MRF Opposition to HR 984

07NR04 – MRF Opposition to HR 984

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)

The Motorcycle Riders Foundation announces opposition to H.R. 984

April 3, 2007

The Motorcycle Riders Foundation today announced its opposition to H.R.
984, a bill introduced into the 110th congress by United States
Representative Henry Waxman. Mr. Waxman’s bill is referred to as the
"Executive Branch Disclosure Act of 2007." This bill would require certain
federal executive branch officials to make a record of and file a report
to the Office of Government Ethics of any "significant contacts" between
the executive branch official and any private party relating to any
government action.

In announcing its opposition to the Waxman bill, MRF Vice President of
Government Relations Jeff Hennie had this to say, "Communication with
executive level officials is a cornerstone of our lobbying efforts. We
believe that having the government create a database of citizens of who
exercise this right will have a chilling effect on our ability to mobilize
our members and the motorcycling public to contact the Secretary of
Transportation for example, on issues that effect motorcycles."

The bill goes on to define a significant contact as "oral or written
communication (including electronic communication) that is made by a
private party to a covered branch official in which such private party
seeks to influence official action by any officer or employee of the
executive branch of the United States."

In section 602 of this bill it states that the Director of Government
Ethics shall make "a publicly available list of all private parties who
made a significant contact; and computerized systems designed to minimize
the burden of filing and maximize public access to reports filed under
this title." Thus our employer, local elected officials, or even a nosy
neighbor may have easy access to our views on issues and with which
executive level federal official we chose to communicate.

This legislation is increasingly being referred to irreverently as "H.R.
1984" in reference to 1984, George Orwell’s classic novel depicting a
horrific totalitarian state.

The Motorcycle Riders Foundation encourages our members, our Sustaining
State Motorcyclists’ Rights Organization partners and all concerned
Americans to contact your member of the United States House of
Representatives and express opposition to H.R. 984, the Executive Branch
Disclosure Act of 2007. Ride Free Forever

Michael Kerr
MRF Vice President