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This selective program is part of ISRI’s attempts to better prepare our members to meet with their elected officials at both the federal and state levels, deliver our messages and advocate in smaller more powerful groups, develop strong relationships with policymakers, and establish a group of advocates that will take action on a variety of issues when called upon.
Only with a strong grassroots effort can ReMA be successful on Capitol Hill and at state capitals around the nation. During the lead up to the inaugural Industry Advocates Program Capitol Hill Fly-in, the participants attended four webinars and watched several short videos developed by the Congressional Management Foundation (CMF). These tools demonstrated the importance and reaction by Congressional staff from well-prepared citizen advocacy on policymaking; presented data on how best to communicate and follow-up with policymakers and their staff; educated the industry advocates on the Congressional process; detailed ISRI’s priority issues (metals theft, scrap is not waste, electronics recycling); and prepared the industry advocates for their meetings.
CMF is a quasi ‘think tank’ established by Congress to research, survey, and provide education about and for Congress including how best to communicate with Congress. In addition, CMF provides training to Congressional staff about how to set up and manage their offices as well as how to interact with their constituents. CMF also provides forums for Members of Congress to meet and discuss important policy issues outside of the confines and pressures of Congress in a more relaxed atmosphere. CMF’s research over the past 20-plus years has helped both Congress and advocacy groups such as ReMA better understand each other and provide guidance about how Congress addresses issues and deploys new communications technologies especially with email and Internet-based communications services that can bombard and overwhelm Congressional offices. ISRI has been incorporating CMF’s advice into its advocacy program for several years in order to provide effective advocacy for the scrap recycling industry.
Once ISRI’s “freshman class” of industry advocates arrived in Washington, they dove further into the key industry issues and began intensive preparation for the next day’s Congressional visits. During the Congressional visits, they focused on introducing the industry to Members of Congress, briefing them on why scrap is not waste, and describing what the industry is doing to combat metals theft. In addition to a presentation about the importance of citizen advocacy backed up with CMF survey results, we were fortunate to have Chief of Staff Craig Roberts from Congressman John Shimkus’ office, brief the industry advocates on a behind the scenes explanation of how a Congressional office really operates providing a detailed explanation of who is who in the office. Moreover, Mr. Roberts reiterated many of the CMF’s findings reaffirming the importance of meeting with Congressional staff and establishing direct constituent relationships with Members of Congress in order to help leverage ISRI’s DC-based lobbying. He stressed the need for citizens to get involved and provide a face for the industry to build additional credibility for ISRI’s lobbyists that is vital to rise above the content noise in Washington and gain the Member of Congress’ attention. With such a small manageable group, the industry advocates were able to follow up in a conversation with substantive questions with both ReMA staff and our invited experts.
ISRI Industry Advocates Freshman Class
Brad Fitch from CMF was impressed with the way ReMA had adopted and implemented so much of their research findings as well as findings from other groups such as the National Journal, the National Association of Political Action Committees, and the Public Affairs Council into our advocacy program. One point Mr. Fitch stressed with the industry advocates was the importance of having well-prepared advocates delivering the industry messages. He presented survey results showing the damage an unprepared advocate can do by not understanding the committee assignments, prior policy positions, and legislative sponsorships of the Member of Congress. Mr. Roberts confirmed the CMF research and provided examples from a staffer’s perspective. These experts as well as others ReMA has spoken with make it clear that in order for ISRI’s grassroots advocacy to continue to be effective in the competitive arena on Capitol Hill with thousands of other interests clamoring for attention, we must have better prepared and trained citizen advocates who can effectively deliver our key messages and establish and strengthen Congressional relationships. Therefore, based on hearing from many experts and using the available research, ReMA government relations team believes that these smaller advocacy training sessions are the best strategy to achieve our grassroots goals.
ISRI hopes to continue and grow this program to build a larger core of well educated, trained and prepared industry advocates. For more information on the Industry Advocates Program, please visit www.isri.org/iap or contact Billy Johnson or Mark Reiter.