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Hosting Congress ARA Members Hosted U.S. Congressmen/

women for Facility Tours

These types of visits illustrate first-hand that the in- dustry is a vital asset in the automotive supply chain and provides benefits to the environment and con- sumers alike. Four ARA members hosted visits to their facilities

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acility tours are invaluable as one way to sup- port the ongoing process of branding profes- sional automotive recyclers to lawmakers.

to their Members of Congress during the 113th Con- gress. The states included Florida, Illinois, Minnesota, and Tennessee. ARA’s Delanne Bernier, Director of Policy and Political Affairs said that “ARA members have risen to the oc- casion hosting officials in their businesses and it has helped raise our profile on Capitol Hill.” When a Congressman explains to his colleagues what

professional automotive recycling is all about, it's directly a result of a visit and signifies a huge success. And that's ex- actly what has happened.

Touring in Florida The most recent facility tour was hosted by Rigsby’s

Auto Salvage, Inc, in Zephyrhills, Florida. Representative Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) visited their facility and was provided with an in-depth tour of their full-service yard (see page 8 for the full story).

Touring in Minnesota In Minnesota,

AAA Auto Salvage, Inc. in Rosemount, Min- nesota with Congressman John Kline.

Chairman of the U.S. House Education and the Workforce Com- mittee, Congressman John Kline (R-MN) visited AAA Auto Sal- vage, Inc. in Rose-

mount, Minnesota. The event was hosted by Eric Schulz, his wife Amy, her brother Pete Anderson, General Manager Patrick McKinney and Bernier. The tour started with Amy giving a brief history of the

business, which has been a family endeavor for 60 years. Congressman Kline was then shown the entire process of the handling of an end-of-life vehicle and the visit concluded with a tour of the AAA's bumper and wheel refurbishing enter- prise. The Congressman was thrilled to get a behind-the- scenes tour of a professional automotive recycler's facility. Congressman Kline’s committee has a wide range of juris-

Kosiski Auto Parts, in Omaha, Nebraska, with the media, above, and Rep. Lee Terry, right.

diction over labor issues and he was quite interested in hearing about regulatory burdens and human resources issues, partic- ularly those that will be caused by the new health care man- dates. After the tour he was able to meet many of the employees during a group photo op.

Touring in Nebraska ARA member Kosiski Auto Parts, in Omaha, Nebraska

hosted their Congressman for a tour of their facility. Brothers Joe and Steve Kosiski, along with Bernier, met with Rep. Lee Terry (R-NE) who was the Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufactur- ing and Trade. The purpose of the visit was to tour the facil- ity, meet constituents and learn more about professional automotive recycling. The Congressman's subcommittee has jurisdiction over motor vehicle safety issues and the visit helped underscore the important role recycler’s play in the automotive supply chain. As a result of this visit and continued dialogs, the Con-

gressman was instrumental in having ARA issues discussed in a recall oversight hearing. Halfway through the visit, the anchorwoman and camera-

man for the largest Omaha television channel, an ABC affili- ate, also joined the tour and was interested in the small business aspects of the operation.

Touring in Your City Our sincere thanks to the ARA members who hosted their

elected officials, taking the time and effort to make a great impression on them. If you can join your colleagues who have hosted Congressional visits, please email Delanne Bernier, delanne@a-r-a.org. ARA will take care of arranging the meeting and you will tell the story!

42 Automotive Recycling | March-April 2015