Politics and Your Section

Russell Harrison motivated an audience to work with their elected leaders to change public policy. As the Senior Legislative Representative for Grassroots Affairs for IEEE-USA, Harrison is responsible for helping IEEE members in the U.S. interact with, and ultimately influence, elected officials.

Harrison’s key advice – reach out to your congressperson! “Congressmen are desperate to hear from actual people,” explained Harrison. “Within your section, within your state, within your congressional district, we want to talk with one voice to tell Congress how we want to make this country better. The more often we do that, the more likely we’ll be successful.”

Congressional staff persons were recently surveyed about what had “some” or “a lot” of influence over their boss’s vote. Ninety-nine percent said a visit from a constituent, 96 percent said a letter from a constituent, 93 percent said a lobbyist, 65 percent said form letters. A visit is most impactful because if you take the time and effort to travel to Washington, they know you mean it.

What can local sections do?

1. Visit your local legislator’s office - Send 1-5 people (people who care about the issues you'll be discussing and people who vote in the district), send a written invitation by e-mail 2-3 weeks in advance (IEEE-USA can help), have a specific message, ask for the legislator but accept staff, expect to be there an average of 20-30 minutes, have something to leave them (IEEE-USA can help), and follow-up.
2. Invite your local legislator to a section meeting - You'll need around 100 people to get a member from Congress to attend. Send an invitation 6-8 weeks in advance (IEEE-USA can help), make the legislator the center of attention (give them time to speak), make it easy, follow-up and be flexible.

You can also empower your members on policy by making policy part of the discussion in your newsletters and section meetings. You can do this by sending information from Eye on Washington, Today’s Engineer, and Action Alerts to your section members. Focus on what your section members are thinking/worrying/talking about.

Harrison's final words: The American political system is the most accessible and most easily influenced political system in the world, so get involved!