Submitted by Lee Stogner, IEEE-USA Vice President, Professional Activities

In late August, Allen Thomas and I visited with Rep. Jim DeMint of South Carolina. This visit was to fulfill the initial part of our CARE pledge. The process was very simple to set up. I contacted Rep. DeMint's local office and scheduled an appointment to discuss the IEEE, and how its constituents wanted to serve as a resource that he could depend on. His office said that the visit would be no problem and that he is always interested in visiting with people from his district.

Our meeting with Rep. DeMint began with his asking several questions about the nature and base of the IEEE. We explained how the IEEE got started and its role in the development of electrotechnology across the world. We also explained how the IEEE-USA began as a means of providing the extra support that U.S. members need.

From a time perspective, the meeting went very quickly. We discussed the need for continued support for research in the physical sciences and that he could always depend on the IEEE in South Carolina to be available for advice on technology issues. He shared with us that his committee interests were Education in the Workforce, and Small Business and Transportation/Infrastructure.

Then we talked about how the IEEE sponsored many educational activities to further pre-college, college and continuing education. We said that many small businesses owe their existence to an engineer with a dream. We also noted that without IEEE standards, today's transportation systems could not be supported.

The meeting ended with a promise from both sides to keep in touch and work together. After the meeting, it was back to the staff for final words. Keep in mind that the staffer we met initially was in the room during the visit with Rep. DeMint. In the final staff meeting, we exchanged business cards and email addresses. The staffer also recommended that we participate in the South Carolina Upstate Technology Council. This interaction would be a clear and quick way for the IEEE's Piedmont Section to get involved with local issues. We said that we could promise representation to the Council.

As we left, we noticed that Rep. DeMint was already involved in another constituent meeting. Both Allen and I felt good about taking time to meet with our Congressman, and begin what we hope will be an ongoing responsibility for us to provide IEEE positions and advice to Rep. DeMint and his staff.

George McClure Visits with Rep. Keller in Florida

Submitted by George McClure, Editor, IEEE-USA Technology Policy Activities

I made my appointment for meeting with my Congressman, Ric Keller (R-8th Dist. Fla.) and his chief of staff using the subject of the Lipinski/Dooley/Thomas/Fletcher Amendment to the Patient Bill of Rights, to permit association health plans. IEEE-USA had issued an August Legislative Alert on the issue, and the problem has occurred with the IEEE Financial Advantage program: the IEEE can't offer the Cigna plan to members in New York, New Jersey and Washington.

Congressman Keller noted that this amendment was included in the bill as passed by the House (he supported it), and promised to watch for it after the Senate passes its version and the bill goes to conference.

Rep. Keller is on the Education and the Workforce Committee and on the Intellectual Property Subcomittee of the Judiciary Committee. I had printed out two copies of the IEEE-USA Legislative Agenda from the IEEE-USA website for the meeting (one for the district office, one for the Washington, D.C. office). Keller's chief of staff, Mike Miller, recalled having received the printed version at the Capitol Hill office (our logo was distinctive and stuck in his mind). 

I went over our positions dealing with precollege education, immigration, continuing education (deductibility of graduate study reimbursement under Sect. 127), contract engineers (Sect. 1706), cash balance pension plans, pension portability, federal R&D, a balanced aeronautics and space program (not cannibalized by the space station budget needs), intellectual property, and the need for reliability of electric power under deregulation. (We had a blackout across part of Florida a couple of years ago that resulted from lessened cooperation among power companies; a feeder line on the east coast was overloaded when a number of plants were out of service. The line tripped out and took power down for several thousand customers on the northwest coast. It took several days to restore all power.)

Keller is very focused on economic development for central Florida. Miller noted that the Congressman was elected with 48 percent of the vote and plans to seek reelection, so he has a strong interest in our issues. The precollege focus is important to him on two fronts: better literacy and math skills for high school students joining the work force in any capacity, and attracting students to engineering studies; in fact, a report of the National Academy of Engineering's effort to attract women to engineering had just appeared in the newspaper). Also, Miller had just toured the traffic control facility at Orlando International Airport, and so he was interested in upgrades to en-route, approach and ground air traffic control. He had seen the slips of paper on wood blocks that are passed back and forth among controllers to keep track of aircraft. Autonomous navigation with GPS and transponders allowing aircraft to avoid each other en route without ground controllers seemed a good idea to him.

I reinforced the idea that IEEE-USA is a resource available to members of Congress who need assessments of legislation on our issues. Miller promised to keep me informed on progress of the Association Health Plans legislation. The whole visit lasted 30 minutes, even though I had asked for only 10 minutes. As Lee Stogner pointed out, arriving early gives the visitor an advantage, if the previous appointment ends early.