OFF THE WIRE
TEXAS GOVERNOR RICK PERRY SIGNS H.B.3324 - THE FUSION CENTER PRIVACY
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> POLICY BILL
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> Effective Immediately!
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> From the Desk of Paul Landers, Texas Motorcycle Rights Association State
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> Chairman
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> On Saturday morning June 18th, the calls started coming into the Texas
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> Motorcycle Rights Association state office. Governor Rick Perry had
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> signed into law H.B.3324, a.k.a The Fusion Center Privacy Policy. On
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> the Governor's website he expressed that some of the laws he had signed
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> were to keep Texans from less government intrusion which is exactly what
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> this law will do.
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> As reported earlier, the Texas Motorcycle Rights Association (TMRA2)
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> along with many other rights groups and coalition partners worked this
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> historical civil rights bill all the way to the end with a relentless
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> fervor, and vowing to never give up.
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> http://www.legis.state.tx.us/tlodocs/82R/billtext/pdf/HB03324F.pdf#navpa
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>This is what the law means to Texans:
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> H.B.3324: Was signed by the Governor on June 17,2011, and will become
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> law effective September 1, 2011. The law will requires all fusion
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> centers in Texas (including El Paso) to create a strong privacy policy
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> which at a minimum prevent the collection of non-criminal information
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> based solely on political, religious, or social views. This law is a
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> huge victory for Texans and is the first civil rights bill passed by the
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> Lone Star State in decades.
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> What started as a local effort to create a strong privacy policy for the
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> Austin Regional Intelligence Center was introduced in a state law
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> requiring Texas Fusion Centers to respect the constitutional rights
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> involving privacy and protected liberties of Texas citizens.
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> The strongest language in the law was amended by Senator Kirk Watson
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> under
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> S.B.1572 and then merged into the language under Ruth McClendon's Fusion
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> Center bill, H.B.3324, to provide the following:
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> Sec. 421.085. PRIVACY POLICY REQUIRED. (a) Requires each fusion center
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> operating in this state to adopt a privacy policy providing at a minimum
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> that, with respect to an individual or organization, the fusion center:
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> (1) Will not seek, collect, or retain information that is based solely
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> on any of the following factors, as applicable to that individual or
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> organization:
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> (A) religious, political, or social views or activities;
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> (B) participation in a particular organization or event; or
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> (C) race, ethnicity, citizenship, place of origin, age, disability,
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> gender, or sexual orientation; and
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> (2) will take steps to ensure than any agency that submits information
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> to the fusion center does not submit information based solely on a
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> factor described by Subdivision (1).
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> (b) Prohibits a factor described by Subsection (a) (1), in a criminal
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> investigation, from alone giving rise to reasonable suspicion.
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> Authorizes a factor described by Subsection (a)(1), however, to be used
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> in connection with a specific description of a suspect in the
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> investigation.
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> (example: They cannot collect data on you or your organization because
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> of the club you are in (INCLUDING VETERAN CLUBS), the people you
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> associate with, the religion you believe in (this is all religions), the
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> political bumper stickers on your vehicle, because you attended a
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> political protest, because you went to a motorcycle rally, because you
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> are a Ron Paul, or Tea Party supporter, because you are a member of the
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> NRA or any other second amendment group or association, because of the
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> color of your skin, because you are old and/or disabled, and despite
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> what gender or sexual orientation you are.)
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> Prior to passing this law, there was no oversight at the state level for
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> fusion centers in Texas. The United States Department of Justice has
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> released guidelines for best practices in response to many concerns and
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> obvious issues at some centers nationally, including one specifically in
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> Texas.
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> C.S.H.B. 3324 codifies a Texas Fusion Center Policy Council (policy
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> council) recently created by the Department of Public Safety of the
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> State of Texas (DPS). The policy council consists of representatives
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> from the fusion centers and is given responsibility for, among other
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> things, making recommendations to DPS on rules regarding governing the
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> operations of fusion centers in Texas.
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> The policy council will share best practices as well as develop and
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> share strategies for meeting federal standards. Additionally, the
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> policy council would create a privacy advisory group with at least one
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> privacy advocate.
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> (This part of the law means that an ordinary citizen not affiliated with
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> DPS or any of the government agencies will sit on the Policy Council to
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> represent "The People of Texas".)
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> C.S.H.B. 3324 requires DPS rules to include guidelines for a common
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> concept of operations, monitoring activities by the policy council, and
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> adherence to state and federal laws designed to protect privacy and
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> other legal rights of individuals.
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> C.S.H.B. 3324 amends current law relating to the operations and
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> monitoring of fusion centers in the state. The law amends the
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> Government Code to require the Department of Public Safety (DPS) to
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> create the Texas Fusion Center Policy Council. The law includes
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> guidelines and duties that would apply to Texas Fusion Center Policy
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> Council. Following recommendations of the Texas Fusion Center Policy
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> Council, the Law would require DPS to adopt rules to govern the
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> operations of fusion centers in this state.
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> The Law would require fusion centers to pay any costs associated with
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> certain audits and prevent fusion centers from receiving state grant
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> money if the center does not comply with certain guidelines required by
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> rules to be adopted by DPS. Members of the policy council would not be
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> entitled to compensation, but would be entitled to reimbursement for
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> travel expenses.
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> The bill would require each fusion center to adopt a privacy policy.
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> SECTION 6. Amends Subchapter E, Chapter 421, Government Code, by adding
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> Sections 421.083, 421.084, 421.085, and 421.086, as follows:
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> Sec. 421.083. TEXAS FUSION CENTER POLICY COUNCIL. (a) Requires DPS to
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> create the policy council and the bylaws for the policy council to
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> assist DPS in monitoring fusion center activities in this state.
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> (b) Provides that the policy council is composed of one executive
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> representative from each recognized fusion center operating in this
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> state.
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> (c) Requires the policy council to:
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> (1) develop and disseminate strategies to:
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> (A) facilitate the implementation of applicable federal standards and
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> programs on a statewide basis by each fusion center operating in this
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> state;
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> (B) expand and enhance the statewide intelligence capacity to reduce
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> the threat of terrorism and criminal enterprises; and
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> (C) continuously review critical issues pertaining to homeland security
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> activities;
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> (2) establish a privacy advisory group, with at least one member who is
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> a privacy advocate, to advise the policy council and to meet at the
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> direction of the policy council; and
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> (3) recommend best practices for each fusion center operating in this
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> state, including:
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> (A) best practices to ensure that the center adheres to 28 C.F.R. Part
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> 23 and any other federal or state law designed to protect privacy and
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> the other legal rights of individuals; and
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> (B) best practices for the smooth exchange of information among all
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> fusion centers operating in this state.
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> (The Privacy Policy Council will be helpful in continuously reviewing
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> issues of civil rights violations involving Fusion Centers.)
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> Sec. 421.084. FUSION CENTERS OPERATING IN THIS STATE: RULES AND
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> MONITORING. Sec. (a) Requires DPS, after considering the
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> recommendations of the center under Section 421.082(b)(4), and the
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> policy council under Section 421.083(c)(3), to adopt rules to govern the
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> operations of fusion centers in this state, including guidelines to:
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> Section (d) Prohibits a fusion center from receiving state grant money
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> if the fusion center adopts a rule, order, ordinance, or policy under
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> which the fusion center fails or refuses to comply with rules adopted by
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> DPS under Subsection
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> (a), beginning with the first state fiscal year occurring after the
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> center adopts the rule, order, ordinance, or policy.
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> (This means if the Centers do not adopt these rules, they will NOT
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> receive grant money.)
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> Sec. 421.086. REPORT. Requires the policy council annually to submit
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> to the governor and to each house of the legislature a report that
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> contains, with respect to the preceding year:
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> (1) The council's progress in developing and coordinating the statewide
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> fusion effort and intelligence network described by the governor's
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> homeland security strategy;
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> (2) the progress made by fusion centers operating in this state in
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> meeting the fusion center guidelines developed under the Department of
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> Homeland Security State, Local, and Regional Fusion Center Initiative
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> established under 6 U.S.C. Section 124h; and
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> (3) a summary of fusion center audits or reviews conducted under
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> applicable rules adopted by DPS.
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> (The Fusion Center privacy council will now have to report directly to
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> the Governor and legislature on all their actions and progress in
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> changing their guidelines to meet this state law. No report to the
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> legislators was required prior to the passage of this law.)
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> It is our hope that every state that contains one or more of these
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> intelligence gathering facilities will use our Privacy Policy
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> Legislation to protect the Civil Rights of ALL citizen bikers in their
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> own individual state.
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> The Texas Motorcycle Rights Association would like to thank everyone who
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> worked so hard on this law to make it happen. The Fusion center bill was
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> introduced under three different authors. Many thanks to Senator Kirk
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> Watson and his staff for S.B.1572, Rep. Sefronia Thompson and her staff
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> for H.B.3219, and to Rep. Ruth Jones McClendon and her staff for
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> H.B.3324.
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> Our gratitude to TAG, ACLU, and to all who testified (especially the
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> Veteran MC's), our TMRA2 Legislative Task Force for walking the process
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> through from start to finish, The Rebel Riders MC for providing video
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> evidence, The Texas COC&I for bringing the problem to our attention, the
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> US Defenders/ COIR, TMRA2 and everyone else who called and sent over
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> 10,000 letters in support of the bills. This historic Legislation to
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> protect the rights of ALL motorcyclists would not have been possible
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> without our entire community pulling together to remind our Legislators
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> that they work for us, and our best interests need to be their best
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> interests!
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> Respect to all,
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