How Your Chapter Can Influence Policy at the Federal Level

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.

The Government Relations Office closely monitors the legislative activity of Congress. In the 111th Congress, we'll be working on our proactive agenda and will need your support on many of our issues.

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, refer to our senate chart and check your House representative's Web site or the committee Web site.

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 111th Congress.

Here are some of the committees we track or work with on a regular basis:

House Committees:

Appropriations:
Chair: David Obey (D-WI-7)
Ranking Member: Jerry Lewis (R-CA-41)
Subcommittee on the Legislative Branch
Chair: Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (D-FL-20)
Ranking Member: Rep. Robert B. Aderholt (R-AL-4)
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. Henry Waxman (D-CA-30)
Ranking Member: Joe Barton (R-TX-6)

Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet
Chair: Rick Boucher (D-VA-9)
Ranking Member: TBA
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: John Conyers (D-MI-14)
Ranking Member: Lamar Smith (R-TX-21)
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: Edolphus Towns (D-NY-11)
Ranking Member: Darrell Issa (R-CA-49)
Jurisdiction: The main investigative committee in the U.S. House of Representatives, it 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:  Mary Landrieu (D-LA)
Ranking Member: Lamar Alexander (R-TN)
Jurisdiction: Legislative Branch Appropriation
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: Jay Rockefeller (D-WV)
Ranking Member: 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: Joe Lieberman (ID-CT)
Ranking Member: 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: Charles E. Schumer (D-NY)
Ranking Member: Bob Bennett (R-UT)
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: Patrick Leahy (D-VT)
Ranking Member: Jeff Sessions (R-AL)
Jurisdiction: Includes the courts, law enforcement, and judicial administration.
AALL issue(s): Copyright, including Orphan Works, Freedom of Information

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 Feldman 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.

Learn how to influence policy at the state level

Back to 4.3 How to Create a Successful Advocacy Program for Your Committee