The US House of Representatives now operates under a rule that prohibits
marking periods on the calendar for any specific purpose or cause. They
had to preclude themselves from officially appointing special weeks,
months and days because of the huge push from every advocacy group in the
country during the mid 1990s trying to secure an official designation for
their cause. When it became apparent that the calendar is very limited
and the demand for recognition is very unlimited, the House changed the
rules and banned any legislation that officially recognizes a specific
period of time.

So what does this mean for a nationwide motorcycle safety awareness
period? Well basically since the House cannot pass legislation for a
special time period that will read identical to the Senate counterpart, as
it must before the President can sign it into law, no law can ever again
be passed setting aside a special week or month for any cause. Therefore,
HRES 339 merely "supports the goals of a motorcycle safety awareness
month" but does not and cannot officially designate such a month.

Instead, HRES 339 lists a multitude of positive aspects of motorcycling
such as fuel efficiency, decreasing congestion, and how being aware of
motorcycles benefits all road users. And then there's what I think is the
best line of legislation, "Whereas the motorcycling community is dedicated
to decreasing motorcycle crashes through training, education, licensing,
enforcement, personal responsibility and increased public awareness."

Similar pieces of legislation that many Motorcyclists' Rights
Organizations have passed into state law officially set specific dates for
increased motorcycle awareness, but those pieces of legislation only
affect riding community in their particular state.

HRES 339 provides the perfect opportunity for you to make contact with
your federal representative regarding a non-controversial motorcycling
resolution. And co-sponsoring ceremonial resolutions like HRES 339 is a
great way for your federal representative to show his or her support for
motorcycling, and it is an easy ask. The MRF encourages you to contact
your federal elected officials on this issue.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Jeff Hennie, MRF Vice-President of Government Relations
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MRF 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)