[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 31 (Tuesday, March 15, 2005)]
[House]
[Pages H1424-H1425]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          NATIONAL BIKE SUMMIT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the order of the House of 
January 4, 2005, the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer) is 
recognized during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, we come to the well of the House often 
to speak of weighty and contentious issues. This morning, I speak on an 
important but a lighter note, because this week we have hundreds of 
cyclists from all over America who are coming to Capitol Hill as part 
of the National Bicycle Summit.
  Fifty-seven million Americans ride bicycles every year. Thirty-three 
million rode bikes in the last month. And on a daily basis there are 
approximately one-half million bicycle commuters.
  The bicycle industry is an important part of our economy. There are 
over 6,000 bicycle shops, 2,000 companies that deal with bicycle 
manufacturing, and tens of thousands of employees. There is a large and 
emerging industry of bicycle tourism. Yet there is a significant area 
of difficulty that the cyclists will bring to Capitol Hill pleading 
their case. Half the Americans are not satisfied with their cycling 
environment. And although cycling makes up about 7 percent of the total 
trips, it represents a disproportionate number of the fatalities, and 
it receives less than 1 percent of Federal funding.
  There are significant areas where bicycling could make a difference, 
not just in terms of transportation. We find in the area of increasing 
focus on our health habits a growing concern about obesity. Public 
health officials agree that everyone should have 30 minutes of physical 
activity every day, and children need an additional 20 minutes, at a 
minimum, of vigorous activity several times a week, yet 78 percent of 
our children fall short of this goal.
  Well, those of us in Congress can give some good news to the bicycle 
advocates we will be meeting with. The near unanimous passage of the 
transportation legislation last year continues the legacy of 
transportation funding in enhancing the community infrastructure. We 
have seen, under the ISTEA and the most recent legislation, the overall 
funding raised from less than $5 million a year in 1988 to over $423 
million in 2003.
  There is an opportunity to enhance the cycling environment with the 
important Safe Routes to School program that will be able to fund and 
plan routes that allow our children to be able to walk and bike safely 
to school. There are other opportunities that we might talk to our 
friends about. I have introduced, with my colleague, the gentleman from 
Florida (Mr. Foley), the Bicycle Commuter Act to extend transportation 
commuter benefits for those who bike to work. There is the Conserve by 
Bike program, wherein the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Oberstar) is 
seeking to explore additional ways to understand and communicate

[[Page H1425]]

the energy savings associated with promoting bicycling.
  Yes, Mr. Speaker, our friends from around the country will be joining 
us this week for the Bicycle Summit. I would urge my colleagues who are 
not part of the over 160 members of the Congressional Bike Caucus to 
join this week, to get their official Bike Caucus membership pen, and 
to join us for a ride at 2 p.m. on Friday with the members of the Bike 
Caucus and the Bicycle Summit around Washington, D.C..
  Mr. Speaker, this is an opportunity for us to do something in a very 
``bike-partisan'' way that will make America healthier, make our 
families safer, and enhance economic security while we do something 
that enriches the life of us all.

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