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Cultivate a Congressional Champion | Make the First Call | Influence the Legislative Process | Strategizer #31: Guidelines for Advocacy The Public Policy Team has created the following tutorial to encourage coalition members to meet their Senators and Representative and establish a working relationship with them. This type of relationship not only benefits the Congressional Member, but your coalition and the substance abuse prevention, treatment and research field as a whole. Below is a "How To" article and then a Q & A with a coalition leader who has successfully established relationships with his Representative.CULTIVATE A CONGRESSIONAL CHAMPION One of the best ways to assure that a legislative issue of importance to you is considered by your Members of Congress, is to build a relationship with them. Members of Congress are elected by their constituents and their main responsibility is to vote on behalf of their constituents. Few people ever take advantage of this influential position. Surveys have shown that 90 percent of American adults have never written a letter to a Member of Congress. In almost all of CADCA's Legislative Alerts there is a "What you can do" section encouraging you to call or write to your Members of Congress. This is the first step in developing a relationship with your Members. A wise man once said, "It's not that you need to know the answers to everything...you need to know where to find the answers to everything." Use your resources. CADCA's Public Policy's Online Toolkit is a great place to start. You can enter your zip code to find out who comprises your Congressional Delegation. As well as find Legislative Alerts and sample letters on current and past issues. You can track legislation and learn about the legislative process. Once you are familiar with your legislators and the field's important issues, you are well on your way to cultivating a relationship with your Members. Educate your Members' staffers as to who you are and what your coalition does If you are actively expressing your opinion as a member of the substance abuse prevention, treatment, research and education field to your Members of Congress, their staffers should become familiar with your name and organization. Meet with your Members' staffers Expand on this by meeting with these key staffers in the Washington, D.C. offices during the time allotted for this at CADCA's National Forum. It always helps to be able to put a name with a face. Whenever your Members are in their home district offices, try to make an appointment to meet them. However, you can meet with their staffers in their local offices anytime, not only when the Member is there. Remember, you are an expert in the substance abuse field, and you should approach your Members and their staffers as such. You should never feel inferior to a staffer or a Member when presenting them with information on substance abuse issues. Provide your Members' offices with feedback By getting to know your Members and their key staffers, you will help your Members realize the importance of supporting the interests of our field. It's important you let your Members know when you are pleased (or disappointed) with their vote or expressed opinion, on an issue of concern to the field. Involve your Members with your coalition The most important thing you can is to get your Members involved with your coalition and its events. Invite your Members to speak at your coalition's meetings and other community events, dinners or awards presentations your coalition sponsors or is involved with. The more familiar your Members become with your coalition, the more willing they will be to become involved with its events. A good way to encourage their involvement is to recognize their leadership in the substance abuse prevention, treatment, research and education field. Perhaps he or she has recently introduced or co-sponsored legislation that supports a goal of the field – honor him or her with a community award or submit an article to the local newspaper recognizing him or her. This will not only draw local media attention to your coalition and cause, but also encourage your Member to continue this budding relationship with your coalition. Keep your Members informed Once you establish a relationship with your Members, they should be as interested in maintaining it, as you will be. Keep your staff contacts, in both the district and Washington office abreast of changes in the field and within your coalition. Put them on your coalition's mailing list, encourage them to join CADCA's e-mail network and pass other interesting field information their way. This will keep your coalition and the field's agenda in the front of their minds, and this will prove to be beneficial when you call to ask your Members to weigh in on an issue. Q & A The following are answers to questions posed by the Public Policy Team to Judge Michael Kramer, Chair, Drug-Free Nobel County, Albion, Indiana. Judge Kramer has created a Congressional Champion in Congressman Mark Souder (R – 4th/IN). The questions reference the individual experience of Judge Kramer in his pursuit of a Congressional Champion. What information is important to tell your Member about you and your coalition at the initial meeting? (Judge Kramer): It is important to let them know, through what you and your coalition do, that you and the members of your coalition care deeply about the substance abuse issue. This can be explained by telling who you are, what you do, why you do it, why the drug issue is important to you, what you want them to do (how to vote on a particular bill). I tried to tell Congressman Souder enough to interest him, but did try to hold back some areas so that I would have something to write about later, to cultivate the relationship. I would recommend telling the most important and impressive things about your coalition and the field, and then build upon that in future contacts. What types of information should be distributed to the staffers? (Judge Kramer): Information on the work, membership, and history of your coalition, any information on the drug problem locally (surveys, et al.), your views on legislation and issues. How often do you send information to your Member? (Judge Kramer): I try to send information whenever I find something that I think would be of interest. If there is nothing, I try to find some excuse to have some communication every couple months, just to stay in touch and let them know we are watching. In practice, for me this depends upon who I am dealing with, what committees they are on, and what is happening legislatively. Which staffers [Legislative Director (LD), Drug Legislative Assistant (LA), etc] do you work with in your Members' offices? (Judge Kramer): I work mainly the drug L.A. Considering the turnover, I do make an effort to make myself known to every staff member possible. There could be interoffice changes in duties, or if a new person comes into the office, it would be nice for another staffer to say "Judge Kramer is a good guy and you should listen to him, return his call, or meet with him". What do you do when the staffers change? (Judge Kramer): I try to have laid some groundwork with other staffers. I then start from the beginning explaining who we are and what we do. I try to feel them out to see how much they know about the drug issue. I then decide whether my future correspondence needs to be educational or go in another direction. Which office is better for you to work with the D.C. office or local district office? (Judge Kramer): I get along well with both, but probably prefer the D.C. office because I know them better. My view is that the local office is more concerned with constituent service (tracking down that Social Security check) and that the D.C. office is more concerned with legislative matters. What avenues can your Member pursue to become involved with your coalition? (Judge Kramer): We probably do not involve Congressman Souder as much as we should, but on the other hand, we know that he is with us. Although I have never had to, I feel that if I called and told his staff that it was important for me to talk to him today, I could (maybe hubris, but I feel this is true). Probably the most important thing would be in activities where the press would be present. Most Members should appreciate the opportunity to have their picture in the local paper doing something that shows they are involved with and care about their communities. What are some of the benefits to your Member to be involved with your coalition? (Judge Kramer): Free publicity, showing the public that they care about the community, and, if you are lucky, a chance to do something because they care and feel it is the right thing to do! How did you get your Member interested enough in the drug issue to become champions? (Judge Kramer): I was fortunate to have someone who cares as my Representative. I think that it is important that your Members realize through your work with the coalition, through your commitment, and through your words, that YOU care. I believe that everything else will follow from that. How did you nurture your relationship with your Member? (Judge Kramer): I try to respect his views, wants, and needs and expect the same from him. To be truthful, Congressman Souder was initially resistant to ideas of prevention and treatment. At our first meeting, to his credit, he wanted to listen and was willing to learn. To my surprise, he was very pleasant and has continued in that manner. I was prepared to educate him on drug prevention and treatment, but quickly learned that Congressman Souder is a person who does his homework before going into a meeting. I built upon the initial meeting by mailing letters to him. How often should you invite your Member to your events/meetings? (Judge Kramer): We had a dinner meeting Congressman Souder attended where we honored him with an award. Our regular meetings are at noon on Wednesdays, which is bad for the Congressional schedule. During recesses, I have previously let Congressman Souder have time with other groups and with his family, but I think that I will see if he is interested in coming to one of our meetings when he is in the district. What happens when a new Member is elected? (Judge Kramer): My recommendation would be to make an appointment during CADCA's Forum or at the district office and, as I said with the staffers, see how much they know. If they are uninformed, I would try to pass along news articles, items from CADCA (strategizers, other materials), and anything available to educate and persuade him or her to your view. MAKE THE FIRST CALL The first time you call your Representative to arrange an appointment with him or her, you might be a little nervous. The following script is intended to help you with that first call. Hello my name is ________________ and I am a constituent living in (city) or working in (city). I am the head of the (coalition name) and we work in the community to (fill in coalition's mission or use something like :prevent/educate on substance abuse). I will be in Washington, D.C. for a national substance abuse prevention conference on February 12th, and would like to meet the Congressman/Congresswoman. I would also like an opportunity to meet with the staffer* or staffers who handle substance abuse issues and the appropriations of such related programs. *It might be a good idea to call earlier and ask which staffer handles substance abuse issues and which staffer handles the appropriations for SAMHSA, NIDA, NIAAA, etc., and then ask for the staffer by name. INFLUENCE THE LEGISLATIVE PROCESS The following are the steps in the legislative process and the places where advocacy can make a difference. (Note: All appropriations bills must originate in the House -- other legislation can originate in either the House or Senate. This example has the bill originating in the House.) Step One Bill is introduced. Step Two Bill is assigned to a committee for consideration, most bills never move after they are assigned to a committee unless they are of priority for a committee member or a member of the leadership. Step Three A sub-committee of the full committee considers the bill. Marks it up (e.g. considers amendments) and reports it out by majority vote of the subcommittee members. In some cases a bill skips this step and is considered directly by the full committee. A bill can be held up at this step because it does not get a majority of the members of the subcommittee to vote for it. * This is when we would ask you to call your Member if he or she is on the subcommittee to ask them to either move the bill along or to offer/support/oppose amendments. Step Four The full committee considers the bill, marks it up and reports it out, by majority vote of the full committee members. A bill can be held up at this point if it is "tabled" or stalled and not allowed to be moved to be marked up or if a majority of committee members vote against it. * This is when we would ask you to call your Member if he or she is on the committee to ask them to either move the bill along or to offer/support/oppose amendments. Step Five Bill goes to the House Floor for a vote by all members. Members can offer amendments on the Floor to change the bill. A majority vote passes or rejects the amendments. Any amendments that pass become part of the bill. A final majority vote passes or fails to pass the bill. * A bill may not be placed on the calendar right away for a floor vote. If Congress is getting ready to end their term, and the bill is not going to be voted on soon, it will need to be reintroduced. This is when we would ask you to call your Member and ask them to weigh in with the leadership to have the bill placed on the calendar. Step Six The bill is sent to the Senate, where it must go through steps 2 through 5 as outlined above, in the Senate. It can be killed for the same reasons and at the same stages explained above. In addition if the bill is not a priority in the Senate or is controversial it could just die and not move at all after it comes over from the House. Step Seven After both houses of Congress pass their versions of the bill, a Conference Committee is appointed (made up of members of the House and Senate Committees that considered the bill) to resolve the differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill. If the members of the Conference Committee from one house have major problems with the bill or parts of the bill they will try to weaken or change the bill in Conference, which could gut it. * Often we prefer one of the houses' bills over the other. When this happens, we ask you to call your Members if they are on the Conference Committee and tell them which version of the bill, or provisions you prefer. Step Eight The Conference Committee reports out a compromise bill which goes back to the Floors of both the House and the Senate for consideration, where it must pass both houses by a majority vote or it dies. Step Nine After passage of the Conference bill, in identical form by both the House and the Senate, the bill goes to the president for his consideration. The president either signs or vetoes the bill. If the president vetoes the bill it does not become law unless the veto is overridden. Step Ten Congress can override a Presidential veto by a 2/3 vote of both houses. |
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