Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2016
Floor Speech
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I want to begin by thanking Chairman Diaz-Balart and his staff for their hard work on this legislation before us.
Madam Chair, I rise today to offer a commonsense amendment with Mr. Sensenbrenner and Mr. Ribble of Wisconsin which makes it clear that Federal Government agencies should not be in the business--again, I say should not be--in the business of lobbying State and local legislators with Federal taxpayers' money. Federal law already prohibits Federal agencies from lobbying Congress in support of or against legislation.
Thanks in part to the leadership of Mr. Sensenbrenner in 1998, Congress passed similar antilobbying language to prohibit the Department of Transportation from lobbying State and local elected officials.
At that time, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration was sending staff to State capitols at taxpayers' expense to lobby in favor of motorcycle helmet laws. At the cost of tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars, these officials traveled across the country to testify before State legislative committees, participate in conferences, and produce videotapes and other printed materials with the goal of advancing mandatory motorcycle helmet laws.
As the co-chairman of the Congressional Motorcycle Caucus and a rider myself who wears a helmet, I believe the most effective way to reduce motorcycle injuries and fatalities is to prevent these crashes from occurring in the first place. Madam Chair, that means putting between the ears as opposed to simply putting on the head.
I believe the NHTSA has an appropriate role in promoting vehicle and highway safety, whether that is focusing on efforts on crash prevention or rider education. Unfortunately, language pushed by the administration has made it into the recent omnibus legislation to reverse the lobby ban, and that provision is carried over into this bill.
Whether you ride or not, I would hope all my colleagues agree that this is an inappropriate use of taxpayer dollars. It violates the rights of States and local communities we represent to make their own decisions on helmet laws.
Madam Chair, I ask my colleagues to support this amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.
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