will take quite a while to download in its entirety, and you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to open it. If you do not already have Acrobat Reader on your computer, you can download it free by visiting Adobe's website at http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html and following the instructions. The MRF's motorcycle safety initiatives begin on page 402, Line 18 of H.R. 3550.
The MRF and motorcyclists from every state owe a huge debt of gratitude to Boyd McFail of ABATE of Alaska for the many years he has spent developing an effective working relationship with House T & I Committee Chairman Don Young (R-AK), as well as the many recent months he has spent working with Congressman Young and his staff to ensure that our motorcycle safety initiatives would be included in the Committee's bill.
"Congressman Young has once again shown us that his word is as good as his bond," said McFail. "He told me in February of 2003 that our language would be in the new TEA-LU bill, and it is there. Not only is he 'Congressman for all Alaska,' he is 'A Brother Advocating Training and Education.' In addition, the staff at the Highways and Transit Subcommittee deserve one heckuva party for all of the work they did getting the language written and included the bill. Many thanks go out to Melissa Theriault with her Porsche and Ryan Young (the cheerful voices answering the phone), as well as Jim Tymon (Professional Staff) who got the bill written and into markup and Levon Boyagian (Staff Director) who gets an extra congratulations from me because in the midst of all this he and his wife had their first baby!"
Special thanks also go to Kirk "Hardtail" Willard, who has worked tirelessly the past few months following this important piece of legislation on behalf of the MRF, working closely with Congressman Tom Petri (R-WI), the Chairman of the Highways, Transit and Pipelines Subcommittee. We appreciate all of the efforts of Congressman Petri and his Transportation Legislative Aide, Patrick Mullane, as they helped guide us through the committee process and kept us informed regarding every development along the way.
"This is a huge victory for the Motorcycle Riders Foundation, but the real credit belongs to each and every motorcyclist in America who took the time to write or call their Congressman, visit Washington, DC, and maintain their vigilance for the past two years," said MRF President Karen Bolin. "Today is a day that will be remembered with great pride for the accomplishments of all of the MRF's members and supporters."
Once the TEA LU bill is passed by the House, there will be a Conference Committee of both House and Senate members who will combine the House and Senate versions of TEA reauthorization legislation and propose a bill that will satisfy all of Congress. You can review a complete history of the MRF's development of the current motorcycle safety initiatives by visiting the MRF website at www.mrf.org/nhtsa.php.
You can view the entire 880-page TEA LU bill at http://www.house.gov/transportation/highway/hr3550.pdf. This is a huge pdf file that will take quite a while to download in its entirety, and you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to open it. If you do not already have Acrobat Reader on your computer, you can download it free by visiting Adobe's website at http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html and following the instructions. The MRF's motorcycle safety initiatives begin on page 402, Line 18 of H.R. 3550.
The MRF and motorcyclists from every state owe a huge debt of gratitude to Boyd McFail of ABATE of Alaska for the many years he has spent developing an effective working relationship with House T & I Committee Chairman Don Young (R-AK), as well as the many recent months he has spent working with Congressman Young and his staff to ensure that our motorcycle safety initiatives would be included in the Committee's bill.
"Congressman Young has once again shown us that his word is as good as his bond," said McFail. "He told me in February of 2003 that our language would be in the new TEA-LU bill, and it is there. Not only is he 'Congressman for all Alaska,' he is 'A Brother Advocating Training and Education.' In addition, the staff at the Highways and Transit Subcommittee deserve one heckuva party for all of the work they did getting the language written and included the bill. Many thanks go out to Melissa Theriault with her Porsche and Ryan Young (the cheerful voices answering the phone), as well as Jim Tymon (Professional Staff) who got the bill written and into markup and Levon Boyagian (Staff Director) who gets an extra congratulations from me because in the midst of all this he and his wife had their first baby!"
Special thanks also go to Kirk "Hardtail" Willard, who has worked tirelessly the past few months following this important piece of legislation on behalf of the MRF, working closely with Congressman Tom Petri (R-WI), the Chairman of the Highways, Transit and Pipelines Subcommittee. We appreciate all of the efforts of Congressman Petri and his Transportation Legislative Aide, Patrick Mullane, as they helped guide us through the committee process and kept us informed regarding every development along the way.
"This is a huge victory for the Motorcycle Riders Foundation, but the real credit belongs to each and every motorcyclist in America who took the time to write or call their Congressman, visit Washington, DC, and maintain their vigilance for the past two years," said MRF President Karen Bolin. "Today is a day that will be remembered with great pride for the accomplishments of all of the MRF's members and supporters."
Once the TEA LU bill is passed by the House, there will be a Conference Committee of both House and Senate members who will combine the House and Senate versions of TEA reauthorization legislation and propose a bill that will satisfy all of Congress. You can review a complete history of the MRF's development of the current motorcycle safety initiatives by visiting the MRF website at www.mrf.org/nhtsa.php.