SENTIENT TIMES April/May 2002
Who Will Stand For America?
Citizen Groups Learning to Lobby Elected Officials
Bonnie Lock
I recently participated in a 55 delegate coalition of grass roots folks from across the country who voluntarily went through “lobbyist” training—complete with vigorous and often humorous role playing—to learn how to effectively deliver messages and requests to Congress about the dangers of nuclear proliferation, and the benefits of supporting the campaign to keep space free of weapons.
Lobbyist after lobbyist and congres-sional aide after aide painted an atmosphere of restraint, caution, and frustration. Staffers strongly encouraged support from constituents to “make it ok” to work on the issues we share and care about. Several hinted at needing it personally just to feel energized and maintain their hope. Imagine—all this time, many of us have been feeling disempowered, without a voice, and the very people who can help find creative ways to push our issues through are feeling as disempowered as we are! The delegation from my state had seven people who visited four congressional offices in one day (a good start). We plan to continue doing this, in our own communities as well as in Washington, D.C.
The instruction we received, from respectable and professional sponsoring organizations in D.C. and numerous friendly congressional aides they had invited, taught us about the climate in Washington, how to get a message across that would sell (and those which would not sell at all), and how to tailor a message to a particular congressperson’s political agenda. We were then able to dutifully deliver a message and requests for support related to several nuclear non-proliferation issues.
We also acknowledged
that there are a lot of people in our community who are seriously concerned
about many other issues facing us today, including:
• A seeming breakdown of checks and balances and governmental accountability.
• An erosion in hard fought protection of civil liberties.
• Dangerous foreign policies that are easily perceivable by other
countries as unilateralist, militaristic, and threatening.
• An apparent disregard of international law and the protection of
treaties.
To address these issues we offered to host numerous town meetings with bi-partisan representation of our House Representatives and Senators, providing a public forum for constituents and elected officials which would encourage healthy education and debate, an airing of concerns and issues, and an opportunity to let people know where their elected officials stand. The first of these meetings will take place in April in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
While communicating with our elected officials we emphasized that we were grateful for their support and the actions they have taken to defend against terrorism, but that we also were prepared to hold them fully accountable for protecting democracy by exercising their vested power to ensure that there are effective checks and balances, protection of civil rights, and room for differing opinions and dissent, the very things that the United States was founded on and they have sworn to uphold.
After the
meetings, we had the opportunity to collectively “debrief” as
a larger group (a day in Washington and you start doing the lingo without
realizing it). Following are a few opinions based on our collective experience
about the state of affairs in D.C. and some suggestions to everyone else
out there who feels intimidated, misled, confused, without a voice, or
in need of inspiration or hope:
• There are many members of Congress who feel equally stymied by
the current political and media climate who are frustrated in not being
able to advance the issues they support.
• There are many who are working hard to achieve greater accountability
and a flow of honest information from the White House.
• There are many who will welcome the opportunity to be provided
with a forum supported by their constituents to speak up. In this regard,
we not only gathered support for public town meetings, we also walked
away with potential allies to help in having a briefing held for Congressional
members and staffers on the psychology of conflict, violence, terrorism,
and proliferation.
• It is important to envelope our messages and requests with concerns
about, and solutions for, obtaining “true, sustain-able security
for everyone.”
• Blame, anger, negativity, and especially conspiracy theories (unless
there is incontrovertible proof that will stand up in a court of law)
are counterproductive.
• If we are willing to take the time to develop a personal relationship
and to understand our elected officials’ concerns, and we can deliver
ideas or actions for a win/win opportunity or solution, they’ll listen
and are very likely to invite follow up action (that’s their job).
It also helps, when lobbying, to be prepared, concise, and to stay on
message.
• An interesting opinion which was advanced was, like it or not,
the “ruling” power at present is very conservative, which means
it’s “theology” is focused on the following basic beliefs:
Opposition to abortion and support of the “right to life” movement;
less/minimum government with fiscally conservative spending except for
programs that support the conservative agenda; unilateral action and preservation
of US national and economic interests as a primary basis for foreign policy,
cooperating globally only if it supports conservative priorities or the
US economy and corporate interests; and a strong military/defense (which
is needed if you’re going to be a unilateralist nation). Support
for other priorities are offered generally only when they are politically
expedient. Remembering this helps when shaping our message, as does knowing
who we are talking to and getting to know where they stand on the continuum
of conservatism or fear, and respecting that while “shining light
on the dark.”
• Realistically we should forgo efforts to save the ABM treaty, but
should push hard for a replacement that has real teeth and will find support
among Democrats and Republicans. Negotiations will begin at the Bush/Putin
summit in May.
• National Missile Defense is actually a very low priority compared
to other priorities, so advancing preserving space for peace/preventing
its weaponization is actually worth pursuing. This could be passed if
there is enough public pressure and support. The reasoning for this is
that it could politically expedient for both parties to use this as a
“carrot for the masses,” since it’s decades away, everyone
knows the tech-nology hasn’t been proven to work, and is a small
percentage of the overall defense budget.
This could prove to be an empowering win that will give us a strong and
united voice, small victories are helpful in setting the stage for larger
victories. Getting the non-weaponization of space topic discussed publicly
and in the media will open the door wider for debate on related/larger
issues (please visit www.peaceinspace.com and use this website’s
fax system to support HR3616, which would ban the weaponi-zation of space,
a Senate version of the House bill, and the World Treaty).
• Every staffer said over and over, they need, and want, to hear
from their constituents. In general, most effective in order are: Personal
visits, faxes, phone calls, postcards, letters, email—especially
when there is a large volume.
• Because the House and House staff turnover are so big, it cannot
be assumed that our Representatives all talk to each other—tell yours
if another has sponsored a bill you support, they may not know about it.
Our mention of the weaponization of space ban bill, HR3616, generated
very interested responses when we told of the incredibly large and rapid
fire internet response to Rep. Dennis Kucinick’s Prayer for America
and announcement of HR3616, which we were able to back up with an article
from The Nation.
• Partnering, collaborating and network-ing among diverse groups
of activists and interested parties/voters when delivering your unified
message speaks volumes. Diversity and the perception of a broad-base of
potential votes and strong political blocs of allied activists in elected
officials districts works!
I am not strong on expertise regarding nuclear issues, but when I was presented with this opportunity, I accepted, hoping that I might learn something I could share with others, to help the America that has been mostly silent, licking our collective wounds, trying to figure out who to trust and how to move forward effectively. As the mother of twentysomethings, I have been especially concerned about the disillusionment of our young voters whose votes matter so much, who deserve to have hope for a better future, who are our future.
I would like everyone to know there is hope, and to encourage them to exercise their rights to speak and act—without fear. Some doubts and some fear understandably may linger, but I believe the time is right, and we will be supported, especially if we come from a place of love and light.
Bonnie Lock describes herself as “just a regular person, a mother, who cares about the state of affairs in the world and the future we are creating for our children, who has tried to do what I can to make a difference. Since 1998 I have been involved in learning about and promoting nonviolence and peace, and helping to build connections in the area that I live in (near Philadelphia) with the hope that a strong, united force for love will prevail in changing some of the negative and destructive paradigms in which we live.” Bonnie can be reached at bonnielock@earthlink.net.
SENTIENT TIMES
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