Lobbying Assignment #4 - Biello
Gaining the attention of Congressman Chaka Fattah
Quick Overview of Mr. Fattah:
-Represents 2nd District of Philadelphia
-Democratic Party
-Represented Philly since 1995.
Quick Overview of What I'm Lobbying For:
-More gov't funding for Stem-Cell Research
-More overall support for SCR
-Less gov't restrictions for SCR
-Overall advancement of SCR for medical purposes
So, how does a high-school student get the attention of a famous Congressman, that's usually bombarded with work and many faces throughout the day. You take the necessary steps, doing/making things that he will see. Such as; letters, emails, petitions, and personal visits. (Too name a few).
Now it is safe to say that Chaka Fattah, is on-board with stem cell research because he has voted with 6 different Stem-Cell Research Acts:
-Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act (2005)
-Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Act of 2005
-The Alternative Pluripotent Stem Cell Therapies Enhancement Act (2006)
-Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2005 (voting in 2006 to overturn Bush's veto against stem cell research)
-Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2007
-Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2007 (once more before Bush vetoed against again)
Data from : http://bit.ly/rZKurc
But, how can we get him more involved and lead him to become more of an advocator towards gaining almost total support for SCR. Well, on his site there shows two ways of getting in contact with him, which I suggested:
You can have a personal meeting with him, or email him.
Now, once you finally do get a personal meeting with him, what's the plan?
Let Chaka Fattah know that you are highly impressed with his work throughout the entirety of his career, show him that you know a little about him. Also, one of the most important points is to show that you have knowledge of his votes in-favor for SCR throughout the years and that you highly respect and agree with his votes. Then, you can discuss how SCR will benefit many humans in the near-future. After you bring to light all the pro's to SCR, let him know that you want more people to know the pro's and see the beauty behind it. This is one of the main roles of Congressman, to be a voice of and TO the people. Then, you can work with Fattah on starting a campaign of advertisements towards widespread approval of SCR. Brainstorming with a powerful figure such as Fattah, can get things done. Since, he agrees with what you agree with, and you already know that for a fact; you can go into the meeting confident that you can seal the deal.
Unfortunately, I didn't have a meeting with Fattah, but I was able to express most of this plan through a email using his website. (http://fattah.house.gov/)
Response is still pending, but I believe this is a very solid plan. Since he already supports SCR, I'm sure he would be on board with helping to make other people support it simply by showing them the light to the benefits of SCR. Also, how embryos that were going to be thrown away could solely be used; without wasting human life, which is a huge reason why people don't support SCR. If you start an ad-campaign with Fattah, showing people that you're technically saving human life from the trash-can now to save human lives in the future, then there will be more widespread approval towards SCR, which is a huge step in the whole rolling ball of SCR.
In my opinion, this is a pretty good plan, and I can't wait to see how it turns out. It would be nice to work with Congressman Chaka Fattah to bring something to light that we both have in common, the support for SCR. Results are pending, I'm both excited and confident.
More on Fattah here: http://bit.ly/cCa1cM & http://1.usa.gov/aI4IFi
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