Amy Klobuchar, the senior senator from Minnesota, became the latest recipient of the Motorcycle Industry Council Chairman’s Award on April 13, 2012, for her invaluable efforts in stopping the ban on youth ATVs and dirt bikes, and for saving the Recreational Trails Program.
For more than two years, the powersports industry was banned from selling youth sized ATVs, motorcycles and snowmobiles, inadvertently swept up in comprehensive legislation known as the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act—a law intended to protect children from harmful lead content in toys.
“When our industry needed a champion, she rose to the occasion, worked with her colleagues, and led the effort to ensure that youth ATVs, motorcycles and snowmobiles were excluded from the law,” said MIC Chairman Larry Little, who is also the vice president and general manager of the motorcycle group for Marketplace Events.
Minnesota manufacturer Polaris, and President and Chief Operating Officer Bennett J. Morgan, hosted the award presentation at the firm’s Medina, Minnesota, headquarters, just west of Minneapolis. Both Morgan and Little also recognized Klobuchar for her work on a critical amendment to the transportation reauthorization legislation known as the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act.
“Once again, Senator Klobuchar was there to look out for our interests, and the interests of all trail users,” Little said. “She introduced an amendment to restore the Recreational Trails Program and worked diligently to secure the broad support necessary to ensure that it was accepted by her colleagues.”
The former chief prosecutor of the state’s largest county, Klobuchar was elected in 2006 to become the first woman to represent Minnesota in the U.S. Senate. She is the 41st recipient of the MIC Chairman’s Award, which honors those who have made significant contributions to the world of powersports.
