March 9, 2013
This month marks the 10th anniversary of the launch of NBAA’s online Contact Congress tool, an advocacy resource that has helped NBAA Members and other industry stakeholders mobilize, reach out to their congressional representatives with a unified voice and ensure that their perspectives are heard on important legislative issues affecting business aviation.
“Contact Congress has been central to our industry’s advocacy work on some of the most important battles we’ve had over the past decade,” said NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen. “It has helped us make our voice heard when Washington policymakers have offered up onerous user-fee proposals that our industry does not want. It was used to ensure that Congress understood our significant concerns when the Transportation Security Administration tried to roll out the Large Aircraft Security Proposal.
“It was critical to helping decision-makers understand the many good reasons for preserving the Block Aircraft Reservation Request capability, so that people could opt-out from real-time flight broadcasts,” he added. “In short, Contact Congress has been a central component in promoting a positive policy agenda for the industry.”
Bolen noted that the key to the effectiveness of the resource is its ease of use: within just a few minutes, Contact Congress users can email their representatives in Washington, DC, on a variety of important legislative issues.
View NBAA’s Contact Congress resource on the Association’s website.
On NBAA’s Contact Congress page, various legislative issues of concern are listed. After selecting an issue, users enter a name, address, phone number and email address. The tool automatically selects the user’s congressional representatives for contact, and even offers a pre-written letter draft that can be sent to each one; however, users can customize the letter as desired.
Prior to submitting the letter, users also may review the final draft. Once submitted, users immediately receive a thank you letter from Bolen. A message from a lawmaker acknowledging receipt of the Contact Congress email letter also may follow.
Currently, Contact Congress offers letters about proposed changes to aircraft-depreciation schedules and legislation that would stop unnecessary IRS excise-tax audits. There’s also a link so Members can ask their elected officials to join the House or Senate General Aviation Caucus. The resource has evolved over the years, and now allows users to also contact congressional representatives via Twitter on these and other industry priorities.
NBAA ensures that information provided to Contact Congress is never shared, sold or made public.
“Congressional representatives and their staff tell us that when NBAA mobilizes the industry via Contact Congress on a particular issue, they see significant message traffic on that issue,” said NBAA Vice President of Government Affairs Dick Doubrava
“Every industry needs to be able to make its voice heard and have its concerns understood by Washington lawmakers in order to be effective in prompting legislative action when it’s needed,” said Bolen. “Contact Congress has ensured that this happens for NBAA and its Members. We are very pleased that it has been so effective over the past decade, and we know that the industry will continue to use Contact Congress to help shape the policy debate in Washington when it comes to business aviation in the years ahead.”
International Business Aviation Council Ltd.