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Communicating with Congress

It's all politics?. Congress is driven by constituent requests and constituent services (things don't often happen because they are a good idea)One of your Congressional reps top priorities is to get re-electedIf you can show a rep how supporting your program serves their constituents and br

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Communicating with Congress

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    1. Communicating with Congress Sea Grant Week 03

    2. Its all politics Congress is driven by constituent requests and constituent services (things dont often happen because they are a good idea) One of your Congressional reps top priorities is to get re-elected If you can show a rep how supporting your program serves their constituents and brings money into the district, they will support you

    3. How a bill becomes a law 1. Referral to Committee 2. Committee Action 3. Subcommittee Review 4. Mark Up 5. Committee Action to Report a Bill 6. Publication of a Written Report 7. Scheduling Floor Action 8. Debate 9. Voting 10. Referral to Other Chamber 11. Presidential Action 12. Overriding Veto

    4. Who are your representatives? All House and Senate members for your state! There are 361 members in the House from Sea Grant states (out of 435 total members) There are 62 Senators who represent Sea Grant states (out of 100 total members) This year we got 125 House and 28 Senate signatures for our appropriations letters

    5. About your personal visit Plan your visits, be clear about what you want to achieve Make an appointment Be prompt and patient Be prepared Be concise Be political Be responsive

    6. About your personal visit Who should I meet with? Member or staff How do I identify the correct staffer? Call the DC or District office and ask for the person who handles Sea Grant or natural resource or environmental issues District or DC visits? Both

    7. About your personal visit What should I bring? A packet of info (Keep it brief) about your program including recent publications and latest hot topic in your state The SGA Appropriations Request One-pager and copy of our Dear Colleague (seasonal) TT and Accomplishment One-pagers, as appropriate

    8. About your personal visit What should I talk about? Be thankful for their support in the past (if possible) How your program serves coastal (his/her) constituents How much money your program brings to the State or District (if possible) The members specific coastal/natural resource interests What you can offer the member directly A resource for responding to constituent letters Information to assist the Member with current resource issues Photo-ops/Public Events (tours, boat trip, kids events) An article in the members newsletter

    9. About your personal visit Ask the staffer you are meeting with if they think their boss will sign the Sea Grant appropriations letter Research in advance: know whether or not the rep has signed in previous years If yes, that makes it easy for you, (s)he will almost definitely sign again If no, ask why, and what would be necessary for (s)he to sign Ask the staffer if they need any other info to put in the request for signature Ask the staffer when you should contact them again to verify response and through what venue - most staffers prefer email

    10. Roles of staffers From top to bottom: Administrative Assistant or Chief of Staff Legislative Director (LD), Senior Legislative Assistant or Legislative Counsel Press Secretary or Communications Director Appointment Secretary, Personal Secretary or Scheduler Legislative Assistant (LA) Legislative Correspondent

    11. Writing to a member The purpose for writing should be stated in the first paragraph of the letter Use examples from your state and the representatives district if possible Address only one issue per letter Keep the letter to one page Fax or email your letter

    12. Why a delegation letter? Each year, the Sea Grant Association works with the Hill to prepare one letter from the authorizing committees to the Appropriations Committee asking for specific appropriation levels. This is called a Delegation Letter we are targeting the Sea Grant Delegation any Congressional rep who supports Sea Grant. Clerks on the appropriations subcommittees carefully track who asked for what, when, and how. The number of signatures on this letter communicate the level of Congressional support for Sea Grant!

    13. Signatures, signatures You visited, you called, and still no signature - welcome to In-Box Overload. Congressional staffers are overwhelmed by the crisis of the day Most likely, the reason you are not getting a response from an office is because the staff person has not gotten around to it yet. The key to success is gentle persistence.

    14. Signatures, signatures Follow-up, Follow-up, Follow-up Call in the troops (develop a team, use SGA External Affairs Director, staff at Universities you support, etc.) Dont give up until you have a definitive answer one way or the other. Most likely it will be a commitment to sign the appropriations letter Finally, keep good records and call the same people next year, it will get easier

    15. The Hill moves at its own pace. Want a friend in Washington? Get a dog. Thank you!

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