ASET Fly-In an Overwhelming Success -
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    ASET held its spring Fly-In on April 4 in Washington, D.C. The event was held inside the Capitol Building with an afternoon of speeches and presentations from a variety of distinguished industry leaders and Members of Congress.
    Congressmen Collin Peterson (D-MN) and Bob Ney (R-OH) spoke on the merits of H.R. 1667 and why its passage is so crucial to the House Transportation, Agriculture, and Steel Caucus Committees. Congressman Peterson is an original sponsor of the bill and Congressman Ney recently cosponsored the legislation.
In addition to Members of Congress, the following individuals spoke at the event:

• John McQuaid, President & CEO, National Private Truck Council
• Jim March, Team leader for Truck Size & Weight Study, Federal Highway Administration
• John Smith, President & CEO, CRST International
• Eric Davis, Chairman, Policy Division, National Cattlemen's Beef Association
• Martin Labbe, Transportation Information Consultant, Martin Labbe Associates
• Dick Riederer, CEO, Weirton Steel

    While speaking from the steel perspective, Dick Riederer commented, "If we fail to re-think the methods and processes by which our steel industry delivers products to customers, then we jeopardize the full potential of our industry."
    John Smith added, "You could slash shipping costs, enhance highway safety and preserve the environment. As the world economy continues to grow at a rapid pace, no industry segment can afford to remain complacent."
    Co-Chairman John McQuaid remarked that in the absence of some form of productivity gain, there would be a significant increase in the amount of trucks on the highway in the next five years. The question McQuaid posed to the meeting participants was 'if we know that the trucks will be there anyway, can we realistically slow the rate of growth through a reasoned, and reasonable productivity gain?' McQuaid believes that H.R. 1667 is a step in the right direction toward reaching the productivity needs in the current environment.
    Following the luncheon program, ASET members attended meetings with over twenty Members of Congress. These visits were very productive and educational
(Continued)

Spring 2000

Fly-In (cont.) -
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for both our coalition members and congressional leaders. Additional cosponsors of H.R. 1667 will be brought on board because of these positive meetings.
This event will serve as a springboard for ASET to advance our message forward to transportation leaders, Members of Congress, and the media. The ASET Fly-In attracted strong press coverage. We will continue to actively pursue the trade and national media outlets in the coming months.
Because of the great success of the fly-in, ASET plans to hold smaller meetings in Washington, D.C. in the next six months for different industries such as steel, paper, and others to continue our momentum.

New Members of ASET -
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    ASET is proud to welcome Archer Daniels Midland Company, Wheeling Pittsburgh Steel Corporation, Food Distributors International, and P.I.&I. Motor Express as new members to ASET. The support of such a wide range of influential companies and organizations such as these will better help our coalition illustrate the importance of this issue to Members of Congress.

Congressional Leadership Signs on -
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    ASET is pleased to announce Congressman Robert Ney (R-OH) has agreed to cosponsor H.R. 1667. Congressman Ney is the House Deputy Majority Whip, a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and the Congressional Steel Caucus.
    Congressman Ney's talk at the ASET Spring Fly-in touched on important issues to all coalition members, and steel companies in particular. He cited the need to keep American businesses competitive by safely increasing productivity in transportation. Our thanks go out to Congressman Ney for joining us on April 4th as well as for his continued support of this issue.

Joint Letter to Agriculture Committee -
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    Congressman Collin Peterson (D-MN), an original sponsor of H.R. 1667, and one of our cosponsors, Congressman Ken Calvert (R-CA), have sent a letter to fellow members of the House Agriculture Committee the week of March 13th. Many congressional offices within this committee have indicated a strong interest in our legislation and we are confident this bipartisan letter will lead to additional cosponsors. If you or your organization have relationships with a Member of the House Agriculture Committee, please contact them immediately and urge their support of H.R. 1667.

John McQuaid to Address FHWA -
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    ASET Co-Chairman John McQuaid will be a panelist at the Federal Highway Administration's upcoming truck size and weight study workshop in Irvine, CA on May 10-11. This will be an opportunity for ASET to advocate the need for the productivity and safety improvements in H.R. 1667 in future federal transportation policy.

ASET    1733 King Street - Alexandria, VA 22314
Phone (703) 549-9467 - Fax (703) 549-6980