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IMBA Alert: Call Congress Today to Save Bike Paths and Trails
For Immediate Release: July 17, 2003
IMBA needs you to call your U.S. Representative and members of the House Appropriations Committee TODAY to fight for our nation's trails and greenways.
A congressional subcommittee voted last Friday to eliminate most federal funding for bike and trail projects in 2004. We need to move quickly to restore this very important funding. Please make a phone call today!
Background:
Funding for the Transportation Enhancements program was eliminated from the 2004 federal budget passed by a House Appropriations subcommittee. Transportation Enhancements is the largest federal source of funding for trails, walking and bicycling.If the budget is approved, there will be no funding for Transportation Enhancements projects anywhere in the country in 2004. The Enhancements program has helped build nearly 8,000 bike and trails projects across the country, and has been the source of more than $1.5 billion in federal funds going to bike and pedestrian projects since 1991.
The bill now moves to the full House Appropriations Committee. The vote will likely come within the next week.
IMBA Asks You to Make An Important Phone Call:
1) Call your U.S. Representative and your state's member of the House Appropriations Committee (list below). If you are unclear who your U.S. Representative is, visit http://www.house.gov and type in your zip code. All members can be reached through the U.S. Capitol Switchboard 202-224-3121.
2) Ask for the staffer that works on transportation issues or his/her voice mail if unavailable.
3) Introduce yourself and your club or business if representing a group.
4) Ask them to "restore funding in the 2004 Transportation Appropriations for Enhancements and other programs that help diversify our transportation system - do more than just build highways."
5) Talk about the value of bicycling in your community and tell them about
specific bike projects in your state, if you know them, and where transportation enhancements funding has helped. To read the extensive list of trail projects in your state visit: http://www.enhancements.org
Other talking points:
6) Enhancements has built nearly 8,000 bike and trail projects in urban and rural communities across America since the program's inception in 1991. Enhancements supports a variety of community transportation projects including pedestrian and bicycle facilities, rail-trail conversions, acquisition of scenic and historic property, historic preservation and improvement of streetscapes and landscapes.
7) The program is extremely popular because it provides tangible benefits to communities. The Bush Administration's reauthorization proposal, SAFETEA, embraces the Enhancements program.
8) Enhancements projects provide safe, convenient and enjoyable places for physical activity, an important part of the national solution to combat obesity.
Please take the time to make the call today as the House Appropriations Committee will make a final decision in the next few days.
Sincerely, Jenn Dice
Jenn Dice -- Government Affairs Director
International Mountain Bicycling Association
Phone: (303) 545 9011x103 Fax: (303) 545 9026
E-mail: jenn@imba.com Website: http://www.imba.com
Long live long rides. Are YOU an IMBA member? www.imba.com
--
MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE
Robert E. "Bud" Cramer Jr., D-Alabama, 202-225-4801
Robert Aderholt, R-Alabama, 202-225-4876
Jim Kolbe, R-Arizona, 202-225-2542
Ed Pastor, D-Arizona, 202-225-4065
Marion Berry, R-Arkansas, 202-225-4076
Jerry Lewis, R-California, 202-225-5861
Randy "Duke" Cunningham, R-California, 202-225-5452
Lucille Roybal-Allard, D-California, 202-225-1766
Sam Farr, D-California, 202-225-2861
John Doolittle, R-California, 202-225-2511
Rosa L. DeLauro, D-Connecticut, 202-225-3661
C.W. Bill Young, R-Florida, committee chair, 202-225-5961
Dave Weldon, R-Florida, 202-225-3671
Allen Boyd, D-Florida, 202-225-5235
Ander Crenshaw, R-Florida, 202-225-2501
Jack Kingston, R-Georgia, 202-225-5831
Sanford D. Bishop Jr., R-Georgia, 202-225-3631
Michael K. Simpson, R-Idaho, 202-225-5531
Ray LaHood, R-Illinois, 202-225-6201
Jesse L. Jackson Jr., D-Illinois, 202-225-0773
Mark Steven Kirk, R-Illinois, 202-225-4835
Peter J. Visclosky, D-Indiana, 202-225-2461
Tom Latham, R-Iowa, 202-225-5476
Todd Tiahrt, R-Kansas, 202-225-6216
Harold Rogers, R-Kentucky, 202-225-4601
Anne Northup, R-Kentucky, 202-225-5401
David Vitter, R-Louisiana, 202-225-3015
Steny H. Hoyer, D-Maryland, 202-225-4131
John W. Olver, D-Massachusetts, 202-225-5335
Joe Knollenberg, R-Michigan, 202-225-5802
Carolyn C. Kilpatrick, D-Michigan, 202-225-2261
Martin Olav Sabo, D-Minnesota, 202-225-4755
Roger F. Wicker, R-Mississippi, 202-225-4306
Jo Ann Emerson, R-Missouri, 202-225-4404
Rodney P. Frelinghuysen, R-New Jersey, 202-225-5034
Steven R. Rothman, D-New Jersey, 202-225-5061
James Walsh, R-New York, 202-225-3701
Nita M. Lowey, D-New York, 202-225-6506
José E. Serrano, D-New York, 202-225-4361
Maurice D. Hinchey, D-New York, 202-225-6335
John Sweeney, R-New York, 202-225-5614
Charles H. Taylor, R-North Carolina, 202-225-6401
David E. Price, D-North Carolina, 202-225-1784
Ralph Regula, R-Ohio, 202-225-3876
Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio, 202-225-4146
David L. Hobson, R-Ohio, 202-225-4324
Ernest J. Istook Jr., R-Oklahoma, 202-225-2132
John P. Murtha, D-Pennsylvania, 202-225-2065
John E. Peterson, R-Pennsylvania, 202-225-5121
Chaka Fattah, D-Pennsylvania, 202-225-4001
Don Sherwood, R-Pennsylvania, 202-225-3731
Patrick J. Kennedy, D-Rhode Island, 202-225-4911
James E. Clyburn, D-South Carolina, 202-225-3315
Zach Wamp, R-Tennessee, 202-225-3271
Henry Bonilla, R-Texas, 202-225-4511
Chet Edwards, D-Texas, 202-225-6105
Kay Granger, R-Texas, 202-225-5071
John Abney Culberson, R-Texas, 202-225-2571
Frank R. Wolf, R-Virginia, 202-225-5136
James P. Moran, D-Virginia, 202-225-4376
Virgil Goode, R-Virginia, 202-225-4711
George R. Nethercutt Jr., R-Washington, 202-225-2006
Norman D. Dicks, D-Washington, 202-225-5916
Alan B. Mollohan, D-West Virginia, 202-225-4172
David R. Obey, D-Wisconsin, ranking member, 202-225-3365
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