IV 112th CONGRESS 1st Session H. RES. 239 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES May 2, 2011 Mr. Sensenbrenner (for himself, Mr. Ryan of Wisconsin, Mr. Petri, Mr. Rehberg, Mr. Paul, Mr. Calvert, Mr. Walberg, Mr. Jones, Mr. Runyan, and Mr. Frank of Massachusetts) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure RESOLUTION Supporting efforts to retain the ban on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA’s) ability to lobby State legislators using Federal tax dollars and urging NHTSA to focus on motorcycle crash prevention and rider education and training.

Whereas since 1995, Congress has protected the authority of the States to determine whether motorcycle riders should wear helmets; Whereas more than 7,000,000 motorcyclists cherish the personal freedom and individual responsibility of motorcycle riding; Whereas there has been continuous growth in motorcycle use and ownership, especially among females who account for more than 23 percent of those who have ridden a motorcycle, and more than 12 percent of those who own a motorcycle; Whereas motorcycles are the most affordable form of private motorized transportation in the United States; Whereas according to the Governors Highway Safety Association, motorcycle rider fatalities decreased by at least 10 percent in 2009, without the implementation of a Federal mandatory helmet law; Whereas the Administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has stated that the “core component of our program has not changed; it is to increase helmet use” and anything that the Congress does that would support the movement of riders into helmets would be efficacious of safety; Whereas the Tenth Amendment of the Constitution reads: “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”; Whereas despite the Tenth Amendment, NHTSA has lobbied State legislatures, using Federal tax dollars, to enact mandatory helmet laws; Whereas in response to NHTSA’s lobbying efforts, section 30105 of title 49, United States Code, states: “No funds appropriated to the Secretary for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration shall be available for any activity specifically designed to urge a State or local legislator to favor or oppose the adoption of any specific legislative proposal pending before any State or local legislative body.”; and Whereas the motorcycling community is concerned that Government health care plans will exclude coverage for motorcycle riders injured while not wearing a helmet: Now, therefore, be it

That— (1)the House of Representatives— (A)supports efforts to retain the ban on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA’s) ability to lobby State legislators using Federal tax dollars; (B)encourages continued growth in the motorcyclist community, and encourages owners and riders to be responsible road users; (C)recognizes the importance of motorcycle crash prevention as the primary source of motorcycle safety; (D)encourages NHTSA to focus on motorcycle crash prevention and rider education as the most significant priorities in motorcycle safety; (E)recognizes that if motorcycle riders are not involved in a crash, they will not be injured; and (F)encourages NHTSA to provide to the appropriate committees of Congress a detailed statement as to why NHTSA believes it is less important to focus on motorcycle crash prevention, rider education and training, proper licensing, and reducing impaired riding than on mandating universal helmet use; and (2)it is the sense of the House of Representatives that any law that supersedes State laws regarding the use of helmets as it applies to denial of health care coverage and benefits resulting from an injury sustained while riding a motorcycle should not be implemented.