The Government Relations Office relies on chapters to help influence legislation at the Federal level. Remember, all politics is local, and we need your help to get law library issues on the agenda of your members of Congress.
There are several committees which have jurisdiction over issues important to us, and we closely monitor their work. Do you know if your members of Congress are on any of these committees? To find out, check your members' Web sites or the committee Web sites.
If your member of Congress is on one of these important committees, it's especially important for your chapter to follow their work, and ultimately build a trusting relationship with them. It's also important to know whether your senator or House representative has a JD because this knowledge will help you determine how to frame our issues. Please refer to our lists of senators and representatives with JDs in the 112th Congress.
Here are some of the committees we track or work with on a regular basis:
House Committees:
Appropriations
Chair: Rep. Hal Rogers (R-KY-5)
Ranking Member: Rep. Norman Dicks (D-WA-6)
Subcommittee on the Legislative Branch
Chair: Rep. Ander Crenshaw (R-FL-4)
Ranking Member: Rep. Mike Honda (D-CA-15)
Jurisdiction: Legislative Branch Appropriations
AALL issue(s): Funding for the Government Printing Office and the Library of Congress, including the Law Library of Congress.
Energy and Commerce
Chair: Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI-6)
Ranking Member: Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA-30)
Subcommittee on Communications and Technology
Chair: Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR-2)
Ranking Member: Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA-14)
Jurisdiction: Interstate and foreign telecommunications including, but not limited to all telecommunication and information transmission by broadcast, radio, wire, microwave, satellite, or other mode.
AALL issue(s): Net neutrality
Judiciary
Chair: Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX-21)
Ranking Member: Rep. John Conyers (D-MI-14)
Jurisdiction: Includes the judiciary and judicial proceedings, civil liberties, patents, copyrights, and trademarks.
AALL issue(s): Copyright, including orphan works, freedom of information
Oversight and Government Reform
Chair: Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA-49)
Ranking Member: Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD-7)
Jurisdiction: It is the main investigative committee in the U.S. House of Representatives, which has jurisdiction to investigate any federal program and any matter with federal policy implications.
AALL issue(s): Presidential records, freedom of information, whistleblower protections
Senate Committees:
Appropriations
Chair: Daniel K. Inouye (D-HI)
Ranking Member: Thad Cochran (R-MS)
Subcommittee on the Legislative Branch
Chair: Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE)
Ranking Member: Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND)
Jurisdiction: Legislative Branch Appropriations
AALL issue(s): Funding for the Government Printing Office and the Library of Congress, including the Law Library of Congress.
Commerce, Science, and Transportation
Chair: Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV)
Ranking Member: Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX)
Jurisdiction: Includes regulation of consumer products and services, Science, engineering, and technology research and development and policy, interstate commerce and communications.
AALL issue(s): Net neutrality
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
Chair: Sen. Joseph Lieberman (ID-CT)
Ranking Member: Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME)
Jurisdiction: Archives of the United States, government information, Intergovernmental relations, and municipal affairs of the District of Columbia, except appropriations.
AALL issue(s): Presidential records, E-government, National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), Congressional Research Service reports
Rules and Administration
Chair: Sen. Charles (Chuck) Schumer (D-NY)
Ranking Member: Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN)
Jurisdiction: Includes Congressional organization relative to rules and procedures and Senate rules and regulations, Federal elections, Government Printing Office, United States Capitol and congressional office buildings, the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian Institution (and the incorporation of similar institutions), and the Botanic Gardens.
AALL issue(s): Government Printing Office, and the Library of Congress, including the Law Library of Congress.
Judiciary
Chair: Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT)
Ranking Member: Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA)
Jurisdiction: Includes the courts, law enforcement, and judicial administration.
AALL issue(s): Copyright, including orphan works, freedom of information
|
IDEA CORNER:
Visit your federal and state legislators' Web sites and sign up for updates by email or RSS feed. This is a good activity for each member of your committee, and can be an easy way for new committee members to get involved. Doing so will encourage on-going communication with your legislators, which is the key to building successful relationships!
|
When an important issue arises and we need your help, we'll make it easy for your chapter to take action. We'll first identify the chapters that we need to speak out on the legislation, and then we'll contact your legislative committee chair to let you know that we need your chapter to take action. In most cases, the most effective means of making your voice heard as a chapter is through a chapter letter, which Emily Feltren will draft for you. All you need to do is make any edits you'd like, add personalization if you choose, add your chapter's letterhead, and then forward it to your chapter president for his or her signature. Then just send it back to Emily (usually as an email attachment) and she will hand-deliver it to Capitol Hill on your behalf. We'll also ask you to send a letter to his or her District Office. This will ensure that your letter lands in the right hands!
Chapter letters are a very effective means of showing your support or opposition to an issue. When NOCALL wrote a letter to Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA-16) thanking her for introducing H.R. 6589, the Charles H.W. Meehan Law Library Improvement and Modernization Act, in July 2008 Rep. Lofgren was so pleased that she mentioned the letter at a mark-up on the bill. It was important that she heard from law librarians in her district to let her know that this bill was important to them.
Here are some
additional examples of chapter letters.