Posted by skyeagle on February 07, 2001 at 14:21:57:
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80-20 is ready to mount a frontal assault on the glass ceiling above
YOU & YOUR CHILDREN. 80-20 has worked long and hard, gathering
political capital bit by bit, just for this moment!
80-20'll begin with a lobbying effort to secure Congressional hearings
on the huge amount of statistical evidence documenting the existence
of glass ceiling above APAs. To help this lobbying effort succeed,
most
of us may want to acquire some basic knowledge about lobbying.
Hopefully, you may agree that, ultimately, our community's political
clout depends on our collective political maturity.
At the risk of boring some of you, here are "ABCs" of lobbying for an
issue, as opposed to, say, lobbying to get someone confirmed or get a
treaty passed.
There are 3 basic ways that Congress may be asked to support an issue:
1) to pass a bill favoring the issue,
2) to pass a resolution favoring the issue, and
3) to open congressional hearings by relevant committees that end the
hearings with favorable reports.
(1) Of the three, passing a bill is the hardest. Once a bill passes
both Houses and is signed by the president, it becomes a law.
Violation of a law requires penalty. Hence, 99% of the bills are
required to contain languages specifying appropriate punishment,
should the law be violated.
(2) Passing a resolution is the easiest. There are many forms of
resolutions - House Resolution, Senate Resolution, Concurrent
Resolution, and Joint Resolution. Although a resolution needs to pass
the House or the Senate or both, resolutions are nothing just lip
services. A resolution, even after passage, could be violated by any
person at will, without penalty. Resolution are mostly used by
politicians to please constituents "on the cheap."
A Joint Resolution passed by unanimous consent and signed by the
President will have the temporary effect of law for the duration
of the Congressional session. It's used for passing budgets.
(3) To schedule Congressional hearings by relevant committees is the
middle choice. A committee chair may call a public hearing on a
relevant matter. The committee may then issue a report on that
subject. The matter could end there, without being turned
into a bill. If ample publicity is achieved during the hearings and
if
the report is very favorable to a given issue, it could be very
effective.
For example, if a committee report suggests to a federal agency that
certain results seem desirable, and if no progress is made by next
year's budget hearing for that agency before the same committee, there
could be budgetary repercussions for that agency.
During hearings, at least one congressional member on the committee
must be present. A hearing lasting several days will cost members
much time and is therefore a serious investment by the committee. In
contrast, a resolution may be passed by both House and Senate in a
few seconds without any congressional member paying any attention.
Keep tuned to 80-20's effort on your behalf and PLEASE, if you are
good
in writing Chinese articles, volunteer to join 80-20's letters-to-the-
editors team by e-mailing S. B. Woo and saying "Count Me In."
THANK YOU.
* * * * * * * * * * *
80-20 is a national nonpartisan Political Action Committee dedicated
to work for equality and justice for all Asian Americans. For more
details, visit http://www.80-20initiative.net
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