#04NR16 - MRF Makes Motorcycle Safety History!

MRF E-MAIL NEWS
http://www.mrf.org (website)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Karen Bolin
karen RemoveThis @mrf.org (e-mail)

March 26, 2004

#04NR16 - MRF Makes Motorcycle Safety History!

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.

Patti

(There seems to be absolutely no mention of Tom Wyld's hard work with this
bill, which we all know he had full involvement with until his recent
resignation. I thank Tom now for setting up so many important measures for
us, and for his dedication to TEA-21).



Patti Will
Legislative Coordinator
ABATE of NY, Inc.
Niagara County Chapter
State Legislative Whip
MRF Assistant State Rep
MRF State Recruiter
legislative RemoveThis @abate.wolfcrews.com