Capitol Hill Day 2006: Record attendance, immediate results
Posted March 6, 2006
On Feb. 26, 2006, nearly 100 enthusiastic volunteers gathered in Washington, D.C., to prepare for the third annual National Psoriasis Foundation Capitol Hill Day. The group of 85 volunteers and six staff members included 13 affiliated support group leaders and ten Board of Trustees members. In all, volunteers from 24 states, plus Washington, D.C., visited 105 congressional offices.
Building on the successes of past Psoriasis Foundation visits to Congress, this year's group had three general "asks" of Congress: to increase funding for psoriasis research, to improve access to treatments and to spread awareness about the seriousness of these diseases. Specifically, volunteers requested cosponsorship of a House resolution which encourages additional psoriasis research and calls for a study of the availability of treatments for psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. In all meetings, participants educated staff about psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis, asked for report language to encourage increased research funding and called upon members of Congress to get personally involved in elevating awareness and understanding of psoriasis.
The two-day Capitol Hill Day event opened on Sunday with a three-hour training session led by Ilisa Halpern, Managing Government Relations Director from Gardner, Carton & Douglas (GCD), the Foundation's government relations firm. Ms. Halpern went over the basics of how the legislative branch works and introduced the details of the Psoriasis Foundation "asks". The session culminated in a series of role-playing scenarios with GCD staff playing the parts of members of Congress and congressional staffers with attitudes ranging from accommodating to hostile, preparing the volunteers to handle any eventuality.
On Monday, Capitol Hill Day proper, volunteers ate breakfast while listening to advice from a guest congressional staffer. Then the group rode buses to the Capitol and set off for meetings in their representatives' offices. Most volunteers had at least one House meeting in the morning and two Senate meetings in the afternoon. Volunteers were paired up for their meetings, so no one walked into a congressional office alone.
By lunchtime, it was clear that the majority of meetings were playing out like the best-case scenarios enacted during the training session. During the luncheon, the Psoriasis Foundation honored several congressional leaders for their commitment to enhancing federal support of psoriasis disease education and legislation. Two speakers also addressed the group: leading psoriasis researcher, Alice B. Gottlieb, M.D., Ph.D., and volunteer Steve Bishkoff. Dr. Gottlieb emphasized the importance of increased research and the emotional impact of the diseases, while Bishkoff rallied the group to continue their dedicated work on behalf of the psoriasis community. The volunteers then headed to the Senate side of the capitol for their afternoon meetings.
After an exhilarating and exhausting day of meetings on Capitol Hill, volunteers gathered one last time to discuss the day's highlights. Among those attending the debriefing session, feedback was unanimously positive. Deirdre Leary shared her group's positive experience — a chance meeting with Sen. Richard Burr, who wasn't scheduled to participate in their meeting, but posed for a picture when approached by volunteer Deanna Brown. Several volunteers mentioned that the staff with whom they met remembered the Psoriasis Foundation from previous Capitol Hill Days, and were eager to learn how they could help this year.
The success of Capitol Hill Day 2006 is more than anecdotal. The very next day, eight representatives had added their names as cosponsors to H.Con.Res.340. More results will emerge in the coming weeks and months; check www.psoriasis.org/advocacy for updates.
|
