Dear Representative:

On behalf of the 14,000 members of the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), including approximately 10,000 small and mid-sized manufacturers, I urge you to vote against any amendment to the Department of Transportation Appropriations bill which would strike the restrictions on use of funds to increase the CAFE standards for cars and light trucks.

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.