The loophole also is used by insurance companies to deny benefits for any accidents that stem from horseback riding, snowmobiling, and snow skiing, just to name a few

"This legislation will right an injustice done to America's motorcycling community," said Jeff Hennie, Vice President of Government Relations for the Motorcycle Riders Foundation. "We are asking the Congress to tell the insurance industry that they can no longer get away with refusing benefits that have been bought and paid for by motorcyclists."

The House legislation has been referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, while the Senate bill is sitting before the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.

In order to pass this legislation, the Motorcycle Riders Foundation needs your help. Please join your fellow freedom fighters and ask your Members of Congress and Senators to co-sponsor this important legislation.

The legislation to close this loophole has been around for the last few sessions of Congress, but the bills introduced in this 110th Congress have a few new twists. First, the House Democrat lead is new. Welcome Bart Stupak to the picture; he is a 8th term Democrat from Upper Peninsula Michigan and the top third of the mitten state. Mr. Stupak?s district has tens of thousands of miles of snowmobiling trails and most of his constituents use the snow machine to commute, run errands and socialize, making the snowmobile an integral part of everyday life. Mr. Stupak is also close friends with the Chairman of the House committee that has jurisdiction over the measure; and is a subcommittee chairman on the same full committee.

The House Republican lead is the same, Michael Burgess. Burgess is medical doctor from, Flower Mound, TX. Burgess was an OB-GYN, delivering 3000 babies before running for Congress in 2003.

The Senate sponsors are the same returning Senators as previous sessions of Congress, Russ Feingold (D-WI) and Susan Collins (R-ME). The Motorcycle Riders Foundation thanks all of the champions of this legislation.

Another new development is that the House has adopted the Senate language, making passage into law slightly simpler by eliminating the need for both bodies of Congress to form a conference committee to iron out the legislative differences. Previously the House and Senate had slightly different solutions to closing the loophole.

Last Congress saw no major movement on the legislation. With your help, we can close the loophole that allows our health insurance providers to deny benefits for an injury simply because it involved a motorcycle.

Ask your federal Representative to support HR 1076 and your two US Senators to support S 616. Should you receive any commitments or denials to support the legislation, or if you have any other legislative question or concerns, please contact the MRF.

(c)All Information contained in this release is copyrighted. Reproduction permitted with attribution. The Motorcycle Riders Foundation, incorporated in 1987, is a membership-based, national motorcyclists' rights organization headquartered in Washington, DC. The first motorcyclists' rights organization to establish a full-time presence in Washington, DC, the Motorcycle Riders Foundation is the only Washington voice devoted exclusively to the street rider. The MRF established MRFPAC in the early 1990s to advocate the election of candidates who would champion the cause of rider safety and rider freedom.

The MRF proudly claims state motorcyclists' rights organizations and the very founders of the American riders' rights movement among its leading members. The MRF is involved in federal and state legislation and regulations, motorcycling safety education, training, and public awareness. The MRF provides members and state motorcyclists' rights organizations with direction and information, and sponsors annual regional and national educational seminars for motorcyclists rights activists, as well as publishing a bi-monthly newsletter, THE MRF REPORTS.