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SENT TO THE FULL U.S. SENATE

June 9, 2000

The Honorable Conrad Burns
United States Senate
187 Senate Dirksen Office Building
Washington, DC 20510

Dear Senator Burns:

On behalf of the National Association of Manufacturers, 14,000 members companies – large, mid-sized and small – and the 18 million people who make things in America, I urge your support for continuing the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) freeze in the Department of Transportation Appropriations Act for FY 2001. The Senate bill is tentatively scheduled for floor consideration the week of June 12, 2000. Senator Slade Gorton (R-WA) has indicated that he intends to offer a resolution that would instruct the Senate conferees not to accept the CAFE freeze provisions in the House bill. The NAM urges you to vote against this resolution.

The NAM considers this a significant issue for manufacturers and will consider designating votes relating to the CAFE freeze as Key Manufacturing Votes in the NAM’s Voting Record for the 106^th Congress. Key Manufacturing Votes form the basis for the NAM’s congressional ratings, which in turn determine which members receive the NAM Award for Manufacturing Legislative Excellence.

Since the early 1990s, the Department of Transportation Appropriations Acts have contained restrictions on the use of funds to increase the CAFE standards for cars (27.5 mpg) and light trucks (20.7 mpg). For good reasons, today’s intensely competitive world is not the time nor the place to reinvigorate a 25-year-old command-and-control law that will dramatically reduce the ability of manufacturers to provide American consumers and businesses with the light trucks and cars that are right for their needs. More than ever, just-in-time deliveries between businesses and delivery systems in support of e-commerce require more vehicle choice, not less.

The CAFE approach has never been a sound public policy mechanism. Raising CAFE standards would exacerbate the flaw inherent in the CAFE approach – "forcing" companies to make changes in their products that consumers may not value. The NAM has consistently opposed arbitrary government restrictions on individual choice, particularly those that fail even a rudimentary cost-benefit test. CAFE is an arbitrary approach that has not been successful in its primary objectives – reducing oil imports and gasoline consumption – but that has adversely affected American jobs and highway safety.

More importantly, there is a better way than CAFE to improve vehicle and fleet-fuel economy levels. Auto manufacturers worldwide are engaged in a competitive race to develop advanced technologies capable of dramatically increasing fuel economy. The Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles is one example of how this work is being coordinated.

The NAM would greatly appreciate your support for continuing the legislative freeze on CAFE standards in the Department of Transportation Appropriations for FY 2001. Please vote against any effort to remove this important provision. Thank you for your time and consideration of these views.

Sincerely,

Michael E. Baroody
Senior Vice President
Policy Communications and Public Affairs