By Jeff Hennie,
VP-Government Relations,
Motorcycle Riders Foundation

With only a few more races yet to be determined, Democrats are ready to ride into the majority next year in both the House and the Senate after more than a decade out of power. The victory was wider than even many Democrats had dared to predict, and they embraced it as a mandate to take Washington in a fundamentally new direction. New members will join winning incumbents being sworn in on January 3, 2007. What follows is a summary of both House and Senate key committee members and chairmen, and how those appointments will potentially affect the Motorcycle Riders Foundation (MRF).

Senate Committee Makeup

On Tuesday, November 14, Senate Democrats announced their tentative committee assignments for the next Congress. Under the incoming majority's plan, the number of seats on each committee would be the same as in the 108th Congress, when the Senate also was divided 51-49. The majority will have a one-seat margin on all the committees with the exception of the bipartisan Ethics Committee (where seats are divided evenly) and the Joint Economic Committee (where Democrats will hold a two-seat majority).

Incumbent Sen. Thomas Carper (D-DE) will join incoming Sens. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) in being assigned to the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. This is one of the key committees for the MRF, as it has jurisdiction over highway safety; interstate commerce; regulation of interstate common carriers including railroads, buses and trucks; science, engineering and technology research and development policy; and other transportation-related fields.

The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, the primary committee having jurisdiction over transportation and other motorcycle-related authorization, will see incoming Sens. Cardin (D-MD), Sanders (I-VT) , Klobuchar (D-MN) and Whitehouse (D-RI) joining the ranks. The committee also has jurisdiction over public works projects such as bridges and dams, as well as construction and maintenance of highways. Under the new committee structure, which reorganized the subcommittees, Sen. Lautenberg (D-NJ) will chair Transportation Safety, Infrastructure Security and Water Quality. Lautenberg has already released a statement with a short list of specific issue areas that will receive subcommittee attention, and leading the list are drunk driving and motorcycle safety. Sen. Boxer (D-CA) is set to chair the full committee. The MRF will be monitoring Chairman Lautenberg and his committee very closely.

Senate Chairmen and Ranking Members

In the current 109th Congress, Republicans (with 55 Senate seats) have held a two-seat advantage on most committees. Party ratios on committees are subject to negotiation between the majority and minority, so it could be weeks before committee rosters are finalized for the 110th Congress. Most Senate panels will have to shrink by one seat or grow by one to end up with an odd number of members. The party leaders will work out the specifics over the next several weeks.

Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee - Chairman Ted Stevens (R-AK), and Ranking Minority Member Daniel Inouye (D-HI), who will swap titles next year, have similar priorities and have worked together closely for decades, not only here but also on the Appropriations Committee. Stevens will be a voice of reason on the committee concerning motorcycles as he has supported ABATE of AK and the MRF in the past on many issues.

Few panels would see a more drastic change of focus under Democratic control than the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. With the retirement of Sen. James Jeffords (I-VT), liberal Democrat Barbara Boxer (D-CA) would take the gavel from conservative Republican James Inhofe (R-OK), a long time defender of motorcycling. At oversight hearings, Boxer has engaged in testy exchanges with Bush Administration witnesses, often scolding them for what she sees as efforts to roll back bedrock environmental standards. Inhofe has strongly supported the administration's industry-backed approach to pollution control. But with transportation reauthorization work on the far horizon, and given the Senate's narrow partisan division, Boxer might have to settle for high-profile oversight activity rather than passage of complex, controversial legislation. More recently, Sen. John Warner (R-VA) announced his intention to challenge Inhofe for the Ranking Minority Member's seat in the committee.

House Chairmen and Ranking Members

After a dozen years of a Democratic minority, all but three of the chairmen selected by incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) will be getting their first shot at wielding the gavel of a full committee. Some spots are still up in the air, with Intelligence the most hotly contested. Incoming freshmen members of the House have yet to confirm their committee assignments. Committee make-ups should be finalized around the beginning of January 2007.

After serving for more than a decade as ranking Democrat on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Rep. James Oberstar (D-MN) will almost certainly have his chance to chair the panel when Democrats assume control of the House in January. First elected to Congress in 1974, Rep. Oberstar has made transportation a primary focus throughout his legislative career, having served as a top aide to what was then called the House Public Works and Transportation Committee before being elected in his own right. In addition to an FAA reauthorization and preparations for the next highway bill, the panel probably will consider pipeline safety legislation if Congress does not act on this issue this year. Amtrak overhaul efforts, transportation security issues and annual Coast Guard reauthorization legislation are also on the committee's agenda for the next two years. The Transportation panel has traditionally worked across party lines to forge compromises. Aides from both parties said they expect that pattern to continue under Rep. Oberstar. Assuming that Democrats will not alter the subcommittee structure and will adhere to a seniority-based system, three Africa-American women are in line to take over subcommittee chairmanships: Rep. Corrine Brown (D-FL) on the Railroads Subcommittee; Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) on the Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee; and Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) on the Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management Subcommittee. Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR) now serves as Ranking Democrat on the Highways, Transit and Pipelines Subcommittee and is the prime candidate to lead that panel. The Highway Subcommittee has the lion’s share of the House jurisdiction when it comes to motorcycle issues in the highway bill. Chairman DeFazio has been out front on motorcycle issues for a long time and the MRF will continue to work hand in hand with him. Chairman Oberstar has been less enthusiastic than DeFazio on motorcycle issues but has not stood in the way of any pro-motorcycle legislation, and he has had that opportunity. As long as DeFazio is in charge of the Subcommittee, expect to see more good things out of the House T&I Committee. With the announcement that outgoing Chairman Don Young (R-AK) will go after the Ranking Membership of the House Resources Committee, expect Rep. Thomas Petri (R-WI) to move up to Ranking Member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee in the next Congress.

The Democrats accomplished their stunning takeover of both chambers of Congress by netting six Senate seats — exactly what they needed for a 51-49 majority, including Democratic-aligned Vermont Independent Bernard Sanders and self-described Independent Democrat Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut — and by nearly doubling the 15-seat net gain they needed to claim control of the House. Most of the House seats were won by fairly conservative standards, downright so when compared to future Democrat Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s politics. The real test of the Democrats leadership will come when Speaker Pelosi is tempted to force her ultra left wing agenda instead of taking the more moderate direction the country seems to be crying out for. Look for the Democrats to use their majority to press for campaign issues leading into 2008. It’s not entirely clear what the new Congress will mean for motorcyclists; however a few issues seem to be surfacing early and often, including mandatory helmet legislation, alcohol related crashes and speed limits just to name a few. The MRF needs your help more than ever to keep the Congress from destroying all the motorcycle freedoms we enjoy. The 110th Congress will convene in January, and Democrats are already planning on a full agenda that will keep Congress busy through the summer. So start planning your lobby trip to DC soon.

An expanded version of this congressional critique will be printed in the next MRF REPORTS and the complete version, including committee by committee breakdown, will be available on the MRF website.

As always, do not hesitate to contact me in our Washington, DC office with any questions, comments or threats at jeff@mrf.org or 202-546-0983.

Jeff Hennie
MRF Vice President – Government Relations

MRF proudly claims state motorcyclists’ rights organizations and the very founders of the American rider rights movement among its leading members. Motorcyclists worldwide can thumb-start their search for rider rights and safety on the web at :

www.mrf.org

Past reports from the MRF