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Attention ALL members URGENT action required re Lautenberg amendment

Greetings Freedom Fighters,
I have urgent request that will require about 15 minutes from every single member of ABATE OF FLORIDA: a letter written and mailed to our US Senator Mel Martinez’s Washington, DC office.

NEXT ASSIGNMENT: IMPACT in the US Senate - We need every member of ABATE OF FLORIDA to write a letter to our Florida US Senator Mel Martinez. Please mail the letters to:

The Honorable Mel Martinez
United States Senate
Hart 317 Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510

We also need every member to get a friend or family member to do the same – PLEASE ASK someone else to also write a letter.

Email is ok if that is how it has to be done, but email is easily deleted. I need 10,000 letters to Senator Martinez. It would be great to have even more, but if each of us will write a letter NOW and also get someone else to do the same, imagine the flood……….Someone in his office is going to have to handle them all, only for a little while will he have to wonder what they are all for. He will quickly realize there are many letters that not only say similar things, but the letters are representative of many people and that it is most likely that the same people who sent the letters are very likely to also report to the polls in the next election and punch a button that will result in him finding something else to do.

Problem: We were given the information that it was important to support him and he has not supported us. He voted for an amendment to penalize states without mandatory motorcycle helmet laws. We cannot afford a single Florida vote in the US Senate to ever do that again, so we must act now and we must act together to give him a clear message that this is not an area to ever tread upon again.

OBJECTIVE: annihilate Mel Martinez’s office with letters.

PLEASE No threats, no screaming, no yelling, no profanity. We need our messages to all be rational requests to simply get him on target with what it will take to stay in the US Senate. We want the entire office covered with our letters, but we do not want a single staffer to be able to say a single thing about ‘hate’ mail or give them any cause.

Members who can spare an additional 5 or 10 minutes:

If we want double impact, hit your local or Orlando office for Senator Martinez AND the office in DC, but the minimum is a letter to the Washington, DC office, resulting in the largest wad of paper about a single issue that has ever hit this freshman’s office. It is important that he never forgets it, but just as important that we do not paint ourselves or ABATE in a negative light.

This letter can be very short. Give your Chapter members examples. Encourage them to change it somewhat, but we all need the same message. Members who want to write long letters, please do so, but state the problem at the beginning and end of the letter.

Below are a couple of example letters, the first one courtesy of the Legislative Rep from the Daytona Beach Chapter.

-BEGIN sample letter 1-

The Honorable Mel Martinez
315 East Robinson Street
Landmark Center 1
Orlando, Florida 32801

RE: S732 Safe Accountable Flexible and Efficient Transportation Equity Act of 2005

Dear Senator Martinez,
I was dismayed that you voted for the Lautenberg amendment that would redirect federal highway construction funds for those states that do not have a mandatory motorcycle helmet law for adults.

Mandatory helmet laws will have little effect on the fatality rates of motorcycle accident victims. In Florida the fatality per 10000 registrations ratios were sometimes higher in the years before Florida allowed adults the freedom to choose when to wear a helmet. Since the 2000 change in Florida’s motorcycle law, the ratios of fatalities per accidents and incapacitating injuries per accidents are sometimes lower for those without a helmet than those who wore one.

Florida does not receive its fair share of construction funds when comparing what is paid in. To further restrict our highway construction funds on an issue that should be left up to the state legislature is not in the best interest of Florida. Perhaps you were misled by NHSTA. Dr. Runge will soon leave NHSTA. Our nation would be better served by having someone whose has a traffic engineering philosophy instead of a public health stance on highway fatalities. Safer crashing is not the answer, a reduction of accidents is. Yours truly, John Banta

- END sample letter 1 - - BEGIN sample letter 2 -

8/3/050

The Honorable Mel Martinez
United States Senate
Hart 317 Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510

RE: Your vote on Lautenberg amendment (to S732 Safe Accountable Flexible and Efficient Transportation Equity Act of 2005).

Dear Senator Martinez,
While I appreciate your willingness to serve the great State of Florida in the US Senate, I am personally shocked and dismayed by your vote in favor

Your vote on the Lautenberg amendment was an attempt to punish states for not having mandatory helmet laws by reducing Florida’s highway funds.

Although this vote is even contrary to the Republican’s basic belief that citizens in Florida do not require a “nanny” government, this issue transcends party politics

Senator Mack or Graham would never have placed a vote like that, neither will Senator Nelson.

You are obviously operating on false information as there is absolutely nothing to substantiate the passing of the Lautenberg amendment. That would be federal blackmail and that is not only a shoddy way to effect legislation, it is just wrong. You are violating the State of Florida by interfering in states rights issues. It is also absolutely unfair to penalize the entire State of Florida simply because the federal government is trying to impose its will over the Florida legislature and executive branch and anyone who chooses to ride without a helmet.

Please contact me for information regarding motorcycles and the people who ride them. I am positive that if you provide us the opportunity, we can give you the information necessary that will allow you to clearly understand and want to vote against this type of legislation. We have the facts related to motorcycling issues that will help avoid making decisions without complete and accurate information.

Thank you again for your service in the US Senate. Do please call upon me if I can assist with motorcycle related issues. Sincerely, Jeffery E. Baxla

- END sample letter 2 -

EXTRA CREDIT: Send a copy of the letter to President Bush and Governor Bush.

Thanks for your efforts, Let's Rock and bury them in 10k+ letters.......JEB

NOTES: The Forest Chapter, Southeast Chapter and Lightning Alley are examples of Chapters that maintain weblinks that provide easy access to their Chapter’s legislator contact info. Every Chapter doing something like this makes it much easier for our membership to participate. Please be sure to take the same info to the next level and make sure all Chapter newsletters have the names and contact info for all US Congressional and Florida contact info for our elected officials in the Florida legislature. 

CHAPTER NEWSLETTERS. Just like all members are not able to attend Chapter meetings, not all members have internet or email addresses. A Chapter newsletter with good information will enable every member to pick up their newsletter and plug themselves into our agenda. If you give them the information, they can use it to send a letter right then or carry it next door or to the library if they want to send an email. BONUS – they can also hand that newsletter to a co-worker or a friend and ask them to so the same thing.

If you want to call your US House Rep or Senator but do not know their phone number, you can call the Capitol switch board in Washington, DC at 202-224-3121 and ask for which office you would like to speak to.

Everyone can go the US Senate and US House web pages to email their legislators or get the contact info to write or call.

http://www.house.gov/writerep/ You can go to this site and enter your zip code to send an email to your US House member

http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

You can go to this site to email your (2) US Senators in Washington, DC

From Russ Fascenda/Forest
http://www.congress.org/congressorg/issues/basics/?style=comm
Lot of stuff here, includes communication tips.