Washington D.C. - At the White House Friday morning president Bush declared that the "rapidly escalating price of oil and America's over-reliance on imported fossil fuels" - along with the obesity epidemic and air pollution - to be national security issues threatening our way of life in the US. Mr. Bush proposed a "gas-guzzler" tax on SUVs, Hummers and large pickups (trucks that actually work for a living, such as those owned by businesses and farmers, will be exempted) with the proceeds of the tax used to fund urban bike paths and programs to promote bicycle commuting and recreational cycling. Republican house majority leader Tom DeLay applauded the move saying "president Bush deserves credit for recognizing that the wastefulness of low mileage vehicles such as SUVs "damages our economy by exporting our wealth to the countries we import oil from and pollutes the air we breath". Showing rare bi-partisan support for the president's initiative, Democrat Edward Kennedy threw his support behind Bush's proposal by donning spandex bike shorts and pedaling his mountain bike to work at the congressional office building Friday morning, drawing comments from on-lookers that Mr. Kennedy should look into some baggy cycling shorts.