September 7, 2006
- Day 2 - Week 23 - You CAN Do Something About
Cancer!
Greetings friends! I've just completed my weekly
spring through my classes and am enjoying that
pleasant "high" that comes with completing a
non-stop set of tasks that can't be avoided even if
I wanted to. Actually, my "to do" list is not quite
completed. There's one more "gottado" ahead of me an
hour or so from now. As the faculty sponsor of the
Student Democrat Club here at USC, I am on the
program at tonight's meeting to talk to the students
about how to get Congress to do something you
want......in short, about the fine art of
"lobbying". As a senior staff advisor to Senator
Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) during 1996-2002, I was
constantly besieged by lobbyists wanting the Senator
to do something on their behalf. I quickly learned
the "tools of the trade" and figured out how to
separate the wheat from the chaff. I'll be talking
to the students tonight about what I learned, and, I
hope, arm them with useful information that they
could put into practice on behalf of humanity (as
opposed to the "dark side").
It occurred to me that my talk might be of interest
to you, friends of Peter and Katy, and by
definition, proponents of "good over evil". My talk
to the students will assume their physical presence
in Washington with a cohort of colleagues ready to
launch an attack on the Hill armed with information
and important papers with meetings scheduled from
dawn til dark. I'll provide them with detailed
information about congressional structure and
process and provide them with tips about how to set
up and conduct meetings with key staffers in ways
maximizing chances for success. All of that
information is fascinating, of course, but not
terribly useful to you, dear readers, wherever you
may be. The fact of the matter is, however, that YOU
TOO can be an effective lobbyist from your very own
telephone and computer. Let me take a moment to
offer you a few tips on how you can work on behalf
of cancer from your very own home!
In order to get your congressional representative to
do something, there are a couple of vital
prerequisites. First, you have to know your issue
thoroughly; second, you have to know what you want
them to do. Let's take the first part, "know your
issue". Since legislation is the main event on
Capitol Hill, that's where to look first. You can
come up to speed very quickly on cancer related
legislation before the congress by going to the
net----just as I did a few minutes ago. Go to
www.congress.gov and it will give you a
page by which you can conduct your legislative
research. I typed in the subject line "cancer
research". It came back with 42 items in which those
words appear in that exact order. The list contained
a long menu of cancer related bills currently
pending before the congress. The top ones on the
list included: The Taxpayers Cancer Research Funding
Act (HR 4599); The Conquer Childhood Cancer Act (S
2375 or HR 4927); Breast Cancer Postage Stamp
Extension Act (S37 or HR 312); and The Cancer
Survivorship Research and Quality of Life Act
(HR5390), plus a long list of other bills that have
been introduced. You could click on any of those
bills and retrieve the text of the bills and a list
of sponsors and cosponsors, as well as its current
status in the legislative process (including the
committee to which it has been referred for
consideration.) In short, there's a wealth of
information at your fingertips about cancer related
legislation that will enable you to "know your
issue".
So, you've done your homework. You know your stuff.
Now you want to engage your congressional
representative or senator to do something. First,
decide exactly what it is you want them to do. The
simplest and most straightforward is to urge them to
vote for a bill or an amendment to a bill that you
favor. Even more significant, however, could be to
ask him/her to become a sponsor or cosponsor of a
bill. (A quick look at the list of
sponsors/cosponsors of a bill on the net will tell
you whether they are already on board. If not, you
know exactly what you want them to do.)
There's a host of other things you may want your
legislator to do that can be just as important as a
vote or a sponsorship. You can use them to build the
coalition necessary to WIN the vote. Typical
mechanisms for coalition building include actions
such as making a speech on the floor, or entering a
speech in the Congressional Record (which doesn't
actually have to be delivered on the floor).
Legislators often distribute "Dear Colleague
letters" calling attention to a policy issue or
legislative measure and seeking support.
Participation in public foray is often a dramatic
expression of endorsement: getting your legislator
to appear at a conference or media event can be an
effective tool in coalition building.
A VERY IMPORTANT NOTE: If you intend to ask
your representative to make a speech or send a
letter, you should have carefully PREPARED A DRAFT
of the speech or letter and transmit it
electronically to the principal staff member with
oversight responsibility. (In this case, we'd be
talking about the Legislative Assistant (LA) for
health policy and programs. Virtually every
congressional office has one or more of these people
whose job it is to constantly monitor health related
legislative activity.) Those staffers, on whom the
bulk of the work will fall, will be receptive to
supporting your request if you've done the initial
legwork for them.
OK. So you've done your legislative homework. You
know what your goal is and what you are going to ask
your representative to do. Those are necessary but
not sufficient ingredients. The key is to
communicate with either your legislator, or more
importantly a key staff member who can respond to
your inquiry and requests. Two ways to do that. It's
probably best to communicate by phone. Call the US
Capitol at (202) 224-3121 and ask them to connect
you with the congressional office of interest. When
they connect you, ask for the legislative assistant
for health affairs and get a name. Chances are
you'll have to leave a message on a machine
(indicate that you will be sending an email), but if
you call before 9am or after 6pm Washington time,
you might well get to speak directly with that
person. The key is the name. Armed with the name,
you can send an email directly to that person. The
formula for the Senate is Joe_Blow@Boxer.senate.gov
for the House, it's Joe.Blow@house.mail.gov. Once
you manage to connect, one way or another, keep your
conversations and communiqués brief and to the
point. If you talk too long or write too much, you
are likely to lose your audience and a potentially
sympathetic ear.
Your best bet is to work with your representative.
People in Congress do indeed pay attention to their
constituents. That doesn't mean you can't broaden
your net beyond the local politicians. It just means
that your chances of getting something to happen are
greater if you focus on those who in some sense are
"beholdin'" to you.
There's a lot more that I could say.....but I just
wanted to raise a point. You CAN work from your very
own home to get things to happen on Capitol Hill.
I've offered just a few tips and stand ready to
assist any of you who wish to take up my torch and
go for it. Ooops, time to go to my meeting. Hasta
manana.....
Back to Week
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