Addressing The Dodd Amendment

I (mike)received this email today with a note from MPI Northern California Chapter Leadership written by David Kliman

Below is the letter David sent via fax and email to Speaker Pelosi and Senators Boxer and Feinstein today. ( I also did the same thing)
http://speaker.house.gov/contact/
http://boxer.senate.gov/contact/email/index.cfm
http://feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=ContactUS.EmailMe

He (and I) urge you to take action and contact our government leaders in DC – it’s easy and takes just a few minutes – We also need to spread the word.

We need to get our government leaders this information EN MASS today and tomorrow. TIME IS OF THE ESSENSE. Please spread the word – it is important to both email and FAX their offices…and phone calls are also useful.

Addressing The Dodd Amendment

Meetings and Events Critical to Economy – Corporate meetings and events are absolutely critical to strengthening the American economy. Meetings and events are responsible for 15% of all travel in America, create more than $100 billion in spending annually, generate one million American jobs and provide $40 billion in tax revenue.

Communities, Workers Unintended Victims of Cuts in Meetings and Events – The current environment of demonizing corporate meetings and events is hurting local communities across the country and is contradictory to fixing America’s economy. I know the political optics, but we can’t have it both ways. If we’re serious about creating jobs and strengthening the economy, we have to encourage companies to get out on the road.

Help by Embracing Responsible Travel – There are three ways you can help protect meetings and events: (1) Please tell your colleagues to tone down the rhetoric, (2) please ensure that no legislation is passed that would further weaken the economy by placing fear in the hearts of those that have and have not taken emergency government lending, and (3) embrace the standards for responsible meetings and events that our industry put forward as a means of ensuring that beneficial activities continue.
There is an amendment to the stimulus legislation put in by Senator Dodd. The Dodd Amendment will is harmful to travel and tourism, my company and our community. Please remove this language from the stimulus package.
The Dodd Amendment addresses executive compensation — but part of the Dodd Amendment would effectively restrict all kinds of legitimate business travel.
Senator Dodd’s amendment goes far beyond what some are calling “luxury travel” or junkets. The amendment requires the board of directors of any company which has received government assistance to have policies regarding “excessive or luxury expenditures”, including activities or events that are not “reasonable expenditures” for conferences – whatever that may mean.
The consequences of the Dodd amendment are immediate and severe: companies already are cancelling previously-scheduled meetings, events and incentive/recognition travel, and the Dodd Amendment makes matters worse.
The country needs business travel to continue. I can’t think of anything that would be worse for the economy and our local community than to lose the visitors we depend upon.
The Obama Administration already put out guidelines for companies using “TARP” money going forward and our industry has put forward tough new standards for meetings, events and incentive/recognition travel. Congress and the Administration should embrace those standards and encourage responsible, beneficial travel to continue.
The combination of action by the President and our industry is more than enough. We don’t need a law that chokes off legitimate business travel.

I urge you in the strongest possible terms to remove the part of the Dodd Amendment which deals with travel restrictions. The bill is about job creation. This amendment would cost many jobs in an industry which has been blameless.