News From ASET - October 24, 2003

ASET Working With Former Young Staffer

ASET has hired the Rhoads Weber Shandwick Government Relations firm to help us achieve our goal of including our legislative language into the upcoming highway reauthorization bill. Rhoads’ point person for our issue will be Colin Chapman. Chapman served as Chairman Don Young’s (R-AK) Chief-of-Staff for the past six years and has intimate knowledge of the transportation legislative process.

Together, Rhoads and ASET are working to include our 97,000-pound proposal into the highway bill be garnering congressional support one office at a time. We have met with several Members of Congress and staff to discuss the issue and the benefits that will accrue once adopted. Most of the responses to date have been both positive and supportive.

We anticipate sending a letter to Chairman Young from several other Members of Congress asking that he include the ASET proposal within the overall highway bill when the continuing resolution runs out and Congress has a final vote on the bill and sends it to President Bush. The scheduled vote should be sometime in February or March of 2004.

ASET To Hold Final DC Fly-In

As Congress deliberates the transportation reauthorization bill, ASET will hold a DC Fly-In event to meet with Members of Congress urging their support of the ASET legislative language within the overall bill. We are looking at the end of January, 2004 as our targeted timetable for such an event. We will be asking every member company of ASET to attend and show their support for our final push.

To find out more about the Fly-In and how your company can help, please contact ASET.