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It Is Not Just Us That ‘Politicians’ Want To Silence
Motorcycle Riders Foundation
236 Massachusetts Ave. NE
Suite 510
Washington, DC 20002-4980
202-546-0983 (voice) 02-546-0986 (fax)
http://www.mrf.org (website)
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 neighbour 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
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