Lobbying, as a career, has gotten a bum rap. But lobbying for non-profit humanitarian organizations is a different can of worms entirely from big business, tobacco, oil, pharma. And citizen lobbying is another step above that – on Capitol Hill, in the never-ending struggle between votes and money, they know that professional lobbyists are in it for and because of the money, but constituents mean votes, and votes mean keeping your job. So, Congressional staffers and Members give a sometimes surprising level of respect to constituent lobbyists.
Then again, lobbying on Capitol Hill, no matter your issue or inspiration, is a somewhat surreal experience. You stand in line, waiting to get into the Rayburn House Office Building, between a group from the Real Estate Agents of America (“We’re here to tell them not to vote for a mortgage reform bill. They’re going to take your money…again.”) and red-shirted National “I’m a Patient Advocate” Nurses United members. In the cafeteria you see Congressman Ed Markey getting himself a cup of coffee. Later, after walking past a hearing room in which Senators Lieberman and Kerry are announcing their climate change act, and almost bumping into Elizabeth Warren leaving a meeting of the TARP Bailout Oversight Committee, you might see Senator David “My Name Was on the DC Prostitute Ring’s Client List” Vitter walking down another hallway. And, once in a while, you might step out of an elevator straight into a fast-moving group of camera men, staffers, and one tiny, blue-suited Supreme Court nominee.
But the political geek version of Spot-the-Celebrity clearly isn’t the point of being on the Hill. Our Western Massachusetts group had meetings scheduled with three Congressmen who represent our districts, Reps. Olver, Neal and McGovern, and then we were to meet up with the other two MA groups to storm (or, squeeze into) the offices of Senators Brown and Kerry. Our first two meetings, with staffers from Neal’s and Olver’s offices, were fine, but nothing much to write home about. We met in the hallway, which is pretty common with a bigger group showing up at a House member’s office. Those rooms are not spacious. Ritchie Neal isn’t known for being a big foreign aid guy, so we tried to push the poverty solutions that CARE designs as cost effective and economy-boosting. We got a polite but somewhat distant response from his staff. At Olver’s office our presentations on Maternal Mortality, Food Security and Child Marriage were received more positively, and we were assured that the related bills that Representative Olver hadn’t signed on to yet would be reviewed in the coming days and weeks.
By far our best meeting of the day, though, was with Rep. Jim McGovern, who represents Worcester and the rest of the 3rd District (Central and a weird bit of Southeastern MA). It was our only meeting with an actual member of Congress, and it was a winner. McGovern is a long time supporter of humanitarian aid and international human rights issues, so going in we knew we were preaching to the converted. Care’s CEO, Helene Gayle, joined us for the meeting as a way to emphasize our appreciation for Rep. McGovern’s help and leadership on the issues. But, even though she’s the CEO of the organization, she mostly left it to us, the constituents, to do the talking. And talk we did. McGovern seemed excited about the meeting, and kept chatting about food security and child marriage through not one, not two, but three visits from one of his senior staffers, desperately trying to get him to a meeting of the House Rules Committee. Shockingly, humanitarian aid seemed to be more compelling at that moment than arcane Congressional rules debates. (But, honestly, one of the reasons why I love McGovern is because he’s interested in both foreign aid and House rules. Geek.)
The meetings with our Senators were as different as one would imagine Senator “Foreign Relations Committee” Kerry and Senator “Male Model” Brown are. Brown’s staffer was polite but not particularly engaged, while Kerry’s clearly knew more about these issues than most of us, but was excited by our visit, impressed by our level of knowledge, and insisted that we taught him things he didn’t know before. (Side note – the Foreign Relations Committee staff offices are full of really fun reading material. Stacks of books on genocide, for example. Yet they all seemed like genuinely happy people…the effect of having a job you love, I’m guessing.)
At the end of the day we were tired but energized, which is the best way to feel after a long day. A few weeks later we heard that Rep. Olver has co-sponsored the Global MOMS Act, the Maternal Health bill we were promoting, and we’re hoping that others will sign on soon. Rep. McGovern promised to hold hearings on child marriage in the next few months. Senator Kerry’s staff is looking for ways to work many of Care’s issues into appropriations and foreign relations bills. We’re still waiting for Rep. Neal and Sen. Brown to step up on humanitarian aid…but not waiting with bated breath.
So, what to do now? Long range planning – next year’s conference will be March 7-8. You know you want to go. DC in March! (It’s like spring then!) Learning interesting things, and hearing inspiring stories! And, perhaps best of all (if you’re a nerd), lobbying for women’s issues on International Women’s Day! Awesome.
In the meantime, there’s something everyone can do, and according to Jim McGovern, it’s one of the most important ways to help promote the cause of poor people around the world. And it’s easy, and it’s free.
Write. Call. Talk.
Let your elected officials know that you care about helping people, and tell your friends to do the same. Politicians support issues that their constituents support – that’s the way representative democracy (ideally) works. So if your representatives already support these causes, tell them you’re behind them. And if they don’t, tell them you do.
Peripatetic Paraphernalia 